| 1 | I dictated a covenant (an agreement) to my eyes; how then could I look [lustfully] upon a girl? |
| 2 | For what portion should I have from God above [if I were lewd], and what heritage from the Almighty on high? |
| 3 | Does not calamity [justly] befall the unrighteous, and disaster the workers of iniquity? |
| 4 | Does not [God] see my ways and count all my steps? |
| 5 | If I have walked with falsehood
or
vanity, or if my foot has hastened to deceit— |
| 6 | Oh, let me be weighed in a just balance
and
let Him weigh me, that God may know my integrity! |
| 7 | If my step has turned out of [God’s] way, and my heart has gone the way my eyes [covetously] invited, and if any spot has stained my hands with guilt, |
| 8 | Then let me sow and let another eat; yes, let the produce of my field
or
my offspring be rooted out. |
| 9 | If my heart has been deceived
and
I made a fool by a woman, or if I have [covetously] laid wait at my neighbor’s door [until his departure], |
| 10 | Then let my wife grind [meal, like a bondslave] for another, and let others bow down upon her. |
| 11 | For [adultery] is a heinous
and
chief crime, an iniquity [to demand action by] the judges
and
punishment. |
| 12 | For [uncontrolled passion] is a fire which consumes to Abaddon (to destruction, ruin, and the place of final torment); [that fire once lighted would rage until all is consumed] and would burn to the root all my [life’s] increase. |
| 13 | If I have despised
and
rejected the cause of my manservant or my maidservant when they contended
or
brought a complaint against me, |
| 14 | What then shall I do when God rises up [to judge]? When He visits [to inquire of me], what shall I answer Him? |
| 15 | Did not He Who made me in the womb make [my servant]? And did not One fashion us both in the womb? |
| 16 | If I have withheld from the poor
and
needy what they desired, or have caused the eyes of the widow to look in vain [for relief], |
| 17 | Or have eaten my morsel alone and have not shared it with the fatherless— |
| 18 | No, but from my youth [the fatherless] grew up with me as a father, and I have been [the widow’s] guide from my mother’s womb— |
| 19 | If I have seen anyone perish for want of clothing, or any poor person without covering, |
| 20 | If his loins have not blessed me [for clothing them], and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep, |
| 21 | If I have lifted my hand against the fatherless when I saw [that the judges would be favorable and be] my help at the [council] gate, |
| 22 | Then let my shoulder fall away from my shoulder blade, and my arm be broken from its socket. |
| 23 | For calamity from God was a terror to me, and because of His majesty I could not endure [to face Him]
and
could do nothing. |
| 24 | If I have made gold my trust
and
hope or have said to fine gold, You are my confidence, |
| 25 | If I rejoiced because my wealth was great and because my [powerful] hand [alone] had gotten much, |
| 26 | If I beheld [as an object of worship] the sunlight when it shone or the moon walking in its brightness, |
| 27 | And my heart has been secretly enticed by them or my mouth has kissed my hand [in homage to them], |
| 28 | This also would have been [a heinous and principal] iniquity to demand the judges’ action
and
punishment, for I would have denied
and
been false to the God Who is above. |
| 29 | If I rejoiced at the destruction of him who hated me or lifted myself up [in malicious triumph] when evil overtook him— |
| 30 | No, I have let my mouth sin neither by cursing my enemy nor by praying that he might die— |
| 31 | [Just ask] if the men of my tent will not say, Who can find one in need who has not been satisfied with food he gave them?— |
| 32 | The temporary resident has not lodged in the street, but I have opened my door to the wayfaring man— |
| 33 | If like Adam
or
like [other] men I have concealed my transgressions, by hiding my iniquity in my bosom |
| 34 | Because I feared the great multitude and the contempt of families terrified me so that I kept silence and did not go out of the door— |
| 35 | Oh, for a hearing! Oh, for an answer from the Almighty! Let my adversary write out His indictment [and put His vague accusations in tangible form] in a book! |
| 36 | Surely I would [proudly] bear it on my shoulder and wind the scroll about my head as a diadem. |
| 37 | I would count out to Him the number of my steps [with every detail of my life], approaching His presence as a prince— |
| 38 | For if my land has cried out against me and its furrows have complained together with tears [that I have no right to them], |
| 39 | If I have eaten its fruits without paying for them or have caused its [rightful] owners to breathe their last, |
| 40 | Let thistles grow instead of wheat and cockleburs instead of barley. The [controversial] words of Job [with his friends] are ended. |
Cross references:
-
Job 31:11 : Deut. 22:22; John 8:5.
-
Job 31:14 : Ps. 44:21.
-
Job 31:15 : Prov. 14:31; 22:2; Mal. 2:10.
-
Job 31:23 : Isa. 13:6; Joel 1:15.
-
Job 31:28 : Deut. 4:19; 17:2-7.
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