Job 31

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31 <1> I made an agreement with my eyes

not to look at a young woman in a way

that would make me want her.

<2> What does God All-Powerful do to people?

How does God pay people back

from his home high in heaven?[76]

<3> God is the one who sends

trouble to the wicked

and disaster to those who do wrong.

<4> God is the one who knows what I do

and sees every step I take.

<5> "I have not lied and tried to cheat people!

<6> If God would use accurate scales,[77]

he would know that I am innocent.

<7> Then God would know

if I walked off the right path,

if my eyes led my heart to do evil,

or if my hands are dirty with sin,

<8> Then it would be right for others

to eat the crops I planted

and to pull up the plants I grew.

<9> "If I have desired another woman

or waited at my neighbor's door to sin with his wife,

<10> then let my wife cook another man's food,

and let other men sleep with her.

<11> Why? Because sexual sin is shameful.

It is a sin that must be punished.

<12> Sexual sin is like a fire that burns

until it destroys everything.

It could ruin everything I have ever done.

<13> "If I refuse to be fair to my slaves

when they have a complaint against me,

<14> then what will I do when I must face God?

What will I say when he asks me

to explain what I did?

<15> He made me in my mother's womb,

and he also made my slaves.

He shaped us all inside our mothers.

<16> "I have never refused to help the poor.

I always gave widows what they needed.

<17> I have never been selfish with my food.

I always gave food to orphans.

<18> All my life, I have been like a father

to children who had no father.

All my life, I have taken care of widows.

<19> When I found people suffering

because they didn't have clothes,

or a poor man with no coat,

<20> I always gave them clothes.

I used the wool from my own sheep

to make them warm.

And they blessed me with all their heart.

<21> I never shook my fist at an orphan,

who I saw at the gate asking for help.[78]

<22> If I ever did that, may my arm

be pulled from its socket

and fall from my shoulder!

<23> But I didn't do any of these bad things.

I am afraid of God's punishment.

His majesty scares me.[79]

<24> "I have never trusted in my riches.

I never said to pure gold,

'You are my hope.'

<25> I have been wealthy,

but that didn't make me proud.

I earned a lot of money,

but that is not what made me happy.

<26> I have never worshiped the bright sun,

or the beautiful moon.

<27> I was never foolish enough

to worship the sun and the moon.

<28> This is also a sin that must be punished.

If I had worshiped them,

I would have been unfaithful to God All-Powerful.

<29> "I have never been happy

when my enemies were destroyed.

I have never laughed at my enemies

when bad things happened to them.

<30> I have never let my mouth sin

by cursing[80] my enemies,

and wishing for them to die.

<31> All the people in my house know that

I have always given food to strangers.

<32> I always invited strangers into my home

so they would not have to sleep in the streets at night.

<33> Others try to hide their sins,

but I have not hidden my guilt.

<34> I have never been afraid

of what people might say.

That fear never made me keep quiet.

It never made me refuse to go outside.

I am not afraid of people's hate for me.

<35> "Oh, I wish someone would listen to me!

I will sign my name,

if God All-Powerful will write down

what he thinks I did wrong.

<36> Then I would wear that sign around my neck.

I would put it on my head like a crown.

<37> If God did that, I could explain

everything that I have done.

I could come to God like a leader

with my head held high.

<38> "I didn't steal my land from anyone.

No one can accuse me of stealing it.

<39> I always paid the farmers for the food

that I got from the land.

And I never tried to take land away from

the one who owned it.

<40> If I ever did any of these bad things,

let thorns and weeds grow in my fields

instead of wheat and barley!"

Job's words are finished.