Job 31

Tree of Life Version

⁵ “If I have walked in falsehood
    or my foot has hurried to deceit,
⁶ then let Him weigh me with honest scales,
    then God will know my integrity.
⁷ If my step has strayed from the way,
    if my heart has walked after my eyes,
    or if any defilement has stuck to my hands,
⁸ then let me sow and another eat,
    and let my crops be uprooted.
⁹ If my heart has been enticed by a woman,
    or I have lurked at my neighbor’s door,
¹⁰ then let my wife grind for another
    and let others sleep with her.
¹¹ For that would be a shameful act,
    an iniquity to be judged.
¹² For it is a fire that devours to destruction,
    and uproots all my harvest.

¹³ “If I have denied justice to my male or female servant
    when they disputed with me,
¹⁴ then what could I do when God rises up;
when He visits, how will I answer Him?
¹⁵ Did not He who made me in the womb, make him?
    Did not the same one form us in the womb?

¹⁶ “If I withheld the desires of the poor
    or let the eyes of the widow to fail,
¹⁷ if I ate my morsel of bread myself,
    without letting an orphan eat of it
¹⁸ (but from my youth I reared him as a father,
    and from my mother’s womb I guided her),
¹⁹ if I have seen anyone perishing for lack of clothing
    or the needy without a covering,
²⁰ if his heart did not bless me
    as he warmed himself with the fleece of my sheep,
²¹ if I have raised my hand against the orphan,
    when I saw my support in the gate,
²² then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder,
    and let my arm be broken off at the joint.
²³ For calamity from God was a terror to me,
    and because of His majesty, I could do nothing.

²⁴ “If I have put my confidence in gold
    or said to fine gold, ‘You are my security,’
²⁵ if I rejoiced because of my great wealth
    or because of the abundance my hand acquired,
²⁶ if I looked at the sun when it shines
    or the moon moving in splendor,
²⁷ so that my heart was secretly enticed,
    and my hand threw a kiss from my mouth,
²⁸ then this also would be iniquity to be judged,
    for I would have denied God above.

²⁹ “If I rejoiced at my enemy’s misfortune
    or gloated because calamity found him—
³⁰ I have not allowed my mouth to sin,
    by asking for his life with a curse—
³¹ if anyone in my household has ever said,
    ‘Who has not been filled with his meat?’
³² —but no stranger had to spend the night outside
    for my door was open to the traveler—
³³ if I have I covered my transgressions like Adam,
    by hiding my guilt in my bosom
³⁴ because I feared a great multitude,
    and the contempt of clans terrified me,
so that I kept silent
    and would not go outside.
³⁵ O, that I had someone to hear me!
    Look, here is my signature,
let Shaddai answer me,
    let the accuser write the indictment!
³⁶ Surely I would carry it on my shoulder;
    I would bind it on me as a crown.
³⁷ I would give Him an account of my steps;
    like a prince I would approach Him.

³⁸ “If my land cries out against me,
    and its furrows weep together,
³⁹ if I have eaten its fruits without money,
    or caused the death of its owners,
⁴⁰ then let briars come up instead of wheat,
    and stinkweed instead of barley.”