Job 31 :: New English Translation (NET)

Job Asserts His Integrity

Job 31:1

Job 31:1"I made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I entertain thoughts against a virgin?

Job 31:2

Job 31:2What then would be one's lot from God above, one's heritage from the Almighty on high?

Job 31:3

Job 31:3Is it not misfortune for the unjust, and disaster for those who work iniquity?

Job 31:4

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

Job 31:5

Job 31:5If I have walked in falsehood, and if my foot has hastened to deceit -

Job 31:6

Job 31:6let him weigh me with honest scales; then God will discover my integrity.

Job 31:7

Job 31:7If my footsteps have strayed from the way, if my heart has gone after my eyes, or if anything has defiled my hands,

Job 31:8

Job 31:8then let me sow and let another eat, and let my crops be uprooted.

Job 31:9

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

Job 31:10

Job 31:10then let my wife turn the millstone for another man, and may other men have sexual relations with her.

Job 31:11

Job 31:11For I would have committed a shameful act, an iniquity to be judged.

Job 31:12

Job 31:12For it is a fire that devours even to Destruction, and it would uproot all my harvest.

Job 31:13

Job 31:13"If I have disregarded the right of my male servants or my female servants when they disputed with me,

Job 31:14

Job 31:14then what will I do when God confronts me in judgment; when he intervenes, how will I respond to him?

Job 31:15

Job 31:15Did not the one who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same one form us in the womb?

Job 31:16

Job 31:16If I have refused to give the poor what they desired, or caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

Job 31:17

Job 31:17If I ate my morsel of bread myself, and did not share any of it with orphans -

Job 31:18

Job 31:18but from my youth I raised the orphan like a father, and from my mother's womb I guided the widow!

Job 31:19

Job 31:19If I have seen anyone about to perish for lack of clothing, or a poor man without a coat,

Job 31:20

Job 31:20whose heart did not bless me as he warmed himself with the fleece of my sheep,

Job 31:21

Job 31:21if I have raised my hand to vote against the orphan, when I saw my support in the court,

Job 31:22

Job 31:22then let my arm fall from the shoulder, let my arm be broken off at the socket.

Job 31:23

Job 31:23For the calamity from God was a terror to me, and by reason of his majesty I was powerless.

Job 31:24

Job 31:24"If I have put my confidence in gold or said to pure gold, 'You are my security!'

Job 31:25

Job 31:25if I have rejoiced because of the extent of my wealth, or because of the great wealth my hand had gained,

Job 31:26

Job 31:26if I looked at the sun when it was shining, and the moon advancing as a precious thing,

Job 31:27

Job 31:27so that my heart was secretly enticed, and my hand threw them a kiss from my mouth,

Job 31:28

Job 31:28then this also would be iniquity to be judged, for I would have been false to God above.

Job 31:29

Job 31:29If I have rejoiced over the misfortune of my enemy or exulted because calamity found him -

Job 31:30

Job 31:30I have not even permitted my mouth to sin by asking for his life through a curse -

Job 31:31

Job 31:31if the members of my household have never said, 'If only there were someone who has not been satisfied from Job's meat!' -

Job 31:32

Job 31:32But no stranger had to spend the night outside, for I opened my doors to the traveler -

Job 31:33

Job 31:33if I have covered my transgressions as men do, by hiding iniquity in my heart,

Job 31:34

Job 31:34because I was terrified of the great multitude, and the contempt of families terrified me, so that I remained silent and would not go outdoors -

Job 31:35

Job 31:35"If only I had someone to hear me! Here is my signature - let the Almighty answer me! If only I had an indictment that my accuser had written.

Job 31:36

Job 31:36Surely I would wear it proudly on my shoulder, I would bind it on me like a crown;

Job 31:37

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

Job 31:38

Job 31:38"If my land cried out against me and all its furrows wept together,

Job 31:39

Job 31:39if I have eaten its produce without paying, or caused the death of its owners,

Job 31:40

Job 31:40then let thorns sprout up in place of wheat, and in place of barley, weeds!" The words of Job are ended.

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Job 31 :: New English Translation (NET)

Job Asserts His Integrity

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