Job 31
Revised Geneva Translation
31 “I made a covenant with my eyes. Why, then, should I look upon a maid?
2 “What portion is of God from above, and inheritance of the Almighty from on high?
3 “Is it not destruction to the wicked, and strange calamity to the workers of iniquity?
4 “Does He not behold my ways, and tell all my steps,
5 “if I have walked in vanity or if my foot has hurried to deceit?
6 “Let God weigh me in the just balance, and He shall know my uprightness.
7 “If my step has turned out of the way, or my heart has walked after my eye, or if any blot has clung to my hands,
8 “let me sow, and let another eat. Yea, let my plants be rooted out.
9 “If my heart has been deceived by a woman, or if I have laid wait at the door of my neighbor,
10 “let my wife grind to another man, and let other men bow down upon her.
11 “For this is a wickedness, and iniquity, to be condemned.
12 “Yea, this is a fire that shall devour to destruction, and which shall root out all my increase.
13 “If I contemned the judgment of my servant, and of my maid, when they contended with me,
14 “what then shall I do when God stands up? And when He shall visit, what shall I answer?
15 “He Who has made me in the womb, has He not made him? Has not He alone fashioned us in the womb?
16 “If I kept the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
17 “or have eaten my morsels alone, and the fatherless has not eaten of them
18 “(for from my youth has he grown up with me, as with a father, and from my mother’s womb have I been a guide to her).
19 “If I have seen any perish for lack of clothing, or any poor without covering,
20 “if his loins have not thanked me because he was warmed with the fleece of my sheep,
21 “if I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless when I saw that I might help him in the gate,
22 “let my arm fall from my shoulder, and my arm be broken from the bone.
23 “For God’s punishment is fearful to me, and I could not be delivered from His Highness.
24 “If I made gold my hope, or have said to the wedge of gold, ‘You are my confidence,’
25 “if I rejoiced because my substance was great, or because my hand had gotten much,
26 “if I beheld the Sun when it shined, or the Moon walking in brightness,
27 “if my heart flattered me in secret, or if my mouth kissed my hand,
28 “(this also had been an iniquity to be condemned, for I had denied the God above),
29 “if I rejoiced at his destruction who hated me, or was moved to joy when evil came upon him
30 “(no, I have not allowed my mouth to sin by wishing a curse on his soul),
31 “have the men of my Tabernacle not said, ‘Who has not been satisfied with his food?’
32 “The stranger did not lodge in the street. I opened my doors to him who went by the way.
33 “I have hidden my sins, as Adam, concealing my iniquity in my bosom.
34 “Though I feared a great multitude, yet the most contemptible of the families feared me. So I kept silent, and did not go out of the door.
35 “Oh that I had someone to hear me! Behold, my sign that the Almighty will witness for me. Though my adversary would write a book,
36 “would not I take it upon my shoulder and bind it as a crown to me?
37 “I will tell him the number of my goings, and go to him as to a prince.
38 “If my land cries against me, or its furrows complain together,
39 “if I have eaten its fruits without silver, or I have grieved the souls of its masters,
40 “let thistles grow instead of wheat, and stinkweed in the place of barley.” THE WORDS OF JOB ARE ENDED.
Job 31
Holman Christian Standard Bible
31 I have made a covenant with my eyes.(A)
How then could I look at a young woman?[a](B)
2 For what portion(C) would I have from God above,
or what inheritance from the Almighty on high?
3 Doesn’t disaster come to the unjust
and misfortune to evildoers?
4 Does He not see my ways
and number all my steps?(D)
5 If I have walked in falsehood
or my foot has rushed to deceit,
6 let God weigh me in accurate scales,(E)
and He will recognize my integrity.(F)
7 If my step has turned from the way,
my heart has followed my eyes,
or impurity has stained my hands,(G)
8 let someone else eat what I have sown,
and let my crops be uprooted.(H)
9 If my heart has been seduced by my neighbor’s wife
or I have lurked at his door,
10 let my own wife grind grain for another man,
and let other men sleep with[b] her.
11 For that would be a disgrace;
it would be a crime deserving punishment.[c](I)
12 For it is a fire that consumes down to Abaddon;
it would destroy my entire harvest.(J)
13 If I have dismissed the case of my male or female servants
when they made a complaint against me,
14 what could I do when God stands up to judge?
How should I answer Him when He calls me to account?
15 Did not the One who made me in the womb also make them?
Did not the same God form us both in the womb?(K)
16 If I have refused the wishes of the poor
or let the widow’s(L) eyes go blind,
17 if I have eaten my few crumbs alone
without letting the fatherless eat any of it—
18 for from my youth, I raised him as his father,
and since the day I was born[d] I guided the widow—
19 if I have seen anyone dying for lack of clothing
or a needy person without a cloak,(M)
20 if he[e] did not bless me
while warming himself with the fleece from my sheep,
21 if I ever cast my vote[f] against a fatherless child
when I saw that I had support in the city gate,(N)
22 then let my shoulder blade fall from my back,
and my arm be pulled from its socket.
23 For disaster from God terrifies me,
and because of His majesty I could not do these things.(O)
24 If I placed my confidence in gold
or called fine gold my trust,(P)
25 if I have rejoiced because my wealth is great
or because my own hand has acquired so much,
26 if I have gazed at the sun when it was shining
or at the moon moving in splendor,(Q)
27 so that my heart was secretly enticed
and I threw them a kiss,[g]
28 this would also be a crime deserving punishment,
for I would have denied God above.
29 Have I rejoiced over my enemy’s distress,
or become excited when trouble came his way?
30 I have not allowed my mouth to sin
by asking for his life with a curse.
31 Haven’t the members of my household said,
“Who is there who has not had enough to eat at Job’s table?”
32 No stranger had to spend the night on the street,
for I opened my door to the traveler.
33 Have I covered my transgressions(R) as others do[h]
by hiding my guilt in my heart,(S)
34 because I greatly feared the crowds,
and the contempt of the clans terrified me,
so I grew silent and would not go outside?
35 If only I had someone to hear my case!(T)
Here is my signature; let the Almighty answer me.
Let my Opponent compose His indictment.
36 I would surely carry it on my shoulder
and wear it like a crown.(U)
37 I would give Him an account of all my steps;
I would approach Him like a prince.
38 If my land cries out against me
and its furrows join in weeping,
39 if I have consumed its produce without payment
or shown contempt for its tenants,[i]
40 then let thorns(V) grow instead of wheat
and stinkweed(W) instead of barley.
The words of Job are concluded.
Footnotes
- Job 31:1 Or a virgin
- Job 31:10 Lit men kneel down over
- Job 31:11 Lit crime judges
- Job 31:18 Lit and from my mother’s womb
- Job 31:20 Lit his loins
- Job 31:21 Lit I raise my hand
- Job 31:27 Lit and my hand kissed my mouth
- Job 31:33 Or as Adam
- Job 31:39 Lit or caused the breath of its tenants to breathe out
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