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In this speech, Job is actually recording his deposition; he is calling God to come answer the charges he is laying out. Using a rigid format, Job explains away eight areas of potential sin in his life. So certain is Job that he is innocent of wickedness, he actually pronounces curses upon himself if the all-knowing God finds him guilty of any of the sins. This ethereal courtroom procedure would be like any human going to a court to explain how he did not violate the law of the land and prefacing his testimony with a proposed sentence of the death penalty if the judgment goes against him. Job will soon learn that it is never appropriate to assume he knows more about justice than God, the very author of justice.

Job: If I have walked alongside lies
        or if my feet have rushed toward deception,
    Then let God weigh me on a truly balanced set of scales.
        He will know and see my integrity.
    If my steps have veered off God’s prescribed path
        or if my heart has followed any of the evil my eyes have seen
        or if my hands are soiled,
    Then let me sow, but then let another one eat the produce!
        Let my sprouts be pulled up by their roots!

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“If I have walked with falsehood
    or my foot has hurried after deceit(A)
let God weigh me(B) in honest scales(C)
    and he will know that I am blameless(D)
if my steps have turned from the path,(E)
    if my heart has been led by my eyes,
    or if my hands(F) have been defiled,(G)
then may others eat what I have sown,(H)
    and may my crops be uprooted.(I)

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