Job 31:1-40 MEV

[1] "I made a covenant with my eyes; why then should I look upon a young woman? [2] For what portion of God is there from above? And what inheritance of the Almighty from on high? [3] Does not destruction belong to the wicked, and calamity to the workers of iniquity? [4] Does He not see my ways, and count all my steps? [5] "If I have walked in vanity, or if my foot has hurried after 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 path, and my heart has gone after my eyes, and if any spot has clung to my hands, [8] then let me sow, but let another eat; yes, let my offspring be rooted out. [9] "If my heart has been deceived by a woman, or if I have laid wait at my neighbor's door, [10] then let my wife grind for another, and let others bow down over her. [11] For this is a heinous crime; yes, it is 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 or female servant when they complained against me, [14] what then will I do when God rises up? And when He visits, what will I answer Him? [15] Did not He who made me in the womb make him? And did not the same One fashion us in the womb? [16] "If I have kept the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail, [17] or have eaten my morsel by myself, so that the fatherless could not eat of it [18] (but from my youth he was brought up with me, as with a father, and I have guided the widow from my mother's womb); [19] if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing, or any poor without covering; [20] if his body has not blessed me, and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep; [21] if I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, when I saw I had help in the gate; [22] then let my arm fall from my shoulder blade, and my arm be broken from the bone. [23] For destruction from God is a terror to me, and because of His highness I cannot endure. [24] "If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold, 'You are my confidence'; [25] if I rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because my hand had gained much; [26] if I saw the sun when it shined, or the moon moving in brightness; [27] and my heart has been secretly enticed, or my mouth has kissed my hand; [28] this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judge, for I would have denied the God who is above. [29] "If I rejoiced at the destruction of him who hated me, or lifted up myself when disaster found him [30] (nor have I allowed my mouth to sin by wishing for a curse on his soul); [31] if the men of my tent have not said, 'Who is there who has not been satisfied with his meat?' [32] (the stranger has not lodged in the street, but I opened my doors to the traveler); [33] if I covered my transgressions as any man, by hiding my iniquity in my heart, [34] did I fear a great multitude, or did the contempt of families terrify me, so that I kept silence, and did not go out of the door? [35] "Oh, that one would hear me! Behold, my desire is that the Almighty would answer me, and that the One who contends against me had written a book! [36] Surely I would carry it on my shoulder and bind it on me like a crown. [37] I would declare to Him the number of my steps; like a prince I would approach Him. [38] "If my land cries out against me, and its furrows also weep together; [39] if I have eaten its fruit without money, or have caused its owners to lose their life; [40] let thistles grow instead of wheat, and weeds instead of barley." The words of Job are ended.