Thy Strong Word – Job 31: Job’s Final Appeal

⁵ “If I have walked with falsehood
    and my foot has hastened to deceit;
⁶ (Let me be weighed in a just balance,
    and let God know my integrity!)
⁷ if my step has turned aside from the way
    and my heart has gone after my eyes,
    and if any spot has stuck to my hands,
⁸ then let me sow, and another eat,
    and let what grows for me^[a] be rooted out.

⁹ “If my heart has been enticed toward a woman,
    and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door,
¹⁰ then let my wife grind for another,
    and let others bow down on her.
¹¹ For that would be a heinous crime;
    that would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges;
¹² for that would be a fire that consumes as far as Abaddon,
    and it would burn to the root all my increase.

¹³ “If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or my maidservant,
    when they brought a complaint against me,
¹⁴ what then shall I do when God rises up?
    When he makes inquiry, what shall I answer him?
¹⁵ Did not he who made me in the womb make him?
    And did not one fashion us in the womb?

¹⁶ “If I have withheld anything that the poor desired,
    or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
¹⁷ or have eaten my morsel alone,
    and the fatherless has not eaten of it
¹⁸ (for from my youth the fatherless^[b] grew up with me as with a father,
    and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow^[c]),
¹⁹ if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing,
    or the needy without covering,
²⁰ if his body has not blessed me,^[d]
    and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep,
²¹ if I have raised my hand against the fatherless,
    because I saw my help in the gate,
²² then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder,
    and let my arm be broken from its socket.
²³ For I was in terror of calamity from God,
    and I could not have faced his majesty.

²⁴ “If I have made gold my trust
    or called fine gold my confidence,
²⁵ if I have rejoiced because my wealth was abundant
    or because my hand had found much,
²⁶ if I have looked at the sun^[e] when it shone,
    or the moon moving in splendor,
²⁷ and my heart has been secretly enticed,
    and my mouth has kissed my hand,
²⁸ this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges,
    for I would have been false to God above.

²⁹ “If I have rejoiced at the ruin of him who hated me,
    or exulted when evil overtook him
³⁰ (I have not let my mouth sin
    by asking for his life with a curse),
³¹ if the men of my tent have not said,
    ‘Who is there that has not been filled with his meat?’
³² (the sojourner has not lodged in the street;
    I have opened my doors to the traveler),
³³ if I have concealed my transgressions as others do^[f]
    by hiding my iniquity in my heart,
³⁴ because I stood in great fear of the multitude,
    and the contempt of families terrified me,
    so that I kept silence, and did not go out of doors—
³⁵ Oh, that I had one to hear me!
    (Here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me!)
    Oh, that I had the indictment written by my adversary!
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 all my steps;
    like a prince I would approach him.

³⁸ “If my land has cried out against me
    and its furrows have wept together,
³⁹ if I have eaten its yield without payment
    and made its owners breathe their last,
⁴⁰ let thorns grow instead of wheat,
    and foul weeds instead of barley.”