17 Although no violence is in my hands,
And my prayer is pure.

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(A)The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord,
But the prayer of the upright is His delight.

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Men and Women in the Church

I desire therefore that the men pray (A)everywhere, (B)lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting;

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But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, (A)let every one turn from his evil way and from (B)the violence that is in his hands.

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(A)Their webs will not become garments,
Nor will they cover themselves with their works;
Their works are works of iniquity,
And the act of violence is in their hands.

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18 (A)If I regard iniquity in my heart,
The Lord will not hear.
19 But certainly God (B)has heard me;
He has attended to the voice of my prayer.

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17 (A)All this has come upon us;
But we have not forgotten You,
Nor have we dealt falsely with Your covenant.
18 Our heart has not turned back,
(B)Nor have our steps departed from Your way;
19 But You have severely broken us in (C)the place of jackals,
And covered us (D)with the shadow of death.

20 If we had forgotten the name of our God,
Or (E)stretched[a] out our hands to a foreign god,
21 (F)Would not God search this out?
For He knows the secrets of the heart.

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 44:20 Worshiped

O Lord my God, (A)if I have done this:
If there is (B)iniquity in my hands,
If I have repaid evil to him who was at peace with me,
Or (C)have plundered my enemy without cause,
Let the enemy pursue me and overtake me;
Yes, let him trample my life to the earth,
And lay my honor in the dust. Selah

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Job Defends His Righteousness

31 “I have made a covenant with my eyes;
Why then should I [a]look upon a (A)young woman?
For what is the (B)allotment of God from above,
And the inheritance of the Almighty from on high?
Is it not destruction for the wicked,
And disaster for the workers of iniquity?
(C)Does He not see my ways,
And count all my steps?

“If I have walked with falsehood,
Or if my foot has hastened to deceit,
[b]Let me be weighed on honest scales,
That God may know my (D)integrity.
If my step has turned from the way,
Or (E)my heart walked after my eyes,
Or if any spot adheres to my hands,
Then (F)let me sow, and another eat;
Yes, let my harvest be [c]rooted out.

“If my heart has been enticed by a woman,
Or if I have lurked at my neighbor’s door,
10 Then let my wife grind for (G)another,
And let others bow down over her.
11 For that would be wickedness;
Yes, (H)it would be iniquity deserving of judgment.
12 For that would be a fire that consumes to destruction,
And would root out all my increase.

13 “If I have (I)despised the cause of my male or female servant
When they complained against me,
14 What then shall I do when (J)God rises up?
When He punishes, how shall I answer Him?
15 (K)Did not He who made me in the womb make them?
Did not the same One fashion us in the womb?

16 “If I have kept the poor from their desire,
Or caused the eyes of the widow to (L)fail,
17 Or eaten my morsel by myself,
So that the fatherless could not eat of it
18 (But from my youth I reared him as a father,
And from my mother’s womb I guided [d]the widow);
19 If I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing,
Or any poor man without covering;
20 If his [e]heart has not (M)blessed me,
And if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;
21 If I have raised my hand (N)against the fatherless,
When I saw I had help in the gate;
22 Then let my arm fall from my shoulder,
Let my arm be torn from the socket.
23 For (O)destruction from God is a terror to me,
And because of His magnificence I cannot endure.

24 “If(P) I have made gold my hope,
Or said to fine gold, ‘You are my confidence’;
25 (Q)If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great,
And because my hand had gained much;
26 (R)If I have observed the [f]sun when it shines,
Or the moon moving in brightness,
27 So that my heart has been secretly enticed,
And my mouth has kissed my hand;
28 This also would be an iniquity deserving of judgment,
For I would have denied God who is above.

29 “If(S) I have rejoiced at the destruction of him who hated me,
Or lifted myself up when evil found him
30 (T)(Indeed I have not allowed my mouth to sin
By asking for a curse on his [g]soul);
31 If the men of my tent have not said,
‘Who is there that has not been satisfied with his meat?’
32 (U)(But no sojourner had to lodge in the street,
For I have opened my doors to the [h]traveler);
33 If I have covered my transgressions (V)as[i] Adam,
By hiding my iniquity in my bosom,
34 Because I feared the great (W)multitude,
And dreaded the contempt of families,
So that I kept silence
And did not go out of the door—
35 (X)Oh, that I had one to hear me!
Here is my mark.
Oh, (Y)that the Almighty would answer me,
That my [j]Prosecutor had written a book!
36 Surely I would carry it on my shoulder,
And bind it on me like a crown;
37 I would declare to Him the number of my steps;
Like a prince I would approach Him.

38 “If my land cries out against me,
And its furrows weep together;
39 If (Z)I have eaten its [k]fruit without money,
Or (AA)caused its owners to lose their lives;
40 Then let (AB)thistles grow instead of wheat,
And weeds instead of barley.”

The words of Job are ended.

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Footnotes

  1. Job 31:1 look intently or gaze
  2. Job 31:6 Lit. Let Him weigh me
  3. Job 31:8 uprooted
  4. Job 31:18 Lit. her
  5. Job 31:20 Lit. loins
  6. Job 31:26 Lit. light
  7. Job 31:30 Or life
  8. Job 31:32 So with LXX, Syr., Tg., Vg.; MT road
  9. Job 31:33 Or as men do
  10. Job 31:35 Lit. Accuser
  11. Job 31:39 Lit. strength

12 Because (A)I delivered the poor who cried out,
The fatherless and the one who had no helper.
13 The blessing of a perishing man came upon me,
And I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.
14 (B)I put on righteousness, and it clothed me;
My justice was like a robe and a turban.
15 I was (C)eyes to the blind,
And I was feet to the lame.
16 I was a father to the poor,
And (D)I searched out the case that I did not know.
17 I broke (E)the fangs of the wicked,
And plucked the victim from his teeth.

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My righteousness I (A)hold fast, and will not let it go;
(B)My heart shall not [a]reproach me as long as I live.

“May my enemy be like the wicked,
And he who rises up against me like the unrighteous.

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Footnotes

  1. Job 27:6 reprove

Is not your wickedness great,
And your iniquity without end?
For you have (A)taken pledges from your brother for no reason,
And stripped the naked of their clothing.
You have not given the weary water to drink,
And you (B)have withheld bread from the hungry.
But the [a]mighty man possessed the land,
And the honorable man dwelt in it.
You have sent widows away empty,
And the [b]strength of the fatherless was crushed.

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Footnotes

  1. Job 22:8 Lit. man of arm
  2. Job 22:9 Lit. arms

27 “Look, I know your thoughts,
And the schemes with which you would wrong me.
28 For you say,
‘Where is the house of the prince?
And where is [a]the tent,
The dwelling place of the wicked?’

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Footnotes

  1. Job 21:28 Vg. omits the tent

34 For the company of hypocrites will be barren,
And fire will consume the tents of bribery.

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20 The wicked man writhes with pain all his days,
(A)And the number of years is hidden from the oppressor.

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14 If iniquity were in your hand, and you put it far away,
And (A)would not let wickedness dwell in your tents;

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(A)If you would earnestly seek God
And make your supplication to the Almighty,
If you were pure and upright,
Surely now He would [a]awake for you,
And prosper your rightful dwelling place.

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Footnotes

  1. Job 8:6 arise

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