31ST CHAPTER

Job Wonders What Sin He May Have Committed

1  “I have made an agreement with my eyes. 

Then how can I look with lust at a virgin? 

2  What would God above do ⸤to me⸥? 

What would be my inheritance from the Almighty on high? 

3  Aren’t there catastrophes for wicked people 

and disasters for those who do wrong? 

4  Doesn’t he see my ways 

and count all my steps? 

5  “If I have walked with lies 

or my feet have run after deception, 

6  ⸤then⸥ let God weigh me on honest scales, 

and he will know I have integrity. 

7  “If my steps have left the ⸤proper⸥ path, 

or my heart has followed ⸤the desire of⸥ my eyes, 

or my hands are stained ⸤with sin⸥, 

8  ⸤then⸥ let someone else eat what I have planted, 

and let my crops be uprooted. 

9  “If I have been seduced by a woman 

or I have secretly waited near my neighbor’s door, 

10  ⸤then⸥ let my wife grind for another ⸤man⸥, 

and let other ⸤men⸥ kneel over her. 

11  That would be a scandal, 

and that would be a criminal offense. 

12  It would be a fire that burns even in Abaddon. 

It would uproot my entire harvest. 

13  “If I have abused the rights of my servants, male or female, 

when they have disagreed with me, 

14  then what could I do if God rises up? 

If he examines me, how could I answer him? 

15  Didn’t he who made me in my mother’s belly make them? 

Didn’t the same God form us in the womb? 

16  “If I have refused the requests of the poor 

or made a widow’s eyes stop ⸤looking for help⸥, 

17  or have eaten my food alone 

without letting the orphan eat any of it.… 

18  (From my youth the orphan grew up with me 

as though I were his father, 

and from my birth I treated the widow kindly.) 

19  If I have seen anyone die because he had no clothes 

or a poor person going naked.… 

20  (If his body didn’t bless me, 

or the wool from my sheep didn’t keep him warm.…) 

21  If I have shaken my fist at an orphan 

because I knew that others would back me up in court, 

22  ⸤then⸥ let my shoulder fall out of its socket, 

and let my arm be broken at the elbow. 

23  “A disaster from God terrifies me. 

In the presence of his majesty I can do nothing. 

24  “If I put my confidence in gold 

or said to fine gold, ‘I trust you’.… 

25  If I enjoyed being very rich 

because my hand had found great ⸤wealth⸥.… 

26  If I saw the light shine 

or the moon move along in its splendor 

27  so that my heart was secretly tempted, 

and I threw them a kiss with my hand, 

28  then that, too, would be a criminal offense, 

and I would have denied God above. 

29  “If I enjoyed the ruin of my enemy 

or celebrated when harm came to him 

30  (even though I didn’t speak sinfully 

by calling down a curse on his life).… 

31  “If the people who were in my tent had said, 

‘We wish we had never filled ⸤our stomachs⸥ with his food’.… 

32  (The visitor never spent the night outside, 

because I opened my door to the traveler.) 

33  “If I have covered my disobedience like Adam 

and kept my sin to myself, 

34  because I dreaded the large, noisy crowd 

and because the contempt of the ⸤local⸥ mobs terrified me 

so that I kept quiet and didn’t go outside.… 

35  “If only I had someone who would listen to me! 

Look, here is my signature! 

Let the Almighty answer me. 

Let the prosecutor write ⸤his complaint⸥ on a scroll. 

36  I would certainly carry it on my shoulder 

and place it on my head like a crown. 

37  I would tell him the number of my steps 

and approach him like a prince. 

38  “If my land has cried out against me, 

and its furrows have wept.… 

39  If I have eaten its produce without paying for it 

and made its owners breathe their last, 

40  ⸤then⸥ let it grow thistles instead of wheat, 

and foul-smelling weeds instead of barley.” 

This is the end of Job’s words.