31
Job Wonders What Sin He May Have Committed
“I have made an agreement with my eyes.
Then how can I look with lust at a virgin?
What would God above do ⌞to me⌟?
What would be my inheritance from the Almighty on high?
Aren’t there catastrophes for wicked people
and disasters for those who do wrong?
Doesn’t he see my ways
and count all my steps?
 
“If I have walked with lies
or my feet have run after deception,
⌞then⌟ let God weigh me on honest scales,
and he will know I have integrity.
 
“If my steps have left the ⌞proper⌟ path,
or my heart has followed ⌞the desire of⌟ my eyes,
or my hands are stained ⌞with sin⌟,
⌞then⌟ let someone else eat what I have planted,
and let my crops be uprooted.
 
“If I have been seduced by a woman
or I have secretly waited near my neighbor’s door,
10  ⌞then⌟ let my wife grind for another ⌞man⌟,
and let other ⌞men⌟ kneel over her.
11 That would be a scandal,
and that would be a criminal offense.
12 It would be a fire that burns even in Abaddon.
It would uproot my entire harvest.
 
13 “If I have abused the rights of my servants, male or female,
when they have disagreed with me,
14 then what could I do if God rises up?
If he examines me, how could I answer him?
15 Didn’t he who made me in my mother’s belly make them?
Didn’t the same God form us in the womb?
 
16 “If I have refused the requests of the poor
or made a widow’s eyes stop ⌞looking for help⌟,
17 or have eaten my food alone
without letting the orphan eat any of it….
18 (From my youth the orphan grew up with me
as though I were his father,
and from my birth I treated the widow kindly.)
19 If I have seen anyone die because he had no clothes
or a poor person going naked….
20 (If his body didn’t bless me,
or the wool from my sheep didn’t keep him warm….)
21 If I have shaken my fist at an orphan
because I knew that others would back me up in court,
22  ⌞then⌟ let my shoulder fall out of its socket,
and let my arm be broken at the elbow.
 
23 “A disaster from God terrifies me.
In the presence of his majesty I can do nothing.
 
24 “If I put my confidence in gold
or said to fine gold, ‘I trust you’….
25 If I enjoyed being very rich
because my hand had found great ⌞wealth⌟….
26 If I saw the light shine
or the moon move along in its splendor
27 so that my heart was secretly tempted,
and I threw them a kiss with my hand,
28 then that, too, would be a criminal offense,
and I would have denied God above.
 
29 “If I enjoyed the ruin of my enemy
or celebrated when harm came to him
30 (even though I didn’t speak sinfully
by calling down a curse on his life)….
 
31 “If the people who were in my tent had said,
‘We wish we had never filled ⌞our stomachs⌟ with his food’….
32 (The visitor never spent the night outside,
because I opened my door to the traveler.)
 
33 “If I have covered my disobedience like Adam
and kept my sin to myself,
34 because I dreaded the large, noisy crowd
and because the contempt of the ⌞local⌟ mobs terrified me
so that I kept quiet and didn’t go outside….
 
35 “If only I had someone who would listen to me!
Look, here is my signature!
Let the Almighty answer me.
Let the prosecutor write ⌞his complaint⌟ on a scroll.
36 I would certainly carry it on my shoulder
and place it on my head like a crown.
37 I would tell him the number of my steps
and approach him like a prince.
 
38 “If my land has cried out against me,
and its furrows have wept….
39 If I have eaten its produce without paying for it
and made its owners breathe their last,
40  ⌞then⌟ let it grow thistles instead of wheat,
and foul-smelling weeds instead of barley.”
 
This is the end of Job’s words.