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Book name not found: Job for the version: Nkwa Asem.

31 “I made a covenant with my eyes. Why, then, should I look upon a maid?

“What portion is of God from above, and inheritance of the Almighty from on high?

“Is it not destruction to the wicked, and strange calamity to the workers of iniquity?

“Does He not behold my ways, and tell all my steps,

“if I have walked in vanity or if my foot has hurried to deceit?

“Let God weigh me in the just balance, and He shall know my uprightness.

“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,

“let me sow, and let another eat. Yea, let my plants be rooted out.

“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.

31 “I made a covenant with my eyes(A)
    not to look lustfully at a young woman.(B)
For what is our lot(C) from God above,
    our heritage from the Almighty on high?(D)
Is it not ruin(E) for the wicked,
    disaster(F) for those who do wrong?(G)
Does he not see my ways(H)
    and count my every step?(I)

“If I have walked with falsehood
    or my foot has hurried after deceit(J)
let God weigh me(K) in honest scales(L)
    and he will know that I am blameless(M)
if my steps have turned from the path,(N)
    if my heart has been led by my eyes,
    or if my hands(O) have been defiled,(P)
then may others eat what I have sown,(Q)
    and may my crops be uprooted.(R)

“If my heart has been enticed(S) by a woman,(T)
    or if I have lurked at my neighbor’s door,
10 then may my wife grind(U) another man’s grain,
    and may other men sleep with her.(V)
11 For that would have been wicked,(W)
    a sin to be judged.(X)
12 It is a fire(Y) that burns to Destruction[a];(Z)
    it would have uprooted my harvest.(AA)

13 “If I have denied justice to any of my servants,(AB)
    whether male or female,
    when they had a grievance against me,(AC)
14 what will I do when God confronts me?(AD)
    What will I answer when called to account?(AE)
15 Did not he who made me in the womb make them?(AF)
    Did not the same one form us both within our mothers?(AG)

16 “If I have denied the desires of the poor(AH)
    or let the eyes of the widow(AI) grow weary,(AJ)
17 if I have kept my bread to myself,
    not sharing it with the fatherless(AK)
18 but from my youth I reared them as a father would,
    and from my birth I guided the widow(AL)
19 if I have seen anyone perishing for lack of clothing,(AM)
    or the needy(AN) without garments,
20 and their hearts did not bless me(AO)
    for warming them with the fleece(AP) from my sheep,
21 if I have raised my hand against the fatherless,(AQ)
    knowing that I had influence in court,(AR)
22 then let my arm fall from the shoulder,
    let it be broken off at the joint.(AS)
23 For I dreaded destruction from God,(AT)
    and for fear of his splendor(AU) I could not do such things.(AV)

24 “If I have put my trust in gold(AW)
    or said to pure gold, ‘You are my security,’(AX)
25 if I have rejoiced over my great wealth,(AY)
    the fortune my hands had gained,(AZ)
26 if I have regarded the sun(BA) in its radiance
    or the moon(BB) moving in splendor,
27 so that my heart was secretly enticed(BC)
    and my hand offered them a kiss of homage,(BD)
28 then these also would be sins to be judged,(BE)
    for I would have been unfaithful to God on high.(BF)

29 “If I have rejoiced at my enemy’s misfortune(BG)
    or gloated over the trouble that came to him(BH)
30 I have not allowed my mouth to sin
    by invoking a curse against their life(BI)
31 if those of my household have never said,
    ‘Who has not been filled with Job’s meat?’(BJ)
32 but no stranger had to spend the night in the street,
    for my door was always open to the traveler(BK)
33 if I have concealed(BL) my sin as people do,[b]
    by hiding(BM) my guilt in my heart
34 because I so feared the crowd(BN)
    and so dreaded the contempt of the clans
    that I kept silent(BO) and would not go outside—

35 (“Oh, that I had someone to hear me!(BP)
    I sign now my defense—let the Almighty answer me;
    let my accuser(BQ) put his indictment in writing.
36 Surely I would wear it on my shoulder,(BR)
    I would put it on like a crown.(BS)
37 I would give him an account of my every step;(BT)
    I would present it to him as to a ruler.(BU))—

38 “if my land cries out against me(BV)
    and all its furrows are wet(BW) with tears,
39 if I have devoured its yield without payment(BX)
    or broken the spirit of its tenants,(BY)
40 then let briers(BZ) come up instead of wheat
    and stinkweed(CA) instead of barley.”

The words of Job are ended.(CB)

Footnotes

  1. Job 31:12 Hebrew Abaddon
  2. Job 31:33 Or as Adam did