Job 31:1-12

English Standard Version

Job's Final Appeal

31 “I have made a covenant with my ^(A)eyes;
    how then could I gaze at a virgin?
²What would be ^(B)my portion from God above
    and ^(C)my heritage from the Almighty on high?
³Is not calamity for the unrighteous,
    and disaster for the workers of iniquity?
⁴^(D)Does not he see my ways
    and ^(E)number all my steps?

⁵“If I have walked with falsehood
    and my foot has hastened to deceit;
⁶(Let me be ^(F)weighed in a just balance,
    and let God know my integrity!)
⁷if my step has turned aside from the way
    and ^(G)my heart has gone after my eyes,
    and if any ^(H)spot has stuck to my hands,
⁸then let me ^(I)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 ^(J)lain in wait at my neighbor's door,
¹⁰then let my wife ^(K)grind for another,
    and let others ^(L)bow down on her.
¹¹For that would be a heinous crime;
    that would be an iniquity ^(M)to be punished by the judges;
¹²for that would be a fire ^(N)that consumes as far as Abaddon,
    and it would burn to the root all my increase.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

Job 31:8 Or let my descendants

Job 31:33-40

English Standard Version

³³if I ^(A)have concealed my transgressions ^(B)as others do^[a]
    by hiding my iniquity in my heart,
³⁴because I stood in great fear of ^(C)the multitude,
    and the contempt of families terrified me,
    so that I kept silence, and did not go out of doors—
³⁵Oh, that I had one to hear me!
    (Here is my signature! Let the Almighty ^(D)answer me!)
    Oh, that I had ^(E)the indictment written by my adversary!
³⁶Surely I would carry it on my ^(F)shoulder;
    I would ^(G)bind it on me as ^(H)a crown;
³⁷I 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^(I)if I have eaten its yield without payment
    and made its owners ^(J)breathe their last,
⁴⁰let ^(K)thorns grow instead of wheat,
    and foul weeds instead of barley.”