NRSV Job 31 Chapter
31:1
"I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I look upon a virgin?
31:2
What would be my portion from God above, and my heritage from the Almighty on high?
31:3
Does not calamity befall the unrighteous, and disaster the workers of iniquity?
31:4
Does he not see my ways, and number all my steps?
31:5
"If I have walked with falsehood, and my foot has hurried to deceit--
31:6
let me be weighed in a just balance, and let God know my integrity!--
31:7
if my step has turned aside from the way, and my heart has followed my eyes, and if any spot has clung to my hands;
31:8
then let me sow, and another eat; and let what grows for me be rooted out.
31:9
"If my heart has been enticed by a woman, and I have lain in wait at my neighbor's door;
31:10
then let my wife grind for another, and let other men kneel over her.
31:11
For that would be a heinous crime; that would be a criminal offense;
31:12
for that would be a fire consuming down to Abaddon, and it would burn to the root all my harvest.
31:13
"If I have rejected the cause of my male or female slaves, when they brought a complaint against me;
31:14
what then shall I do when God rises up? When he makes inquiry, what shall I answer him?
31:15
Did not he who made me in the womb make them? And did not one fashion us in the womb?
31:16
"If I have withheld anything that the poor desired, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
31:17
or have eaten my morsel alone, and the orphan has not eaten from it--
31:18
for from my youth I reared the orphan like a father, and from my mother's womb I guided the widow--
31:19
if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing, or a poor person without covering,
31:20
whose loins have not blessed me, and who was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;
31:21
if I have raised my hand against the orphan, because I saw I had supporters at the gate;
31:22
then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder, and let my arm be broken from its socket.
31:23
For I was in terror of calamity from God, and I could not have faced his majesty.
31:24
"If I have made gold my trust, or called fine gold my confidence;
31:25
if I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, or because my hand had gotten much;
31:26
if I have looked at the sun when it shone, or the moon moving in splendor,
31:27
and my heart has been secretly enticed, and my mouth has kissed my hand;
31:28
this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges, for I should have been false to God above.
31:29
"If I have rejoiced at the ruin of those who hated me, or exulted when evil overtook them--
31:30
I have not let my mouth sin by asking for their lives with a curse--
31:31
if those of my tent ever said, 'O that we might be sated with his flesh!'--
31:32
the stranger has not lodged in the street; I have opened my doors to the traveler--
31:33
if I have concealed my transgressions as others do, by hiding my iniquity in my bosom,
31:34
because I stood in great fear of the multitude, and the contempt of families terrified me, so that I kept silence, and did not go out of doors--
31:35
Oh, that I had one to hear me! (Here is my signature! let the Almighty answer me!) Oh, that I had the indictment written by my adversary!
31:36
Surely I would carry it on my shoulder; I would bind it on me like a crown;
31:37
I would give him an account of all my steps; like a prince I would approach him.
31:38
"If my land has cried out against me, and its furrows have wept together;
31:39
if I have eaten its yield without payment, and caused the death of its owners;
31:40
let thorns grow instead of wheat, and foul weeds instead of barley." The words of Job are ended.