Job 31 :: English Standard Version (ESV)

Job’s Final Appeal

Job 31:1

Job 31:1“I have made a covenant with my eyes;
how then could I gaze at a virgin?

Job 31:2

Job 31:2What would be my portion from God above
and my heritage from the Almighty on high?

Job 31:3

Job 31:3Is not calamity for the unrighteous,
and disaster for the workers of iniquity?

Job 31:4

Job 31:4Does not he see my ways
and number all my steps?

Job 31:5

Job 31:5“If I have walked with falsehood
and my foot has hastened to deceit;

Job 31:6

Job 31:6(Let me be weighed in a just balance,
and let God know my integrity!)

Job 31:7

Job 31:7if 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,

Job 31:8

Job 31:8then let me sow, and another eat,
and let what grows for me[fn] be rooted out.

Job 31:9

Job 31:9“If my heart has been enticed toward a woman,
and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door,

Job 31:10

Job 31:10then let my wife grind for another,
and let others bow down on her.

Job 31:11

Job 31:11For that would be a heinous crime;
that would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges;

Job 31:12

Job 31:12for that would be a fire that consumes as far as Abaddon,
and it would burn to the root all my increase.

Job 31:13

Job 31:13“If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or my maidservant,
when they brought a complaint against me,

Job 31:14

Job 31:14what then shall I do when God rises up?
When he makes inquiry, what shall I answer him?

Job 31:15

Job 31:15Did not he who made me in the womb make him?
And did not one fashion us in the womb?

Job 31:16

Job 31:16“If I have withheld anything that the poor desired,
or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

Job 31:17

Job 31:17or have eaten my morsel alone,
and the fatherless has not eaten of it

Job 31:18

Job 31:18(for from my youth the fatherless[fn] grew up with me as with a father,
and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow[fn]),

Job 31:19

Job 31:19if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing,
or the needy without covering,

Job 31:20

Job 31:20if his body has not blessed me,[fn]
and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep,

Job 31:21

Job 31:21if I have raised my hand against the fatherless,
because I saw my help in the gate,

Job 31:22

Job 31:22then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder,
and let my arm be broken from its socket.

Job 31:23

Job 31:23For I was in terror of calamity from God,
and I could not have faced his majesty.

Job 31:24

Job 31:24“If I have made gold my trust
or called fine gold my confidence,

Job 31:25

Job 31:25if I have rejoiced because my wealth was abundant
or because my hand had found much,

Job 31:26

Job 31:26if I have looked at the sun[fn] when it shone,
or the moon moving in splendor,

Job 31:27

Job 31:27and my heart has been secretly enticed,
and my mouth has kissed my hand,

Job 31:28

Job 31:28this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges,
for I would have been false to God above.

Job 31:29

Job 31:29“If I have rejoiced at the ruin of him who hated me,
or exulted when evil overtook him

Job 31:30

Job 31:30(I have not let my mouth sin
by asking for his life with a curse),

Job 31:31

Job 31:31if the men of my tent have not said,
‘Who is there that has not been filled with his meat?’

Job 31:32

Job 31:32(the sojourner has not lodged in the street;
I have opened my doors to the traveler),

Job 31:33

Job 31:33if I have concealed my transgressions as others do[fn]
by hiding my iniquity in my heart,

Job 31:34

Job 31:34because 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—

Job 31:35

Job 31:35Oh, 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 31:36

Job 31:36Surely I would carry it on my shoulder;
I would bind it on me as a crown;

Job 31:37

Job 31:37I would give him an account of all my steps;
like a prince I would approach him.

Job 31:38

Job 31:38“If my land has cried out against me
and its furrows have wept together,

Job 31:39

Job 31:39if I have eaten its yield without payment
and made its owners breathe their last,

Job 31:40

Job 31:40let thorns grow instead of wheat,
and foul weeds instead of barley.” The words of Job are ended.

See the ESV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

ESV Footnotes

(31:8)

Or let my descendants

(31:18)

Hebrew he

(31:18)

Hebrew her

(31:20)

Hebrew if his loins have not blessed me

(31:26)

Hebrew the light

(31:33)

Or as Adam did

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Books and Bibles, a Publishing Ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

See detailed copyright information.

For more information on this translation, see the ESV Preface.

Job Chapter 31 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version New Living Translation New International Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 New American Standard Bible 1995 Legacy Standard Bible Amplified Bible New English Translation Revised Standard Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Westminster Leningrad Codex Septuagint Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Brenton's English Septuagint Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Bible in Basic English Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras

Job 31 :: English Standard Version (ESV)

Job’s Final Appeal

ESV Footnotes

Job Chapter 31 — Additional Translations:

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