Job 31 — T4T
Job stated his innocence
31Verse 1“I solemnly promised myselfthat I would not look at a young woman with a desire to have sex with her.Verse 2If I did not do what I promised,what would God who is in heaven [MTY] do to me [RHQ]?Almighty God would certainly not [RHQ] give me any reward!Verse 3Previously I thought that surely [RHQ] it was unrighteous people who would experience calamities,and that it was those who do what is wrong who would experience disasters.Verse 4God certainly sees [RHQ] everything that I do,so why is he causing me to suffer?
It is as though he counts every step that I take.Verse 5“I solemnly declare that I have never acted wickedlyand have never tried to deceive people.Verse 6I request only that God judge me fairly [MET],and if he does that, he will know that I ◄am innocent/have not done what is wrong►.Verse 7If it were true that I have stopped living righteously,or that I [SYN] have desired the things that I look at [MTY],
or that I am guilty of any other sin,Verse 8then I hope/wish that when I plant seeds, someone else will harvest the crops and eat themand that others will uproot the fruit trees that I planted.Verse 9“If it were true that I [SYN] have been attracted by some other man’s wife,or that I have hidden myself and waited outside the door to her house,Verse 10I hope/desire that my wife will become the servant/slave of another manand have sex [EUP] with him.Verse 11For me to do that would be a terrible sin,and the judges would decide that I should be punished.Verse 12My committing adultery would produce in me a fire like [MET] the fire that burns people in hell,and it would burn up everything that I own.Verse 13“And, if it were true that I have ever refused to listen to one of my male or female servantswhen they complained to me about something,Verse 14God would arise and declare that he would punish me;and when he would do that, what would I do?
If he would ask me about what I have done, ◄what would I answer?/I would not be able to answer.► [RHQ]Verse 15God, who created me, certainly also created my servants [RHQ];surely he is the one who formed them and me in our mothers’ wombs [RHQ];
so we all should behave toward each other equally.Verse 16“I have guided orphans from the time that they were born;I have taken care of them since they were young.So, if it were true that I ate all my food myself and did not share some of it with orphans,or that I refused to give poor people the things that they wanted,
or that I caused widows to live ◄in despair/without hope that they would receive any help from anyone►,Verse 19or that I had seen people die from cold because they had no clothes,or that I had seen poor people who did not have clothes to keep them warm,Verse 20and they were not able to become warm from clothes made from the wool of my sheepwith the result that they thanked me for giving them clothes,Verse 21or if it were true that I threatened to strike any orphanbecause I knew that the elders at the city gates would ◄decide in my favor►;Verse 22if those things were true about me, I hope/desire that my shoulder blade would be torn outand my arm be torn from my shoulder.Verse 23I always feared that God would cause me to experience a great disaster if I did any of those evil things,and I would not have been able to endure the powerful things that he would do to punish me.Verse 24“If it were true that I trusted in my gold/money [DOU],
Verse 25or that I rejoiced because I had acquired many thingsand had become very rich,Verse 26or that I looked at the sun when it was shiningor looked at the beautiful moonVerse 27and I [SYN] had been tempted to worship themby kissing my hand to revere them,Verse 28those things also would be sins for which the judges would say that I must be punished,because I would have been rejecting God by doing those things.Verse 29“It is not true that I [SYN] sinned by requesting God to curse people who hated mewith the result that God would cause them to die.It is also not true that I was glad when they were ruinedor that I rejoiced when they experienced disasters [DOU].Verse 31It is also not true that I never welcomed travelers to stay in my tentor that I did not open my doors to them, but forced them to sleep in the streets.
All the men who work for me certainly know that [RHQ]!Verse 33Some people try to hide their sins,but I have never done that;Verse 34and I never remained silent and refused to go outside of my homebecause I was very ◄afraid of/worried about► what people would say about me,
and that they would hate/scorn me.Verse 35“I wish/desire that there was someone who would hear what I am saying!I solemnly declare that all that I have said is true.I wish that those who oppose me would write down on a scroll the evil things that they say that I did.
Verse 36If they did that, I would wear that scroll on my shoulder, or wear it on top of my head, in order that everyone could see it.
Verse 37I would tell God everything that I have done,and I would approach him confidently, like a ruler would.Verse 38If it were true that I have stolen land,with the result that it was as though its furrows cried out to accuse me of stealing;Verse 39or if it were true that I have eaten the crops that grew in someone else’s fieldswithout paying for those crops,
with the result that those farmers who grew those crops died from hunger;Verse 40then I wish/desire that thorns would grow in my fields instead of wheat.May bad weeds grow instead of barley!”
That is the end of what Job said to his three friends.