Job 31 — FBV
31Verse 1“I vowed to myself never to look with desire at young women.Verse 2What should people expect to receive from God? What reward should the Almighty on high give them?Verse 3Isn't it disaster for the wicked and destruction for those who do wrong?Verse 4Doesn't God see everything I do—even count every step I take?Verse 5Have I lived a deceitful life? Have I been eager to tell lies?+Verse 6No! Let God weigh me on the scales of his justice and let him discover my integrity.Verse 7If I have wandered from God's way, if I have let what I see become my desires,+if there's any stain of sin on my hands,Verse 8then let someone else eat what I have sown, and all that I have grown be uprooted.Verse 9If a woman has seduced me, or if I have looked for an opportunity to sleep with my neighbor's wife,+Verse 10then let my wife serve+another, let other men sleep with her.Verse 11For that would be wicked, a sin deserving punishment,Verse 12for this sin is like a fire that leads to destruction,+destroying everything I have.Verse 13If I had refused to listen to my menservants or maidservants when they brought their complaints to me,Verse 14what would I do when God came to judge me? How would I reply if he investigated me?Verse 15Didn't the same God make all of us?+Verse 16Have I refused to give the poor what they needed, or caused widows to despair?Verse 17Have I even eaten just a piece of bread by myself? Haven't I always shared my food with orphans?Verse 18From when I was young I was a father to orphans and took care of widows.Verse 19If ever I saw someone needing clothes, the poor without anything to wear,Verse 20they always thanked me for the wool clothing that kept them warm.Verse 21If I raised my hand to hit an orphan, confident that if it came to court the judges would be on my side,+Verse 22then let my shoulder be pulled from its joint, my arm wrenched out of its socket.Verse 23Since I'm terrified of what punishment God may have in store for me, and because of his majesty, I could never do this.Verse 24Have I put my trust in gold, calling fine gold, ‘My security’?Verse 25Have I delighted in being rich, happy at all my wealth I had gained?Verse 26Have I looked at the sun shining so brilliantly or the moon moving in majesty across the skyVerse 27and been tempted to secretly worship them by kissing my hand+to them in devotion?Verse 28This too would be a sin deserving punishment+for it would mean I had denied God above.Verse 29Have I ever been happy when disaster destroyed those who hated me, or celebrated when evil took them down?Verse 30I have never allowed my mouth to sin by putting a curse on someone's life.Verse 31Haven't my family asked, ‘Is there anyone who has not eaten as much as they wanted of his food?’Verse 32I have never let strangers sleep in the street; I have opened my doors to travelers.Verse 33Have I concealed my sins from others, hiding my wrongdoing deep inside me?Verse 34Was I afraid of what everybody else would think, scared of the contempt families would show me, so that I kept quiet and didn't go outside?Verse 35Why won't anyone listen to what I'm saying! I'm signing my name to endorse everything I've said.+Let the Almighty answer me. Let my accuser write down what he is charging me with.Verse 36I would hold them up high;+I would wear them on my head like a crown.Verse 37I would explain to him everything I'd done; I would hold my head high before him.+Verse 38If my land has cried out against me; if her furrows have wept over me;Verse 39if I have taken its crops without payment or if I have caused harm to the farmers;Verse 40then let thorns grow instead of wheat, and weeds instead of barley.”+The words of Job are ended.