Job 31 – read and compare multiple versions
Job 31
[1] “I made a covenant with my eyes;
how then should I look lustfully at a young woman?
[2] For what is the portion from God above,
and the heritage from the Almighty on high?
[3] Is it not calamity to the unrighteous,
and disaster to the workers of iniquity?
[4] Doesn’t he see my ways,
and count all my steps? [5] “If I have walked with falsehood,
and my foot has hurried to deceit
[6] (let me be weighed in an even balance,
that God may know my integrity);
[7] if my step has turned out of the way,
if my heart walked after my eyes,
if any defilement has stuck to my hands,
[8] then let me sow, and let another eat.
Yes, let the produce of my field be rooted out. [9] “If my heart has been enticed to a woman,
and I have laid wait at my neighbor’s door,
[10] then let my wife grind for another,
and let others sleep with her.
[11] For that would be a heinous crime.
Yes, it would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges,
[12] for it is a fire that consumes to destruction,
and would root out all my increase.
[13] “If I have despised the cause of my male servant
or of my female servant,
when they contended with me,
[14] what then will I do when God rises up?
When he visits, what will I answer him?
[15] Didn’t he who made me in the womb make him?
Didn’t one fashion us in the womb?
[16] “If I have withheld the poor from their desire,
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] (no, from my youth he grew up with me as with a father,
I have guided her from my mother’s womb);
[19] if I have seen any perish for want of clothing,
or that the needy had no covering;
[20] if his heart hasn’t blessed me,
if he hasn’t been warmed with my sheep’s fleece;
[21] if I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless,
because I saw my help in the gate;
[22] then let my shoulder fall from the shoulder blade,
and my arm be broken from the bone.
[23] For calamity from God is a terror to me.
Because of his majesty, I can do nothing.
[24] “If I have made gold my hope,
and have said to the fine gold, ‘You are my confidence;’
[25] If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great,
and because my hand had gotten much;
[26] if I have seen the sun when it shined,
or the moon moving in splendor,
[27] and my heart has been secretly enticed,
and my hand threw a kiss from my mouth;
[28] this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges,
for I would have denied the God who is above.
[29] “If I have rejoiced at the destruction of him who hated me,
or lifted up myself when evil found him
[30] (I have certainly not allowed my mouth to sin
by asking his life with a curse);
[31] if the men of my tent have not said,
‘Who can find one who has not been filled with his meat?’
[32] (the foreigner has not camped in the street,
but I have opened my doors to the traveler);
[33] if like Adam I have covered my transgressions,
by hiding my iniquity in my heart,
[34] because I feared the great multitude,
and the contempt of families terrified me,
so that I kept silence, and didn’t go out of the door—
[35] oh that I had one to hear me!
Behold, here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me!
Let the accuser write my indictment!
[36] Surely I would carry it on my shoulder,
and I would bind it to me as a crown.
[37] I would declare to him the number of my steps.
I would go near to him like a prince.
[38] If my land cries out against me,
and its furrows weep together;
[39] if I have eaten its fruits without money,
or have caused its owners to lose their life,
[40] let briers grow instead of wheat,
and stinkweed instead of barley.”The words of Job are ended.
how then should I look lustfully at a young woman?
[2] For what is the portion from God above,
and the heritage from the Almighty on high?
[3] Is it not calamity to the unrighteous,
and disaster to the workers of iniquity?
[4] Doesn’t he see my ways,
and count all my steps? [5] “If I have walked with falsehood,
and my foot has hurried to deceit
[6] (let me be weighed in an even balance,
that God may know my integrity);
[7] if my step has turned out of the way,
if my heart walked after my eyes,
if any defilement has stuck to my hands,
[8] then let me sow, and let another eat.
Yes, let the produce of my field be rooted out. [9] “If my heart has been enticed to a woman,
and I have laid wait at my neighbor’s door,
[10] then let my wife grind for another,
and let others sleep with her.
[11] For that would be a heinous crime.
Yes, it would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges,
[12] for it is a fire that consumes to destruction,
and would root out all my increase.
[13] “If I have despised the cause of my male servant
or of my female servant,
when they contended with me,
[14] what then will I do when God rises up?
When he visits, what will I answer him?
[15] Didn’t he who made me in the womb make him?
Didn’t one fashion us in the womb?
[16] “If I have withheld the poor from their desire,
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] (no, from my youth he grew up with me as with a father,
I have guided her from my mother’s womb);
[19] if I have seen any perish for want of clothing,
or that the needy had no covering;
[20] if his heart hasn’t blessed me,
if he hasn’t been warmed with my sheep’s fleece;
[21] if I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless,
because I saw my help in the gate;
[22] then let my shoulder fall from the shoulder blade,
and my arm be broken from the bone.
[23] For calamity from God is a terror to me.
Because of his majesty, I can do nothing.
[24] “If I have made gold my hope,
and have said to the fine gold, ‘You are my confidence;’
[25] If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great,
and because my hand had gotten much;
[26] if I have seen the sun when it shined,
or the moon moving in splendor,
[27] and my heart has been secretly enticed,
and my hand threw a kiss from my mouth;
[28] this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges,
for I would have denied the God who is above.
[29] “If I have rejoiced at the destruction of him who hated me,
or lifted up myself when evil found him
[30] (I have certainly not allowed my mouth to sin
by asking his life with a curse);
[31] if the men of my tent have not said,
‘Who can find one who has not been filled with his meat?’
[32] (the foreigner has not camped in the street,
but I have opened my doors to the traveler);
[33] if like Adam I have covered my transgressions,
by hiding my iniquity in my heart,
[34] because I feared the great multitude,
and the contempt of families terrified me,
so that I kept silence, and didn’t go out of the door—
[35] oh that I had one to hear me!
Behold, here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me!
Let the accuser write my indictment!
[36] Surely I would carry it on my shoulder,
and I would bind it to me as a crown.
[37] I would declare to him the number of my steps.
I would go near to him like a prince.
[38] If my land cries out against me,
and its furrows weep together;
[39] if I have eaten its fruits without money,
or have caused its owners to lose their life,
[40] let briers grow instead of wheat,
and stinkweed instead of barley.”The words of Job are ended.