The Powered Access Bible:
Passage Lookup

Job 31, RSV

31:1 "I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I look upon a virgin?

31:2 What would be my portion from God above, and my heritage from the Almighty on high?

31:3 Does not calamity befall the unrighteous, and disaster the workers of iniquity?

31:4 Does not he see my ways, and number all my steps?

31:5 "If I have walked with falsehood, and my foot has hastened to deceit;

31:6 (Let me be weighed in a just balance, and let God know my integrity!)

31:7 if my step has turned aside from the way, and my heart has gone after my eyes, and if any spot has cleaved to my hands;

31:8 then let me sow, and another eat; and let what grows for me be rooted out.

31:9 "If my heart has been enticed to a woman, and I have lain in wait at my neighbor's door;

31:10 then let my wife grind for another, and let others bow down upon her.

31:11 For that would be a heinous crime; that would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges;

31:12 for that would be a fire which consumes unto Abaddon, and it would burn to the root all my increase.

31:13 "If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or my maidservant, when they brought a complaint against me;

31:14 what then shall I do when God rises up? When he makes inquiry, what shall I answer him?

31:15 Did not he who made me in the womb make him? And did not one fashion us in the womb?

31:16 "If I have withheld anything that the poor desired, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

31:17 or have eaten my morsel alone, and the fatherless has not eaten of it

31:18 (for from his youth I reared him as a father, and from his mother's womb I guided him);

31:19 if I have seen any one perish for lack of clothing, or a poor man without covering;

31:20 if his loins have not blessed me, and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;

31:21 if I have raised my hand against the fatherless, because I saw help in the gate;

31:22 then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder, and let my arm be broken from its socket.

31:23 For I was in terror of calamity from God, and I could not have faced his majesty.

31:24 "If I have made gold my trust, or called fine gold my confidence;

31:25 if I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, or because my hand had gotten much;

31:26 if I have looked at the sun when it shone, or the moon moving in splendor,

31:27 and my heart has been secretly enticed, and my mouth has kissed my hand;

31:28 this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges, for I should have been false to God above.

31:29 "If I have rejoiced at the ruin of him that hated me, or exulted when evil overtook him

31:30 (I have not let my mouth sin by asking for his life with a curse);

31:31 if the men of my tent have not said, `Who is there that has not been filled with his meat?'

31:32 (the sojourner has not lodged in the street; I have opened my doors to the wayfarer);

31:33 if I have concealed my transgressions from men, by hiding my iniquity in my bosom,

31:34 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 --

31:35 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!

31:36 Surely I would carry it on my shoulder; I would bind it on me as a crown;

31:37 I would give him an account of all my steps; like a prince I would approach him.

31:38 "If my land has cried out against me, and its furrows have wept together;

31:39 if I have eaten its yield without payment, and caused the death of its owners;

31:40 let thorns grow instead of wheat, and foul weeds instead of barley." The words of Job are ended.

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Terms of Use