Job 31

Lust

¹I’ve made a covenant with my eyes; how could I look at a virgin?

²What is God’s portion for me from above, the Almighty’s inheritance from on high?

³Isn’t it disaster for the wicked, destruction for workers of iniquity?

⁴Doesn’t he see my ways, count all my steps?

Deceit

⁵If I have walked with frauds or my feet have hurried to deceit,

⁶let him weigh me on accurate scales; let God know my integrity.

⁷If my step has turned from the way, if my heart has followed my eyes or a blemish has clung to my hands,

⁸then let me sow and another reap; let my offspring be uprooted.

Adultery

⁹If my heart has been drawn to a woman and I have lurked at my neighbor’s door,

¹⁰then may my wife grind for another and others kneel over her;

¹¹for that’s a crime; it’s a punishable offense;

¹²indeed, it’s a fire that consumes to the underworld, uprooting all my harvest.

Slaves

¹³If I’ve rejected the just cause of my male or female servant when they contended with me,

¹⁴what could I do when God rises; when he requires an account, what could I answer?

¹⁵Didn’t the one who made me in the belly make them; didn’t the same one fashion us in the womb?

The defenseless

¹⁶If I have denied what the poor wanted, made a widow’s eyes tired,

¹⁷eaten my morsel alone, and not shared any with an orphan (

¹⁸for from my youth I raised the orphan as a father, and from my mother’s womb I led the widow);

¹⁹if I ever saw someone dying without clothes, the needy naked;

²⁰if they haven’t blessed me fervently, or if they weren’t warmed by the wool from my sheep;

²¹if I have lifted my hand against the orphans, when I saw that I had help in the city gate—

²²may my arm fall from my shoulder, my forearm be broken at the elbow—

²³for God’s calamity is terror to me; I couldn’t endure his splendor.

False worship

²⁴If I’ve made gold my trust, said to fine gold: “My security!”

²⁵if I’ve rejoiced because my wealth was great, when my hand found plenty;

²⁶if I’ve looked at the sun when it shone, the moon, splendid as it moved;

²⁷and my mind has been secretly enticed, and threw a kiss with my hand,

²⁸that also is a punishable offense, because I would then be disloyal to God above.

Other’s misfortune

²⁹If I have rejoiced over my foes’ ruin or was excited when evil found them,

³⁰I didn’t let my mouth sin by asking for their life with a curse.

³¹Surely those in my tent never said: “Who has been filled by Job’s food?”

³²A stranger didn’t spend the night in the street; I opened my doors to the road.

Concealing sin

³³If I have hidden my transgressions like Adam, concealing my offenses inside me

³⁴because I feared the large crowd; the clan’s contempt frightened me; I was quiet and didn’t venture outside.

Sealing the solemn pledge

³⁵Oh, that I had someone to hear me! Here’s my signature; let the Almighty respond, and let my accuser write an indictment.

³⁶Surely I would bear it on my shoulder, tie it around me like a wreath.

³⁷I would give him an account of my steps, approach him like a prince.

Abuse of the land

³⁸If my land has cried out against me, its rows wept together;

³⁹if I have eaten its yield without payment and caused its owners grief,

⁴⁰may briars grow instead of wheat, poisonous weeds instead of barley. Job’s words are complete.