h.
Boasting of his uprightness, righteousness, integrity, and perfection
31:1-40
Job 31
:1
31:1
I made a covenant with my eyes;
How then can I
agaze upon a virgin?
Job 31
:2
31:2
What then is the portion from God above,
Or the inheritance of the Almighty on high?
Job 31
:3
31:3
Is it not calamity for the unjust
And misfortune for the workers of iniquity?
Job 31
:4
31:4
Does He not see my ways
And count all my steps?
Job 31
:5
31:5
If I have walked with falsehood,
And my foot has hastened after deceit —
Job 31
:6
31:6
Let Him weigh me in a righteous
abalance,
And let God know my
bintegrity —
Job 31
:7
31:7
If my step has turned from the way,
And my heart has gone after my own eyes,
And if any spot has stuck to my hands;
Job 31
:8
31:8
May I sow and another eat;
Indeed may my produce be rooted up.
Job 31
:9
31:9
If my heart has been enticed into
following after a woman,
Or I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door;
Job 31
:10
31:10
May my wife grind for another,
And may others kneel over her.
Job 31
:11
31:11
For that would have been a heinous act,
And it would be wickedness,
to be punished by the judges.
Job 31
:12
31:12
For it is a fire that devours to
1Abaddon And would root up all my increase.
Job 31
:13
31:13
If I have despised the cause of my servant or my maid
When they contended with me,
Job 31
:14
31:14
What then will I do when God rises up?
And when He visits me, what will I answer Him?
Job 31
:15
31:15
Did not He who made me in the
awomb make him?
And was it not One who fashioned us in the womb?
Job 31
:16
31:16
If I have withheld the poor from
their desire,
Or have let the eyes of the widow fail,
Job 31
:17
31:17
Or have eaten my morsel alone
Without the orphan eating of it —
Job 31
:18
31:18
Rather, from my youth he grew up with me as with a father,
And from my mother’s womb I guided
1the widow —
Job 31
:19
31:19
If I have seen someone perishing from
alack of clothing
Or that the needy had no covering;
Job 31
:20
31:20
If his loins have not blessed me,
And he has not been made warm with the fleece of my sheep;
Job 31
:21
31:21
If I have raised my hand against the orphan
Because I saw that I had support
among those in the gate;
Job 31
:22
31:22
May my shoulder blade fall from the shoulder,
And may my arm be broken at the elbow.
Job 31
:23
31:23
For calamity from God is dreadful to me,
And because of His majesty I can do nothing.
Job 31
:24
31:24
If I have made gold my
ahope,
And have called fine gold my confidence;
Job 31
:25
31:25
If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great
And because my hand had acquired much;
Job 31
:26
31:26
If I have looked at the sun when it shone
Or the moon going on in splendor,
Job 31
:27
31:27
And my heart has been secretly enticed,
And my mouth has kissed my hand;
Job 31
:28
31:28
It too would be wickedness,
to be punished by the judges,
For I would have denied God above.
Job 31
:29
31:29
If I have rejoiced at the misfortune of him who hated me,
Or have exulted when evil found him —
Job 31
:30
31:30
Rather, I have not allowed my mouth to sin
By asking for his life with a curse —
Job 31
:31
31:31
If the men of my tent have not said,
Who can find one who has not been filled with
1our master’s meat? —
Job 31
:32
31:32
The sojourner has not lodged in the street;
I have opened my doors to the highway —
Job 31
:33
31:33
If I have
acovered my transgressions
1as bAdam did
By hiding my iniquity in my bosom,
Job 31
:34
31:34
Because I so dreaded the great multitude,
And the contempt of the families so frightened me,
That I was silent and did not go out
my door —
Job 31
:35
31:35
Oh, that I had someone to hear me!
Here is my signature! Let the Almighty
aanswer me.
And let my accuser write up the charge.
Job 31
:36
31:36
Surely I would carry
1it on my shoulder;
I would bind it onto me like a crown;
Job 31
:37
31:37
I would declare to Him the number of my steps;
Like a prince I would approach Him!
Job 31
:38
31:38
If my land cries out against me,
And its furrows weep together;
Job 31
:39
31:39
If I have eaten its strength without money,
And have caused its owners to lose
their life;
Job 31
:40
31:40
May thorns come forth instead of wheat,
And pungent weeds instead of barley.
The words of Job are
1ended.
