Job 31
Job’s Final Appeal
[1] “I have made a covenant with my eyes;
how then could I gaze at a virgin?
[2] What would be my portion from God above
and my heritage from the Almighty on high?
[3] Is not calamity for the unrighteous,
and disaster for the workers of iniquity?
[4] Does not he see my ways
and number all my steps?
[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!)
[7] if 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,
[8] then let me sow, and another eat,
and let what grows for me be rooted out.
[9] “If my heart has been enticed toward a woman,
and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door,
[10] then let my wife grind for another,
and let others bow down on her.
[11] For that would be a heinous crime;
that would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges;
[12] for that would be a fire that consumes as far as Abaddon,
and it would burn to the root all my increase.
[13] “If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or my maidservant,
when they brought a complaint against me,
[14] what then shall I do when God rises up?
When he makes inquiry, what shall I answer him?
[15] Did not he who made me in the womb make him?
And did not one fashion us in the womb?
[16] “If I have withheld anything that the poor desired,
or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
[17] or have eaten my morsel alone,
and the fatherless has not eaten of it
[18] (for from my youth the fatherless grew up with me as with a father,
and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow),
[19] if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing,
or the needy without covering,
[20] if his body has not blessed me,
and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep,
[21] if I have raised my hand against the fatherless,
because I saw my help in the gate,
[22] then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder,
and let my arm be broken from its socket.
[23] For I was in terror of calamity from God,
and I could not have faced his majesty.
[24] “If I have made gold my trust
or called fine gold my confidence,
[25] if I have rejoiced because my wealth was abundant
or because my hand had found much,
[26] if I have looked at the sun when it shone,
or the moon moving in splendor,
[27] and my heart has been secretly enticed,
and my mouth has kissed my hand,
[28] this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges,
for I would have been false to God above.
[29] “If I have rejoiced at the ruin of him who hated me,
or exulted when evil overtook him
[30] (I have not let my mouth sin
by asking for his life with a curse),
[31] if the men of my tent have not said,
‘Who is there that has not been filled with his meat?’
[32] (the sojourner has not lodged in the street;
I have opened my doors to the traveler),
[33] if I have concealed my transgressions as others do
by hiding my iniquity in my heart,
[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—
[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!
[36] Surely I would carry it on my shoulder;
I would bind it on me as a crown;
[37] I 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,
[39] if I have eaten its yield without payment
and made its owners breathe their last,
[40] let thorns grow instead of wheat,
and foul weeds instead of barley.”
The words of Job are ended. (ESV)
