Job 31:5–40

⁵“If I have walked with falsehood,

and my foot has hurried to deceit—^*

⁶let me be weighed in a just balance,

and let God know my integrity!—^*

⁷if my step has turned aside from the way,

and my heart has followed my eyes,

and if any spot has clung to my hands,^*

⁸then let me sow and another eat,

and let what grows for me be rooted out.^*

⁹“If my heart has been enticed by a woman

and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door,^*

¹⁰then let my wife grind for another,

and let other men kneel over her.^*

¹¹For that would be a heinous crime;

that would be a criminal offense;^*

¹²for that would be a fire consuming down to Abaddon,

and it would burn to the root all my harvest.^*

¹³“If I have rejected the cause of my male or female slaves,

when they brought a complaint against me,^*

¹⁴what then shall I do when God rises up?

When he makes inquiry, what 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 anything that the poor desired

or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail^*

¹⁷or have eaten my morsel alone

and the orphan has not eaten from it—^*

¹⁸for from my youth I reared the orphan^d like a father,

and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow^e—

¹⁹if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing

or a poor person without covering,

²⁰whose loins have not blessed me,

and who was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;^*

²¹if I have raised my hand against the orphan

because I saw I had supporters at the gate;^*

²²then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder,

and let my arm be broken from its socket.^*

²³For 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,^*

²⁵if I have rejoiced because my wealth was great

or because my hand had gotten much,^*

²⁶if I have looked at the sun^f when it shone

or the moon moving in splendor,^*

²⁷and my heart has been secretly enticed,

and my mouth has kissed my hand,

²⁸this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges,

for I should have been false to God above.^*

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

or exulted when evil overtook them—^*

³⁰I have not let my mouth sin

by asking for their lives with a curse—^*

³¹if those of my tent ever said,

‘O that we might be sated with his flesh!’^g—^*

³²the stranger has not lodged in the street;

I have opened my doors to the traveler—^*

³³if I have concealed my transgressions as others do,^h

by hiding my iniquity in my bosom,^*

³⁴because 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—^*

³⁵O that I had one to hear me!

(Here is my signature! Let the Almightyⁱ answer me!)

O that I had the indictment written by my adversary!^*

³⁶Surely I would carry it on my shoulder;

I would bind it on me like a crown;

³⁷I 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,^*

³⁹if I have eaten its yield without payment

and caused the death of its owners,^*

⁴⁰let thorns grow instead of wheat

and foul weeds instead of barley.”

The words of Job are ended.^*