Job 31:1-40 NIV
1“I made a covenant with my eyes
not to look lustfully at a young woman.
2For
what is our lot from GOD above,
our
heritage from The ALMIGHTY on high?
3Is it
not ruin for the wicked,
disaster
for those who do wrong?
4Does HE Not See my ways
and
count my every step?
5“If I
have walked with falsehood
or my
foot has hurried after deceit—
6Let GOD Weigh me in honest scales
and HE Will Know that I am blameless—
7if my
steps have turned from the path,
if my
heart has been led by my eyes,
or if
my hands have been defiled,
8then
may others eat what I have sown,
and may
my crops be uprooted.
9“If my
heart has been enticed by a woman,
or if I
have lurked at my neighbor’s door,
10then may my wife grind another man’s grain,
and may
other men sleep with her.
11For that would have been wicked,
a sin
to be judged.
it
would have uprooted my harvest.
13“If I have denied justice to any of my servants,
whether
male or female,
when
they had a grievance against me,
14what will I do when GOD Confronts me?
What
will I answer when called to account?
15Did Not HE Who Made me in the womb make them?
Did Not
The Same One Form us both within our mothers?
16“If I have denied the desires of the poor
or let
the eyes of the widow grow weary,
17if I have kept my bread to myself,
not
sharing it with the fatherless—
18but from my youth I reared them as a father would,
and
from my birth I guided the widow—
19if I have seen anyone perishing for lack of clothing,
or the
needy without garments,
20and their hearts did not bless me
for
warming them with the fleece from my sheep,
21if I have raised my hand against the fatherless,
knowing
that I had influence in court,
22then let my arm fall from the shoulder,
let it
be broken off at the joint.
23For I dreaded destruction from GOD,
and for
fear of His Splendor I could not do such things.
24“If I have put my trust in gold
or said
to pure gold, ‘You are my security,’
25if I have rejoiced over my great wealth,
the
fortune my hands had gained,
26if I have regarded the sun in its radiance
or the
moon moving in splendor,
27so that my heart was secretly enticed
and my
hand offered them a kiss of homage,
28then these also would be sins to be judged,
for I
would have been unfaithful to GOD on high.
29“If I have rejoiced at my enemy’s misfortune
or
gloated over the trouble that came to him—
30I have not allowed my mouth to sin
by
invoking a curse against their life—
31if those of my household have never said,
‘Who
has not been filled with Job’s meat?’—
32but no stranger had to spend the night in the street,
for my
door was always open to the traveler—
by
hiding my guilt in my heart
34because I so feared the crowd
and so
dreaded the contempt of the clans
that I
kept silent and would not go outside—
35(“Oh, that I had someone to hear me!
I sign
now my defense—let The ALMIGHTY Answer me;
let my
accuser put his indictment in writing.
36Surely I would wear it on my shoulder,
I would
put it on like a crown.
37I would give him an account of my every step;
I would
present it to him as to a ruler.)—
38“if my land cries out against me
and all
its furrows are wet with tears,
39if I have devoured its yield without payment
or
broken the spirit of its tenants,
40then let briers come up instead of wheat
and
stinkweed instead of barley.”
The words of Job are ended.
Chapter 31
Job had often protested his integrity in general; here he
does it in particular instances. Job did not
speak the things here recorded by way of boasting, but in answer to the charge
of hypocrisy. He understood the spiritual nature of GOD's Commandments, as
reaching to the thoughts and intents of the heart.
It is best to let our actions speak
for us; but in some cases we owe it to ourselves and to the cause of GOD,
solemnly to protest our innocence of the crimes of which we are falsely
accused. The lusts of the flesh, and the love of the world, are two fatal rocks
on which people split; against these Job protests he was always careful to
stand upon his guard.
He carefully avoided all sinful means
of getting wealth. He avoided all forbidden profit as much as all forbidden
pleasure. What we have in the world may be used with comfort, if honestly
gotten. Without strict honestly and faithfulness in all our dealings, we can
have no good evidence of true godliness.
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