Job - Chapter 31 | Good News Translation

  • 1. I have made a solemn promise never to look with lust at a woman.
  • 2. What does Almighty God do to us? How does he repay human deeds?
  • 3. He sends disaster and ruin to those who do wrong.
  • 4. God knows everything I do; he sees every step I take.
  • 5. I swear I have never acted wickedly and never tried to deceive others.
  • 6. Let God weigh me on honest scales, and he will see how innocent I am.
  • 7. If I have turned from the right path or let myself be attracted to evil, if my hands are stained with sin,
  • 8. then let my crops be destroyed, or let others eat the food I grow.
  • 9. If I have been attracted to my neighbor's wife, and waited, hidden, outside her door,
  • 10. then let my wife cook another man's food and sleep in another man's bed.
  • 11. Such wickedness should be punished by death.
  • 12. It would be like a destructive, hellish fire, consuming everything I have.
  • 13. When any of my servants complained against me, I would listen and treat them fairly.
  • 14. If I did not, how could I then face God? What could I say when God came to judge me?
  • 15. The same God who created me created my servants also.
  • 16. I have never refused to help the poor; never have I let widows live in despair
  • 17. or let orphans go hungry while I ate.
  • 18. All my life I have taken care of them.
  • 19. When I found someone in need, too poor to buy clothes,
  • 20. I would give him clothing made of wool that had come from my own flock of sheep. Then he would praise me with all his heart.
  • 21. If I have ever cheated an orphan, knowing I could win in court,
  • 22. then may my arms be broken; may they be torn from my shoulders.
  • 23. Because I fear God's punishment, I could never do such a thing.
  • 24. I have never trusted in riches
  • 25. or taken pride in my wealth.
  • 26. I have never worshiped the sun in its brightness or the moon in all its beauty.
  • 27. I have not been led astray to honor them by kissing my hand in reverence to them.
  • 28. Such a sin should be punished by death; it denies Almighty God.
  • 29. I have never been glad when my enemies suffered, or pleased when they met with disaster;
  • 30. I never sinned by praying for their death.
  • 31. All those who work for me know that I have always welcomed strangers.
  • 32. I invited travelers into my home and never let them sleep in the streets.
  • 33. Others try to hide their sins, but I have never concealed mine.
  • 34. I have never feared what people would say; I have never kept quiet or stayed indoors because I feared their scorn.
  • 35. Will no one listen to what I am saying? I swear that every word is true. Let Almighty God answer me. If the charges my opponent brings against me were written down so that I could see them,
  • 36. I would wear them proudly on my shoulder and place them on my head like a crown.
  • 37. I would tell God everything I have done, and hold my head high in his presence.
  • 38. If I have stolen the land I farm and taken it from its rightful owners---
  • 39. if I have eaten the food that grew there but let the farmers that grew it starve---
  • 40. then instead of wheat and barley, may weeds and thistles grow. The words of Job are ended.
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