Job 31
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Job

Job’s Final Appeal

1I made a covenant with mine eyes; How then should I look upon a virgin?+ 2For what is the portion from God above, And the heritage from the Almighty on high?+ 3Is it not calamity to the unrighteous, And disaster to the workers of iniquity?+ 4Doth not he see my ways, And number all my steps?+ 5If I have walked with falsehood, And my foot hath hasted to deceit+ 6(Let me be weighed in an even balance, That God may know mine integrity);+ 7If my step hath turned out of the way, And my heart walked after mine eyes, And if any spot hath cleaved to my hands:+ 8Then let me sow, and let another eat; Yea, let the produce of my field be rooted out.+ 9If my heart hath been enticed unto a woman, And I have laid wait at my neighbor’s door;+ 10Then let my wife grind unto another, And let others bow down upon her.+ 11For that were a heinous crime; Yea, it were an iniquity to be punished by the judges:+ 12For it is a fire that consumeth unto Destruction, And would root out all mine increase.+ 13If I have despised the cause of my man-servant or of my maid-servant, When they contended with me;+ 14What then shall I do when God riseth up? And when he visiteth, what shall I answer him?+ 15Did not he that made me in the womb make him? And did not one fashion us in the womb?+ 16If I have withheld the poor from [their] desire, Or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,+ 17Or have eaten my morsel alone, And the fatherless hath not eaten thereof+ 18(Nay, from my youth he grew up with me as with a father, And her have I guided from my mother’s womb);+ 19If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, Or that the needy had no covering;+ 20If his loins have not blessed me, And if he hath not been warmed with the fleece of my sheep;+ 21If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, Because I saw my help in the gate:+ 22Then let my shoulder fall from the shoulder-blade, And mine arm be broken from the bone.+ 23For calamity from God is a terror to me, And by reason of his majesty I can do nothing.+ 24If I have made gold my hope, And have said to the fine gold, [Thou art] my confidence;+ 25If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, And because my hand had gotten much;+ 26If I have beheld the sun when it shined, Or the moon walking in brightness,+ 27And my heart hath been secretly enticed, And my mouth hath kissed my hand:+ 28This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judges; For I should have denied the God that is above.+ 29If I have rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me, Or lifted up myself when evil found him+ 30(Yea, I have not suffered my mouth to sin By asking his life with a curse);+ 31If the men of my tent have not said, Who can find one that hath not been filled with his meat?+ 32( The sojourner hath not lodged in the street; But I have opened my doors to the traveller);+ 33If like Adam I have covered my transgressions, By hiding mine iniquity in my bosom,+ 34Because I feared the great multitude, And the contempt of families terrified me, So that I kept silence, and went not out of the door—+ 35Oh that I had one to hear me!( Lo, here is my signature, let the Almighty answer me) And [that I had] the indictment which mine adversary hath written!+ 36Surely I would carry it upon my shoulder; I would bind it unto me as a crown:+ 37I would declare unto him the number of my steps; As a prince would I go near unto him.+ 38If my land crieth out against me, And the furrows thereof weep together;+ 39If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, Or have caused the owners thereof to lose their life:+ 40Let thistles grow instead of wheat, And cockle instead of barley. The words of Job are ended.+

American Standard Version

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