Job 31
1 I made a covenant with my eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?
I vowed to myself never to look with desire at young women.
2 For what portion of God is there from above? and what inheritance of the Almighty from on high?
What should people expect to receive from God? What reward should the Almighty on high give them?
3 Is not destruction to the wicked? and a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity?
Isn't it disaster for the wicked and destruction for those who do wrong?
4 Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps?
Doesn't God see everything I do—even count every step I take?
5 If I have walked with vanity, or if my foot hath hasted to deceit;
Have I lived a deceitful life? Have I been eager to tell lies?
6 Let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know my integrity.
No! Let God weigh me on the scales of his justice and let him discover my integrity.
7 If my step hath turned out of the way, and my heart walked after my eyes, and if any blot hath cleaved to my hands;
If I have wandered from God's way, if I have let what I see become my desires, if there's any stain of sin on my hands,
8 Then let me sow, and let another eat; yea, let my offspring be rooted out.
then let someone else eat what I have sown, and all that I have grown be uprooted.
9 If my heart hath been deceived by a woman, or if I have laid wait at my neighbour’s door;
If a woman has seduced me, or if I have looked for an opportunity to sleep with my neighbor's wife,
10 Then let my wife grind to another, and let others bow down upon her.
then let my wife serve another, let other men sleep with her.
11 For this is an heinous crime; yea, it is an iniquity to be punished by the judges.
For that would be wicked, a sin deserving punishment,
12 For it is a fire that consumeth to destruction, and would root out all my increase.
for this sin is like a fire that leads to destruction, destroying everything I have.
13 If I despised the cause of my male or female servant, when they contended with me;
If I had refused to listen to my menservants or maidservants when they brought their complaints to me,
14 What then shall I do when God riseth up? and when he visiteth, what shall I answer him?
what would I do when God came to judge me? How would I reply if he investigated me?
15 Did not he that made me in the womb make him? and did not one fashion us in the womb?
Didn't the same God make all of us?
16 If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail;
Have I refused to give the poor what they needed, or caused widows to despair?
17 Or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten of it;
Have I even eaten just a piece of bread by myself? Haven't I always shared my food with orphans?
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; )
From when I was young I was a father to orphans and took care of widows.
19 If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or any poor without covering;
If ever I saw someone needing clothes, the poor without anything to wear,
20 If his loins have not blessed me, and if he hath not been warmed with the fleece of my sheep;
they always thanked me for the wool clothing that kept them warm.
21 If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, when I saw my help in the gate:
If I raised my hand to hit an orphan, confident that if it came to court the judges would be on my side,
22 Then let my arm fall from my shoulder blade, and my arm be broken from the bone.
then let my shoulder be pulled from its joint, my arm wrenched out of its socket.
23 For destruction from God was a terror to me, and by reason of his highness I could not endure.
Since I'm terrified of what punishment God may have in store for me, and because of his majesty, I could never do this.
24 If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence;
Have I put my trust in gold, calling fine gold, ‘My security’?
25 If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because my hand had gained much;
Have I delighted in being rich, happy at all my wealth I had gained?
26 If I have beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness;
Have I looked at the sun shining so brilliantly or the moon moving in majesty across the sky
27 And my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand:
and been tempted to secretly worship them by kissing my hand to them in devotion?
28 This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have denied the God that is above.
This too would be a sin deserving punishment for it would mean I had denied God above.
29 If I have rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me, or have lifted up myself when evil found him:
Have I ever been happy when disaster destroyed those who hated me, or celebrated when evil took them down?
30 Neither have I allowed my mouth to sin by wishing a curse to his soul.
I have never allowed my mouth to sin by putting a curse on someone's life.
31 If the men of my tent have not said, O that we had of his flesh! we cannot be satisfied.
Haven't my family asked, ‘Is there anyone who has not eaten as much as they wanted of his food?’
32 The stranger did not lodge in the street: but I opened my doors to the traveller.
I have never let strangers sleep in the street; I have opened my doors to travelers.
33 If I have covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding my iniquity in my bosom:
Have I concealed my sins from others, hiding my wrongdoing deep inside me?
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?
Was I afraid of what everybody else would think, scared of the contempt families would show me, so that I kept quiet and didn't go outside?
35 O that one would hear me! behold, my desire is, that the Almighty would answer me, and that my adversary had written a book.
Why won't anyone listen to what I'm saying! I'm signing my name to endorse everything I've said. Let the Almighty answer me. Let my accuser write down what he is charging me with.
36 Surely I would take it upon my shoulder, and bind it as a crown to me.
I would hold them up high; I would wear them on my head like a crown.
37 I would declare to him the number of my steps; as a prince would I go near to him.
I would explain to him everything I'd done; I would hold my head high before him.
38 If my land crieth against me, or its furrows likewise complain;
If my land has cried out against me; if her furrows have wept over me;
39 If I have eaten the fruits of it without money, or have caused its owners to lose their life:
if I have taken its crops without payment or if I have caused harm to the farmers;
40 Let thistles grow instead of wheat, and weeds instead of barley. The words of Job are ended.
then let thorns grow instead of wheat, and weeds instead of barley.” The words of Job are ended.
