Job 31:1-34

Job Vindicates Himself

31:1 “I made a covenant with my eyes;

how then could I entertain thoughts against a virgin?

31:2 What then would be one’s lot from God above,

one’s heritage from the Almighty on high?

31:3 Is it not misfortune for the unjust,

and disaster for those who work iniquity?

31:4 Does he not see my ways

and count all my steps?

31:5 If I have walked in falsehood,

and if my foot has hastened to deceit –

31:6 let him weigh me with honest scales;

then God will discover my integrity.

31:7 If my footsteps have strayed from the way,

if my heart has gone after my eyes,

or if anything has defiled my hands,

31:8 then let me sow and let another eat,

and let my crops be uprooted.

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 turn the millstone for another man,

and may other men have sexual relations with her.

31:11 For I would have committed a shameful act,

an iniquity to be judged.

31:12 For it is a fire that devours even to Destruction,

and it would uproot all my harvest.

31:13 “If I have disregarded the right of my male servants

or my female servants

when they disputed with me,

31:14 then what will I do when God confronts me in judgment;

when he intervenes,

how will I respond to him?

31:15 Did not the one who made me in the womb make them?

Did not the same one form us in the womb?

31:16 If I have refused to give the poor what they desired,

or caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

31:17 If I ate my morsel of bread myself,

and did not share any of it with orphans –

31:18 but from my youth I raised the orphan like a father,

and from my mother’s womb

I guided the widow!

31:19 If I have seen anyone about to perish for lack of clothing,

or a poor man without a coat,

31:20 whose heart did not bless me

as he warmed himself with the fleece of my sheep,

31:21 if I have raised my hand to vote against the orphan,

when I saw my support in the court,

31:22 then let my arm fall from the shoulder,

let my arm be broken off at the socket.

31:23 For the calamity from God was a terror to me,

and by reason of his majesty I was powerless.

31:24 “If I have put my confidence in gold

or said to pure gold,

‘You are my security!’

31:25 if I have rejoiced because of the extent of my wealth,

or because of the great wealth my hand had gained,

31:26 if I looked at the sun when it was shining,

and the moon advancing as a precious thing,

31:27 so that my heart was secretly enticed,

and my hand threw them a kiss from my mouth,

31:28 then this also would be iniquity to be judged,

for I would have been false to God above.

31:29 If I have rejoiced over the misfortune of my enemy

or exulted because calamity found him –

31:30 I have not even permitted my mouth to sin

by asking for his life through a curse –

31:31 if the members of my household have never said,

‘If only there were someone

who has not been satisfied from Job’s meat!’ –

31:32 But no stranger had to spend the night outside,

for I opened my doors to the traveler –

31:33 if I have covered my transgressions as men do,

by hiding iniquity in my heart,

31:34 because I was terrified of the great multitude,

and the contempt of families terrified me,

so that I remained silent

and would not go outdoors –