31
Job’s Final Appeal
1 “I have made a covenant with my eyes.
How then could I gaze with desire at a virgin?
2 For what is the allotment of God from above,
or the heritage from the Almighty on high?
3 Does not disaster come to the unjust
and calamity to the workers of iniquity?
4 Does He not see my ways
and count my every step?
5 If I have walked in falsehood
or my foot has rushed to deceit,
6 let God weigh me with honest scales,
that He may know my integrity.
7 If my steps have turned from the path,
if my heart has followed my eyes,
or if impurity has stuck to my hands,
8 then may another eat what I have sown,
and may my crops be uprooted.
9 If my heart has been enticed by my neighbor’s wife,
or I have lurked at his door,
10 then may my own wife grind grain for another,
and may other men sleep with her.
11 For that would be a heinous crime,
an iniquity to be judged.
12 For it is a fire that burns down to Abaddon;* 31:12 Abaddon means Destruction.
it would root out my entire harvest.
13 If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or maidservant
when they made a complaint against me,
14 what will I do when God rises to judge?
How will I answer when called to account?
15 Did not He who made me in the womb also make them?
Did not the same One form us in the womb?
16 If I have denied the desires of the poor
or allowed the widow’s eyes to fail,
17 if I have eaten my morsel alone,
not sharing it with the fatherless-
18 though from my youth I reared him as would a father,
and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow-
19 if I have seen one perish for lack of clothing,
or a needy man without a cloak,
20 if his heart has not blessed me † 31:20 Hebrew if his loins have not blessed me
for warming him with the fleece of my sheep,
21 if I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless
because I saw that I had support in the gate,
22 then may my arm fall from my shoulder
and be torn from its socket.
23 For calamity from God terrifies me,
and His splendor I cannot overpower.
24 If I have put my trust in gold
or called pure gold my security,
25 if I have rejoiced in my great wealth
because my hand had gained so much,
26 if I have beheld the sun ‡ 31:26 Hebrew the light in its radiance
or the moon moving in splendor,
27 so that my heart was secretly enticed
and my hand threw a kiss from my mouth,
28 this would also be an iniquity to be judged,
for I would have denied God on high.
29 If I have rejoiced in my enemy’s ruin,
or exulted when evil befell him-
30 I have not allowed my mouth to sin
by asking for his life with a curse-
31 if the men of my house have not said,
‘Who is there who has not had his fill?’-
32 but no stranger had to lodge on the street,
for my door has been open to the traveler-
33 if I have covered my transgressions like Adam § 31:33 Or like men
by hiding my guilt in my heart,
34 because I greatly feared the crowds
and the contempt of the clans terrified me,
so that I kept silent
and would not go outside-
35 (Oh, that I had one to hear me!
Here is my signature.
Let the Almighty answer me;
let my accuser compose an indictment.
36 Surely I would carry it on my shoulder
and wear it like a crown.
37 I would give account of all my steps;
I would approach Him like a prince.)-
38 if my land cries out against me
and its furrows weep together,
39 if I have devoured its produce without payment
or broken the spirit of its tenants,
40 then let briers grow instead of wheat
and stinkweed instead of barley.”
Thus conclude the words of Job.