Job 31:1–23

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.