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Job 31 :: English Standard Version (ESV)

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Job’s Final Appeal

Unchecked Copy BoxJob 31:1 - “I have made a covenant with my eyes;
how then could I gaze at a virgin?
Unchecked Copy BoxJob 31:2 - What would be my portion from God above
and my heritage from the Almighty on high?
Unchecked Copy BoxJob 31:3 - Is not calamity for the unrighteous,
and disaster for the workers of iniquity?
Unchecked Copy BoxJob 31:4 - Does not he see my ways
and number all my steps?
Unchecked Copy BoxJob 31:5 - “If I have walked with falsehood
and my foot has hastened to deceit;
Unchecked Copy BoxJob 31:6 - (Let me be weighed in a just balance,
and let God know my integrity!)
Unchecked Copy BoxJob 31:7 - if my step has turned aside from the way
and my heart has gone after my eyes,
and if any spot has stuck to my hands,
Unchecked Copy BoxJob 31:8 - then let me sow, and another eat,
and let what grows for me[fn] be rooted out.
Unchecked Copy BoxJob 31:9 - “If my heart has been enticed toward a woman,
and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door,
Unchecked Copy BoxJob 31:10 - then let my wife grind for another,
and let others bow down on her.
Unchecked Copy BoxJob 31:11 - For that would be a heinous crime;
that would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges;
Unchecked Copy BoxJob 31:12 - for that would be a fire that consumes as far as Abaddon,
and it would burn to the root all my increase.
Unchecked Copy BoxJob 31:13 - “If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or my maidservant,
when they brought a complaint against me,
Unchecked Copy BoxJob 31:14 - what then shall I do when God rises up?
When he makes inquiry, what shall I answer him?
Unchecked Copy BoxJob 31:15 - Did not he who made me in the womb make him?
And did not one fashion us in the womb?
Unchecked Copy BoxJob 31:16 - “If I have withheld anything that the poor desired,
or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
Unchecked Copy BoxJob 31:17 - or have eaten my morsel alone,
and the fatherless has not eaten of it
Unchecked Copy BoxJob 31:18 - (for from my youth the fatherless[fn] grew up with me as with a father,
and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow[fn]),
Unchecked Copy BoxJob 31:19 - if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing,
or the needy without covering,
Unchecked Copy BoxJob 31:20 - if his body has not blessed me,[fn]
and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep,
Unchecked Copy BoxJob 31:21 - if I have raised my hand against the fatherless,
because I saw my help in the gate,
Unchecked Copy BoxJob 31:22 - then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder,
and let my arm be broken from its socket.
Unchecked Copy BoxJob 31:23 - For I was in terror of calamity from God,
and I could not have faced his majesty.
Unchecked Copy BoxJob 31:24 - “If I have made gold my trust
or called fine gold my confidence,
Unchecked Copy BoxJob 31:25 - if I have rejoiced because my wealth was abundant
or because my hand had found much,
Unchecked Copy BoxJob 31:26 - if I have looked at the sun[fn] when it shone,
or the moon moving in splendor,
Unchecked Copy BoxJob 31:27 - and my heart has been secretly enticed,
and my mouth has kissed my hand,
Unchecked Copy BoxJob 31:28 - this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges,
for I would have been false to God above.
Unchecked Copy BoxJob 31:29 - “If I have rejoiced at the ruin of him who hated me,
or exulted when evil overtook him
Unchecked Copy BoxJob 31:30 - (I have not let my mouth sin
by asking for his life with a curse),
Unchecked Copy BoxJob 31:31 - if the men of my tent have not said,
‘Who is there that has not been filled with his meat?’
Unchecked Copy BoxJob 31:32 - (the sojourner has not lodged in the street;
I have opened my doors to the traveler),
Unchecked Copy BoxJob 31:33 - if I have concealed my transgressions as others do[fn]
by hiding my iniquity in my heart,
Unchecked Copy BoxJob 31:34 - because I stood in great fear of the multitude,
and the contempt of families terrified me,
so that I kept silence, and did not go out of doors—
Unchecked Copy BoxJob 31:35 - Oh, that I had one to hear me!
(Here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me!)
Oh, that I had the indictment written by my adversary!
Unchecked Copy BoxJob 31:36 - Surely I would carry it on my shoulder;
I would bind it on me as a crown;
Unchecked Copy BoxJob 31:37 - I would give him an account of all my steps;
like a prince I would approach him.
Unchecked Copy BoxJob 31:38 - “If my land has cried out against me
and its furrows have wept together,
Unchecked Copy BoxJob 31:39 - if I have eaten its yield without payment
and made its owners breathe their last,
Unchecked Copy BoxJob 31:40 - let thorns grow instead of wheat,
and foul weeds instead of barley.” The words of Job are ended.
ESV Footnotes
Or let my descendants
Hebrew he
Hebrew her
Hebrew if his loins have not blessed me
Hebrew the light
Or as Adam did
ESV

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Books and Bibles, a Publishing Ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

See detailed copyright information.

For more information on this translation, see the ESV Preface.

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