Job 31
Authorized (King James) Version
31 I made a covenant with mine eyes;
why then should I think upon a maid?
2 For what portion of God is there from above?
and what inheritance of the Almighty from on high?
3 Is not destruction to the wicked?
and a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity?
4 Doth not he see my ways,
and count all my steps?
5 If I have walked with vanity,
or if my foot hath hasted to deceit;
6 let me be weighed in an even balance,
that God may know mine integrity.
7 If my step hath turned out of the way,
and mine heart walked after mine eyes,
and if any blot hath cleaved to mine hands;
8 then let me sow, and let another eat;
yea, let my offspring be rooted out.
9 If mine heart have been deceived by a woman,
or if I have laid wait at my neighbour’s door;
10 then let my wife grind unto another,
and let others bow down upon her.
11 For this is an heinous crime;
yea, it is an iniquity to be punished by the judges.
12 For it is a fire that consumeth to destruction,
and would root out all mine increase.
13 If I did despise the cause of my manservant or of my maidservant,
when they contended with me;
14 what then shall I do when God riseth up?
and when he visiteth, what shall I answer him?
15 Did not he that made me in the womb make him?
and did not one fashion us in the womb?
16 If I have withheld the poor from their desire,
or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail;
17 or have eaten my morsel myself alone,
and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof;
18 (for from my youth he was brought up with me, as with a father,
and I have guided her from my mother’s womb;)
19 if I have seen any perish for want of clothing,
or any poor without covering;
20 if his loins have not blessed me,
and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;
21 if I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless,
when I saw my help in the gate:
22 then let mine arm fall from my shoulder blade,
and mine arm be broken from the bone.
23 For destruction from God was a terror to me,
and by reason of his highness I could not endure.
24 If I have made gold my hope,
or have said to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence;
25 if I rejoiced because my wealth was great,
and because mine hand had gotten much;
26 if I beheld the sun when it shined,
or the moon walking in brightness;
27 and my heart hath been secretly enticed,
or my mouth hath kissed my hand:
28 this also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge:
for I should have denied the God that is above.
29 If I rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me,
or lifted up myself when evil found him:
30 neither have I suffered my mouth to sin
by wishing a curse to his soul.
31 If the men of my tabernacle said not,
Oh that we had of his flesh! we cannot be satisfied.
32 The stranger did not lodge in the street:
but I opened my doors to the traveller.
33 If I covered my transgressions as Adam,
by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom:
34 did I fear a great multitude,
or did the contempt of families terrify me,
that I kept silence, and went not out of the door?
35 Oh that one would hear me!
behold, my desire is, that the Almighty would answer me,
and that mine adversary had written a book.
36 Surely I would take it upon my shoulder,
and bind it as a crown to me.
37 I would declare unto him the number of my steps;
as a prince would I go near unto him.
38 If my land cry against me,
or that the furrows likewise thereof complain;
39 if I have eaten the fruits thereof without money,
or have caused the owners thereof to lose their life:
40 let thistles grow instead of wheat,
and cockle instead of barley.
The words of Job are ended.
Job 31
New Living Translation
Job’s Final Protest of Innocence
31 “I made a covenant with my eyes
not to look with lust at a young woman.
2 For what has God above chosen for us?
What is our inheritance from the Almighty on high?
3 Isn’t it calamity for the wicked
and misfortune for those who do evil?
4 Doesn’t he see everything I do
and every step I take?
5 “Have I lied to anyone
or deceived anyone?
6 Let God weigh me on the scales of justice,
for he knows my integrity.
7 If I have strayed from his pathway,
or if my heart has lusted for what my eyes have seen,
or if I am guilty of any other sin,
8 then let someone else eat the crops I have planted.
Let all that I have planted be uprooted.
9 “If my heart has been seduced by a woman,
or if I have lusted for my neighbor’s wife,
10 then let my wife serve[a] another man;
let other men sleep with her.
11 For lust is a shameful sin,
a crime that should be punished.
12 It is a fire that burns all the way to hell.[b]
It would wipe out everything I own.
13 “If I have been unfair to my male or female servants
when they brought their complaints to me,
14 how could I face God?
What could I say when he questioned me?
15 For God created both me and my servants.
He created us both in the womb.
16 “Have I refused to help the poor,
or crushed the hopes of widows?
17 Have I been stingy with my food
and refused to share it with orphans?
18 No, from childhood I have cared for orphans like a father,
and all my life I have cared for widows.
19 Whenever I saw the homeless without clothes
and the needy with nothing to wear,
20 did they not praise me
for providing wool clothing to keep them warm?
21 “If I raised my hand against an orphan,
knowing the judges would take my side,
22 then let my shoulder be wrenched out of place!
Let my arm be torn from its socket!
23 That would be better than facing God’s judgment.
For if the majesty of God opposes me, what hope is there?
24 “Have I put my trust in money
or felt secure because of my gold?
25 Have I gloated about my wealth
and all that I own?
26 “Have I looked at the sun shining in the skies,
or the moon walking down its silver pathway,
27 and been secretly enticed in my heart
to throw kisses at them in worship?
28 If so, I should be punished by the judges,
for it would mean I had denied the God of heaven.
29 “Have I ever rejoiced when disaster struck my enemies,
or become excited when harm came their way?
30 No, I have never sinned by cursing anyone
or by asking for revenge.
31 “My servants have never said,
‘He let others go hungry.’
32 I have never turned away a stranger
but have opened my doors to everyone.
33 “Have I tried to hide my sins like other people do,
concealing my guilt in my heart?
34 Have I feared the crowd
or the contempt of the masses,
so that I kept quiet and stayed indoors?
35 “If only someone would listen to me!
Look, I will sign my name to my defense.
Let the Almighty answer me.
Let my accuser write out the charges against me.
36 I would face the accusation proudly.
I would wear it like a crown.
37 For I would tell him exactly what I have done.
I would come before him like a prince.
38 “If my land accuses me
and all its furrows cry out together,
39 or if I have stolen its crops
or murdered its owners,
40 then let thistles grow on that land instead of wheat,
and weeds instead of barley.”
Job’s words are ended.
KJV reproduced by permission of Cambridge University Press, the Crown’s patentee in the UK.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
