NETtext - Job - 31

31:1  "I made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I entertain thoughts against a virgin?

31:2  What then would be one's lot from God above, one's heritage from the Almighty on high?

31:3  Is it not misfortune for the unjust, and disaster for those who work iniquity?

31:4  Does he not see my ways and count all my steps?

31:5  If I have walked in falsehood, and if my foot has hastened to deceit -

31:6  let him weigh me with honest scales; then God will discover my integrity.

31:7  If my footsteps have strayed from the way, if my heart has gone after my eyes, or if anything has defiled my hands,

31:8  then let me sow and let another eat, and let my crops be uprooted.

31:9  If my heart has been enticed by a woman, and I have lain in wait at my neighbor's door,

31:10  then let my wife turn the millstone for another man, and may other men have sexual relations with her.

31:11  For I would have committed a shameful act, an iniquity to be judged.

31:12  For it is a fire that devours even to Destruction, and it would uproot all my harvest.

31:13  "If I have disregarded the right of my male servants or my female servants when they disputed with me,

31:14  then what will I do when God confronts me in judgment; when he intervenes, how will I respond to him?

31:15  Did not the one who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same one form us in the womb?

31:16  If I have refused to give the poor what they desired, or caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

31:17  If I ate my morsel of bread myself, and did not share any of it with orphans -

31:18  but from my youth I raised the orphan like a father, and from my mother's womb I guided the widow!

31:19  If I have seen anyone about to perish for lack of clothing, or a poor man without a coat,

31:20  whose heart did not bless me as he warmed himself with the fleece of my sheep,

31:21  if I have raised my hand to vote against the orphan, when I saw my support in the court,

31:22  then let my arm fall from the shoulder, let my arm be broken off at the socket.

31:23  For the calamity from God was a terror to me, and by reason of his majesty I was powerless.

31:24  "If I have put my confidence in gold or said to pure gold, 'You are my security!'

31:25  if I have rejoiced because of the extent of my wealth, or because of the great wealth my hand had gained,

31:26  if I looked at the sun when it was shining, and the moon advancing as a precious thing,

31:27  so that my heart was secretly enticed, and my hand threw them a kiss from my mouth,

31:28  then this also would be iniquity to be judged, for I would have been false to God above.

31:29  If I have rejoiced over the misfortune of my enemy or exulted because calamity found him -

31:30  I have not even permitted my mouth to sin by asking for his life through a curse -

31:31  if the members of my household have never said, 'If only there were someone who has not been satisfied from Job's meat!' -

31:32  But no stranger had to spend the night outside, for I opened my doors to the traveler -

31:33  if I have covered my transgressions as men do, by hiding iniquity in my heart,

31:34  because I was terrified of the great multitude, and the contempt of families terrified me, so that I remained silent and would not go outdoors -

31:35  "If only I had someone to hear me! Here is my signature - let the Almighty answer me! If only I had an indictment that my accuser had written.

31:36  Surely I would wear it proudly on my shoulder, I would bind it on me like a crown;

31:37  I would give him an accounting of my steps; like a prince I would approach him.

31:38  "If my land cried out against me and all its furrows wept together,

31:39  if I have eaten its produce without paying, or caused the death of its owners,

31:40  then let thorns sprout up in place of wheat, and in place of barley, weeds!" The words of Job are ended.