New Living Translation

King James Bible

Job’s Final Protest of Innocence

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

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Job's Final Appeal

I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?

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

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For what portion of God is there from above? and what inheritance of the Almighty from on high?

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

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Is not destruction to the wicked? and a strange punishment to 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 count all my steps?

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“Have I lied to anyone
or deceived anyone?

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If I have walked with vanity, or if 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, that God may know mine integrity.

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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 hath turned out of the way, and mine heart walked after mine eyes, and if any blot hath cleaved to mine 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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Then let me sow, and let another eat; yea, let my 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 mine heart have been deceived by a woman, or if I have 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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Then let my wife grind unto 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 heinous crime; yea, it is an iniquity to be punished 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 did despise the cause of my manservant or of my maidservant, 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 shall I do when God riseth up? and when he visiteth, what shall 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 have 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 myself alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten 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 was brought up with me, as with a father, and I have guided her 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 perish for want of clothing, or any poor 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 sheep;

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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 the fatherless, when 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 mine arm fall from my 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 destruction from God was a terror to me, and by reason of his highness I could not endure.

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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 have said to the fine gold, Thou art 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 mine 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 shined, 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 hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath 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 were an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have denied the God that 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, or lifted up myself when evil found 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 wishing a curse to his soul.

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

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If the men of my tabernacle said not, Oh that we had of his flesh! we cannot be satisfied.

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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 in the street: but I opened my doors to the traveller.

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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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Did I fear a great multitude, or did the contempt of families terrify me, 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 one would hear me! behold, my desire is, that the Almighty would answer me, and that mine adversary had written a book.

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

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Surely I would take it upon my shoulder, and bind it as a crown to me.

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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 go near unto him.

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

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If my land cry against me, or that the furrows likewise thereof complain;

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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, or have caused the owners thereof to lose their life:

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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 cockle instead of barley. The words of Job are ended.

Parallel

New Living Translation

King James Bible

Job 31

Job 31