NIV

Job 31

1<pb/><t>“I made a covenant with my eyes</t> <t>not to look lustfully at a young woman.</t>
2<t>For what is our lot from God above,</t> <t>our heritage from the Almighty on high?</t>
3<t>Is it not ruin for the wicked,</t> <t>disaster for those who do wrong?</t>
4<t>Does he not see my ways</t> <t>and count my every step? <pb/></t>
5<t>“If I have walked with falsehood</t> <t>or my foot has hurried after deceit—</t>
6<t>let God weigh me in honest scales</t> <t>and he will know that I am blameless—</t>
7<t>if my steps have turned from the path,</t> <t>if my heart has been led by my eyes,</t> <t>or if my hands have been defiled,</t>
8<t>then may others eat what I have sown,</t> <t>and may my crops be uprooted. <pb/></t>
9<t>“If my heart has been enticed by a woman,</t> <t>or if I have lurked at my neighbor’s door,</t>
10<t>then may my wife grind another man’s grain,</t> <t>and may other men sleep with her.</t>
11<t>For that would have been wicked,</t> <t>a sin to be judged.</t>
12<t>It is a fire that burns to Destruction<f>[49]</f>;</t> <t>it would have uprooted my harvest. <pb/></t>
13<t>“If I have denied justice to any of my servants,</t> <t>whether male or female,</t> <t>when they had a grievance against me,</t>
14<t>what will I do when God confronts me?</t> <t>What will I answer when called to account?</t>
15<t>Did not he who made me in the womb make them?</t> <t>Did not the same one form us both within our mothers? <pb/></t>
16<t>“If I have denied the desires of the poor</t> <t>or let the eyes of the widow grow weary,</t>
17<t>if I have kept my bread to myself,</t> <t>not sharing it with the fatherless—</t>
18<t>but from my youth I reared them as a father would,</t> <t>and from my birth I guided the widow—</t>
19<t>if I have seen anyone perishing for lack of clothing,</t> <t>or the needy without garments,</t>
20<t>and their hearts did not bless me</t> <t>for warming them with the fleece from my sheep,</t>
21<t>if I have raised my hand against the fatherless,</t> <t>knowing that I had influence in court,</t>
22<t>then let my arm fall from the shoulder,</t> <t>let it be broken off at the joint.</t>
23<t>For I dreaded destruction from God,</t> <t>and for fear of his splendor I could not do such things. <pb/></t>
24<t>“If I have put my trust in gold</t> <t>or said to pure gold, ‘You are my security,’</t>
25<t>if I have rejoiced over my great wealth,</t> <t>the fortune my hands had gained,</t>
26<t>if I have regarded the sun in its radiance</t> <t>or the moon moving in splendor,</t>
27<t>so that my heart was secretly enticed</t> <t>and my hand offered them a kiss of homage,</t>
28<t>then these also would be sins to be judged,</t> <t>for I would have been unfaithful to God on high. <pb/></t>
29<t>“If I have rejoiced at my enemy’s misfortune</t> <t>or gloated over the trouble that came to him—</t>
30<t>I have not allowed my mouth to sin</t> <t>by invoking a curse against their life—</t>
31<t>if those of my household have never said,</t> <t>‘Who has not been filled with Job’s meat?’—</t>
32<t>but no stranger had to spend the night in the street,</t> <t>for my door was always open to the traveler—</t>
33<t>if I have concealed my sin as people do,<f>[50]</f></t> <t>by hiding my guilt in my heart</t>
34<t>because I so feared the crowd</t> <t>and so dreaded the contempt of the clans</t> <t>that I kept silent and would not go outside— <pb/></t>
35<t>(“Oh, that I had someone to hear me!</t> <t>I sign now my defense—let the Almighty answer me;</t> <t>let my accuser put his indictment in writing.</t>
36<t>Surely I would wear it on my shoulder,</t> <t>I would put it on like a crown.</t>
37<t>I would give him an account of my every step;</t> <t>I would present it to him as to a ruler.)— <pb/></t>
38<t>“if my land cries out against me</t> <t>and all its furrows are wet with tears,</t>
39<t>if I have devoured its yield without payment</t> <t>or broken the spirit of its tenants,</t>
40<t>then let briers come up instead of wheat</t> <t>and stinkweed instead of barley.”</t> <pb/>The words of Job are ended.