Job 31

Job’s Final Defense Continued

31“I made a covenant with my eyes,

so^a how could I look closely upon a virgin?

²And what is the portion of God from above

or^b the heritage of Shaddai from on high?

³Is not disaster for the evil one

and ruin for the workers of mischief?

⁴Does he not see my ways

and count all my steps?

⁵“If I have walked with falseness,

and my foot has hastened to deceit,

⁶let him weigh me in the balance of justice,

and let God know my blamelessness.

⁷If my steps have turned aside from the way,

and my heart has walked after my eyes,

and my hand has clung to a spot,

⁸let me sow, and let another eat,

and let my crops be rooted out.

⁹“If my heart has been enticed by a woman,

and at my neighbor’s doorway I have lain in wait,

¹⁰let my wife grind for another,

and let other men kneel over her,

¹¹for that is a shameful act,

and that is a criminal offense.^c

¹²Indeed, that is a fire that will consume up to Abaddon,

and it would uproot all my crop.

¹³“If I have rejected my male or^d female slave’s case

when their complaint was against me,

¹⁴then^e what shall I do when God rises up?

And when he enquires, how shall I answer him?

¹⁵Did not he who made me in the womb make them?

And did not one fashion us in the womb?

¹⁶“If I have withheld the desire of the poor from them,

or^f I have caused the widow’s eyes to fail,

¹⁷or I have eaten my morsel alone,^g

and the orphan has not eaten from it

¹⁸(for from my childhood he^h grew up withⁱ me like a father,

and from my mother’s womb I guided her^j),

¹⁹if I have seen the one who perishes because of no clothing

or^k that there is no covering for the poor,

²⁰if his loins have not blessed me,

or^l by means of my sheep’s fleece he has warmed himself,

²¹if I have raised my hand against an orphan

because I saw my supporters at the gate,

²²then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder,

and let my arm be broken from its socket.

²³Indeed, the disaster from God was a dread for me,

and I was powerless^m because of his majesty.

²⁴“If I have made gold my trust,

orⁿ I have called fine gold my security,

²⁵if I have rejoiced because my wealth was great

or^o because my hand found a fortune,

²⁶if I looked at the sun when it shone

or^p at the moon moving in splendor,

²⁷and I was secretly enticed,^q

and my hand threw them a kiss,^r

²⁸this also is an iniquity to be judged,

for I have deceived God above.

²⁹“If I have rejoiced at the ruin of the one who hated me

or^s have exulted when evil overtook him—

³⁰no,^t I have not allowed my mouth to sin,

to ask his life with a curse.

³¹Have the people of my tent not said,^u

‘O that^v someone^w had not been satisfied with his meat’?

³²An alien has not lodged in the street;

I have opened my door to the traveler.

³³Have I concealed^x my transgressions as other human beings

to hide my iniquity in my bosom

³⁴because I dreaded the great multitude,

and the contempt of clans terrified me,

so that I kept quiet, I did not go out of the doorway?

³⁵O that^y I had^z someone hearing me!

Here is my signature;

let Shaddai answer me!

As for^a the written communication that my adversary^b has written,

³⁶I would surely^c carry it on my shoulder;

I would bind it on me like a crown.

³⁷I would give him an account of my steps;

I would approach him like a noble.

³⁸If my land has cried out against me,

and its furrows have wept together,

³⁹if I have eaten its yield without payment,

or^d I have caused the breath of its owners to die,

⁴⁰let thorns grow in place of wheat

and noxious weeds in place of barley.”

The words of Job are ended.