New Living Translation

Darby Bible Translation

Job’s Final Protest of Innocence

“I made a covenant with my eyes
not to look with lust at a young woman.

1

Job's Final Appeal

I made a covenant with mine eyes; and how should I fix my regard upon a maid?

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For what has God above chosen for us?
What is our inheritance from the Almighty on high?

2

For what would have been [my] portion of +God from above, and what the heritage of the Almighty from on high?

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Isn’t it calamity for the wicked
and misfortune for those who do evil?

3

Is not calamity for the unrighteous? and misfortune for the workers of iniquity?

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Doesn’t he see everything I do
and every step I take?

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Doth not he see my ways, and number all my steps?

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“Have I lied to anyone
or deceived anyone?

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If I have walked with falsehood, and my foot hath hasted to deceit,

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Let God weigh me on the scales of justice,
for he knows my integrity.

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(Let me be weighed in an even balance, and +God will take knowledge of my blamelessness;)

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If I have strayed from his pathway,
or if my heart has lusted for what my eyes have seen,
or if I am guilty of any other sin,

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If my step have turned out of the way, and my heart followed mine eyes, and if any blot cleaveth to my hands;

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then let someone else eat the crops I have planted.
Let all that I have planted be uprooted.

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Let me sow, and another eat; and let mine offspring be rooted out.

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“If my heart has been seduced by a woman,
or if I have lusted for my neighbor’s wife,

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If my heart have been enticed unto a woman, so that I laid wait at my neighbour's door,

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then let my wife servea another man;
let other men sleep with her.

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Let my wife grind for another, and let others bow down upon her.

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For lust is a shameful sin,
a crime that should be punished.

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For this is an infamy; yea, it is an iniquity [to be judged by] the judges:

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It is a fire that burns all the way to hell.b
It would wipe out everything I own.

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For it is a fire that consumeth to destruction, and would root out all mine increase.

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“If I have been unfair to my male or female servants
when they brought their complaints to me,

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If I have despised the cause of my bondman or of my bondmaid, when they contended with me,

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how could I face God?
What could I say when he questioned me?

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What then should I do when God riseth up? and if he visited, what should I answer him?

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For God created both me and my servants.
He created us both in the womb.

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Did not he that made me in the womb make him? and did not One fashion us in the womb?

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“Have I refused to help the poor,
or crushed the hopes of widows?

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If I have withheld the poor from [their] desire, or caused the eyes of the widow to fail;

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Have I been stingy with my food
and refused to share it with orphans?

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Or have eaten my morsel alone, so that the fatherless ate not thereof,

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No, from childhood I have cared for orphans like a father,
and all my life I have cared for widows.

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(For from my youth he grew up with me as with a father, and I have guided the [widow] from my mother's womb;)

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Whenever I saw the homeless without clothes
and the needy with nothing to wear,

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If I have seen any perishing for want of clothing, or any needy without covering;

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did they not praise me
for providing wool clothing to keep them warm?

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If his loins have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my lambs;

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“If I raised my hand against an orphan,
knowing the judges would take my side,

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If I have lifted up my hand against an orphan, because I saw my help in the gate:

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then let my shoulder be wrenched out of place!
Let my arm be torn from its socket!

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[Then] let my shoulder fall from the shoulder-blade, and mine arm be broken from the bone!

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That would be better than facing God’s judgment.
For if the majesty of God opposes me, what hope is there?

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For calamity from God was a terror to me, and by reason of his excellency I was powerless.

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“Have I put my trust in money
or felt secure because of my gold?

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If I have made gold my hope, or said to the fine gold, My confidence!

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Have I gloated about my wealth
and all that I own?

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If I rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because my hand had gotten much;

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“Have I looked at the sun shining in the skies,
or the moon walking down its silver pathway,

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If I beheld the sun when it shone, or the moon walking in brightness,

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and been secretly enticed in my heart
to throw kisses at them in worship?

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And my heart have been secretly enticed, so that my mouth kissed my hand:

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If so, I should be punished by the judges,
for it would mean I had denied the God of heaven.

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This also would be an iniquity for the judge, for I should have denied the God who is above.

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“Have I ever rejoiced when disaster struck my enemies,
or become excited when harm came their way?

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If I rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me, and exulted when evil befell him;

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No, I have never sinned by cursing anyone
or by asking for revenge.

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(Neither have I suffered my mouth to sin by asking his life with a curse;)

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“My servants have never said,
‘He let others go hungry.’

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If the men of my tent said not, Who shall find one that hath not been satisfied with his meat? --

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I have never turned away a stranger
but have opened my doors to everyone.

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The stranger did not lodge without; I opened my doors to the pathway.

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“Have I tried to hide my sins like other people do,
concealing my guilt in my heart?

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If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom,

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Have I feared the crowd
or the contempt of the masses,
so that I kept quiet and stayed indoors?

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Because I feared the great multitude, and the contempt of families terrified me, so that I kept silence, and went not out of the door, ...

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“If only someone would listen to me!
Look, I will sign my name to my defense.
Let the Almighty answer me.
Let my accuser write out the charges against me.

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Oh that I had one to hear me! Behold my signature: let the Almighty answer me! And let mine opponent write an accusation!

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I would face the accusation proudly.
I would wear it like a crown.

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Would I not take it upon my shoulder? I would bind it on to me [as] a crown;

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For I would tell him exactly what I have done.
I would come before him like a prince.

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I would declare unto him the number of my steps; as a prince would I come near to him.

38

“If my land accuses me
and all its furrows cry out together,

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If my land cry out against me, and its furrows weep together;

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or if I have stolen its crops
or murdered its owners,

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If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, and have tormented to death the souls of its owners:

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then let thistles grow on that land instead of wheat,
and weeds instead of barley.”
Job’s words are ended.

40

Let thistles grow instead of wheat, and tares instead of barley. The words of Job are ended.

Parallel

New Living Translation

Darby Bible Translation

Job 31

Job 31