1‘I made an agreement with my eyes. I promised not to look at a young woman with impure thoughts.2What do we receive from God above? What do we get from the Mighty One in heaven?3Sinful people are destroyed. Trouble comes to those who do what is wrong.4Doesn’t God see how I live? Doesn’t he count every step I take?5‘I haven’t told any lies. My feet haven’t hurried to cheat others.6So let God weigh me in honest scales. Then he’ll know I haven’t done anything wrong.7Suppose my steps have turned away from the right path. Suppose my heart has wanted what my eyes have seen. Or suppose my hands have become “unclean”.8Then may others eat what I’ve planted. May my crops be pulled up by the roots.9‘Suppose my heart has been tempted by a woman. Or suppose I’ve prowled around my neighbour’s home.10Then may my wife grind another man’s corn. May other men sleep with her.11Wanting another woman would have been an evil thing. It would have been a sin that should be judged.12It’s like a fire that burns down to the grave. It would have caused my crops to be pulled up by the roots.13‘Suppose I haven’t treated any of my male and female servants fairly when they’ve brought charges against me.14Then what will I do when God opposes me? What answer will I give him when he asks me to explain myself?15Didn’t he who made me make my servants also? Didn’t the same God form us inside our mothers?16‘I haven’t said no to what poor people have wanted. I haven’t let widows lose their hope.17I haven’t kept my bread to myself. I’ve shared it with children whose fathers had died.18From the time I was young, I’ve helped those widows. I’ve raised those children as a father would.19Suppose I’ve seen people dying because they didn’t have enough clothes. I’ve seen needy people who didn’t have enough to keep warm.20And they didn’t give me their blessing when I warmed them with wool from my sheep.21Suppose I’ve raised my hand against children whose fathers have died. And I did it because I knew I had power in the courts.22Then let my arm fall from my shoulder. Let it be broken off at the joint.23I was afraid God would destroy me. His glory terrifies me. So I’d never do things like that.24‘Suppose I’ve put my trust in gold. I’ve said to pure gold, “You make me feel secure.”25And I’m happy because I’m so wealthy. I’m glad because my hands have earned so much.26Suppose I’ve worshipped the sun in all its glory. I’ve bowed down to the moon in all its beauty.27My heart has been secretly tempted. My hand has thrown kisses to the sun and moon.28Then these things would have been sins that should be judged. And I wouldn’t have been faithful to God in heaven.29‘I wasn’t happy when hard times came to my enemies. I didn’t enjoy seeing the trouble they had.30I didn’t allow my mouth to sin by asking for bad things to happen to them.31The workers in my house always said, “Job always gives plenty of food to everyone.”32No stranger ever had to spend the night in the street. My door was always open to travellers.33I didn’t hide my sin as other people do. I didn’t hide my guilt in my heart.34I was never afraid of the crowd. I never worried that my relatives might hate me. I didn’t have to keep quiet or stay inside.35‘I wish someone would listen to me! I’m signing my name to everything I’ve said. I hope the Mighty One will give me his answer. I hope the one who brings charges against me will write them down.36I’ll wear them on my shoulder. I’ll put them on my head like a crown.37I’ll give that person a report of every step I take. I’ll present it to him like I would to a ruler.38‘Suppose my land cries out against me. And all its soil is wet with tears.39Suppose I’ve used up its crops without paying for them. Or I’ve broken the spirit of its tenants.40Then let thorns grow instead of wheat. Let stinkweed come up instead of barley.’ The words of Job end here.
Job 31
English Standard Version
Job’s Final Appeal
1“I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin? (Isa 33:15; Mt 5:28)2What would be my portion from God above and my heritage from the Almighty on high? (Job 20:29)3Is not calamity for the unrighteous, and disaster for the workers of iniquity?4Does not he see my ways and number all my steps? (2Ch 16:9; Job 14:16; Job 34:21; Pr 5:21; Pr 15:3; Jer 16:17; Jer 32:19; Zec 4:10)5“If I have walked with falsehood and my foot has hastened to deceit;6(Let me be weighed in a just balance, and let God know my integrity!) (Da 5:27)7if my step has turned aside from the way and my heart has gone after my eyes, and if any spot has stuck to my hands, (Nu 15:39; Job 11:15; Ec 11:9)8then let me sow, and another eat, and let what grows for me[1] be rooted out. (Le 26:16; De 28:30; De 28:38; Joh 4:37)9“If my heart has been enticed toward a woman, and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door, (Job 24:15)10then let my wife grind for another, and let others bow down on her. (Ex 11:5; 2Sa 12:11; Isa 47:2; Jer 8:10)11For that would be a heinous crime; that would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges; (Le 20:10; De 22:22; Job 31:28)12for that would be a fire that consumes as far as Abaddon, and it would burn to the root all my increase. (Pr 6:27)13“If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or my maidservant, when they brought a complaint against me,14what then shall I do when God rises up? When he makes inquiry, what shall I answer him? (Ps 17:3)15Did not he who made me in the womb make him? And did not one fashion us in the womb? (Job 34:19; Pr 14:31; Pr 22:2; Eph 6:9)16“If I have withheld anything that the poor desired, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail, (Job 11:20; Job 17:5; Job 22:7)17or have eaten my morsel alone, and the fatherless has not eaten of it18(for from my youth the fatherless[2] grew up with me as with a father, and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow[3]),19if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing, or the needy without covering, (Job 24:7; Job 24:10; Job 29:13)20if his body has not blessed me,[4] and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep, (De 24:13; Job 29:13)21if I have raised my hand against the fatherless, because I saw my help in the gate, (Job 5:4; Job 22:9)22then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder, and let my arm be broken from its socket.23For I was in terror of calamity from God, and I could not have faced his majesty. (Job 13:11)24“If I have made gold my trust or called fine gold my confidence, (Job 4:6; Job 28:16; Mr 10:24)25if I have rejoiced because my wealth was abundant or because my hand had found much, (De 8:17; Ps 62:10)26if I have looked at the sun[5] when it shone, or the moon moving in splendor, (De 4:19; De 17:3; 2Ki 23:5; 2Ki 23:11; Jer 44:17; Eze 8:16)27and my heart has been secretly enticed, and my mouth has kissed my hand,28this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges, for I would have been false to God above. (Job 31:11)29“If I have rejoiced at the ruin of him who hated me, or exulted when evil overtook him (Pr 17:5)30(I have not let my mouth sin by asking for his life with a curse), (Mt 5:44; Ro 12:14)31if the men of my tent have not said, ‘Who is there that has not been filled with his meat?’ (Ex 16:12; 1Sa 25:11)32(the sojourner has not lodged in the street; I have opened my doors to the traveler), (Ge 19:2; Jud 19:20; Mt 25:35; Heb 13:2)33if I have concealed my transgressions as others do[6] by hiding my iniquity in my heart, (Ge 3:8; Ge 3:12; Pr 28:13)34because 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— (Ex 23:2)35Oh, 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! (Job 13:22; Job 19:23)36Surely I would carry it on my shoulder; I would bind it on me as a crown; (Pr 6:21; Isa 9:6; Isa 22:22; Zec 6:11)37I would give him an account of all my steps; like a prince I would approach him.38“If my land has cried out against me and its furrows have wept together,39if I have eaten its yield without payment and made its owners breathe their last, (1Ki 21:16; 1Ki 21:19; Job 22:6; Lu 10:7; 2Ti 2:6; Jas 5:4)40let thorns grow instead of wheat, and foul weeds instead of barley.” The words of Job are ended. (Ge 3:18)