Job 31 / 42
- 1
(Job's Final Appeal)
"I have made a covenant with my eyes;
how then could I gaze at a virgin?
- 2
What would be my portion from God above
and my heritage from the Almighty on high?
- 3
Is not calamity for the unrighteous,
and disaster for the workers of iniquity?
- 4
Does not he see my ways
and number all my steps?
- 5
"If I have walked with falsehood
and my foot has hastened to deceit;
- 6
(Let me be weighed in a just balance,
and let God know my integrity!)
- 7
if my step has turned aside from the way
and my heart has gone after my eyes,
and if any spot has stuck to my hands,
- 8
then let me sow, and another eat,
and let what grows for me be rooted out.
- 9
"If my heart has been enticed toward a woman,
and I have lain in wait at my neighbor's door,
- 10
then let my wife grind for another,
and let others bow down on her.
- 11
For that would be a heinous crime;
that would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges;
- 12
for that would be a fire that consumes as far as Abaddon,
and it would burn to the root all my increase.
- 13
"If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or my maidservant,
when they brought a complaint against me,
- 14
what then shall I do when God rises up?
When he makes inquiry, what shall I answer him?
- 15
Did not he who made me in the womb make him?
And did not one fashion us in the womb?
- 16
"If I have withheld anything that the poor desired,
or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
- 17
or have eaten my morsel alone,
and the fatherless has not eaten of it
- 18
(for from my youth the fatherless grew up with me as with a father,
and from my mother's womb I guided the widowHebrew her),
- 19
if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing,
or the needy without covering,
- 20
if his body has not blessed me,
and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep,
- 21
if I have raised my hand against the fatherless,
because I saw my help in the gate,
- 22
then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder,
and let my arm be broken from its socket.
- 23
For I was in terror of calamity from God,
and I could not have faced his majesty.
- 24
"If I have made gold my trust
or called fine gold my confidence,
- 25
if I have rejoiced because my wealth was abundant
or because my hand had found much,
- 26
if I have looked at the sun when it shone,
or the moon moving in splendor,
- 27
and my heart has been secretly enticed,
and my mouth has kissed my hand,
- 28
this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges,
for I would have been false to God above.
- 29
"If I have rejoiced at the ruin of him who hated me,
or exulted when evil overtook him
- 30
(I have not let my mouth sin
by asking for his life with a curse),
- 31
if the men of my tent have not said,
'Who is there that has not been filled with his meat?'
- 32
(the sojourner has not lodged in the street;
I have opened my doors to the traveler),
- 33
if I have concealed my transgressions as others do
by hiding my iniquity in my bosom,
- 34
because I stood in great fear of the multitude,
and the contempt of families terrified me,
so that I kept silence, and did not go out of doors--
- 35
Oh, that I had one to hear me!
(Here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me!)
Oh, that I had the indictment written by my adversary!
- 36
Surely I would carry it on my shoulder;
I would bind it on me as a crown;
- 37
I would give him an account of all my steps;
like a prince I would approach him.
- 38
"If my land has cried out against me
and its furrows have wept together,
- 39
if I have eaten its yield without payment
and made its owners breathe their last,
- 40
let thorns grow instead of wheat,
and foul weeds instead of barley."
The words of Job are ended.