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Job 31
Job
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Chapter 31
Job’s apologia[*a]
1
I made a pact with my eyes, not to linger on any virgin.
2
Now, what shares does God deal out on high, what lots does Shaddai assign from heaven,
3
If not disaster for the wicked, and calamities for the iniquitous?
4
But surely he sees how I behave, does he not count all my steps?
5
Have I been a fellow traveller with falsehood, or hastened my steps towards deceit?
6
If he weighs me on honest scales, being God, he cannot fail to see my innocence.
7
If my feet have wandered from the rightful path, or if my eyes have led my heart astray, or if my hands are smirched with any stain,
8
let another eat what I have sown, and let my young shoots all be rooted out.
9
If I ever lost my heart to any woman, or lurked at my neighbour’s door,
10
let my wife grind corn that is not mine, let her sleep between others’ sheets.
11
For I should have committed a sin of lust, a crime punishable by the law,
12
and should have lit a fire burning till Perdition, which would have devoured all my harvesting.
13
If ever I have infringed the rights of slave or maidservant in legal actions against me –
14
what shall I do, when God stands up? What shall I say, when he holds his assize?
15
They, no less than I, were created in the womb by the one same God who shaped us all within our mothers.
38
If my land calls down vengeance on my head and every furrow runs with tears,
39
if without payment I have eaten fruit grown on it or given those who toiled there cause to groan,
31:40a let brambles grow where once was wheat, and foul weeds where barley thrived.
16
Have I been insensible to poor men’s needs, or let a widow’s eyes grow dim?
17
Or taken my share of bread alone, not giving a share to the orphan?
18
I, whom God has fostered father-like, from childhood, and guided since I left my mother’s womb.
19
Have I ever seen a wretch in need of clothing, or a beggar going naked,
20
without his having cause to bless me from his heart, as he felt the warmth of the fleece from my lambs?
21
Have I raised my hand against the guiltless, presuming on my credit at the gate?
22
If so, then let my shoulder fall from its socket, my arm be shattered at the joint.
23
God’s terror would indeed descend on me; how could I hold my ground before his majesty?
24
Have I put all my trust in gold, from finest gold sought my security?
25
Have I ever gloated over my great wealth, or the riches that my hands have won?
26
Or has the sight of the sun in its glory, or the glow of the moon as it walked the sky,
27
stolen my heart, so that my hand blew them a secret kiss?
28
That too would be a criminal offence, to have denied the supreme God.
29
Have I taken pleasure in my enemies’ misfortunes, or made merry when disaster overtook them,
30
I who allowed my tongue to do no wrong, by cursing them or vowing them to death?
31
The people of my tent, did they not say, ‘Is there a man he has not filled with meat?’
32
No stranger ever had to sleep outside, my door was always open to the traveller.
33
Have I ever hidden my sins from men, keeping my iniquity secret in my breast?
34
Have I ever stood so in fear of common gossip, or so dreaded any family’s contempt, that I have been reduced to silence, not venturing out of doors?
35
Who can get me a hearing from God? I have had my say, from A to Z; now let Shaddai answer me. When my adversary has drafted his writ against me
36
I shall wear it on my shoulder, and bind it round my head like a royal turban.
37
I will give him an account of every step of my life, and go as boldly as a prince to meet him.
Chapters of Job
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
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