Job Asserts His Integrity
1“I have made a covenant with my eyes;
How then could I look at a virgin?
2And what is the portion of God from above,
Or the inheritance of the Almighty from on high?
3Is it not disaster to the criminal,
And misfortune to those who practice injustice?
4Does He not see my ways,
And count all my steps?
5“If I have walked with deception,
And my foot has hurried after deceit,
6Let Him weigh me with Lit justaccurate scales,
And let God know my integrity.
7If my step has turned from the way,
Or my heart Lit walked afterfollowed my eyes,
Or if any spot has stuck to my hands,
8Let me sow and another eat,
And let my Or offspringcrops be uprooted.
9“If my heart has been enticed by a woman,
Or I have lurked at my neighbor’s doorway,
10May my wife grind grain for another,
And let others I.e., have sexual relations with herkneel down over her.
11For that would be a lustful crime;
Moreover, it would be wrongdoing punishable by judges.
12For it would be fire that consumes to I.e., the place of destructionAbaddon,
And would uproot all my Or yieldincrease.
13“If I have rejected the claim of my male or female slaves
When they filed a complaint against me,
14What then could I do when God arises?
And when He calls me to account, how am I to answer Him?
15Did He who made me in the womb not make him,
And the same one create us in the womb?
16“If I have kept the poor from their desire,
Or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
17Or have eaten my morsel alone,
And the orphan has not Lit eaten from itshared it
18(But from my youth he grew up with me as with a father,
And from Lit my mother’s wombmy infancy I guided her),
19If I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing,
Or that the needy had no covering,
20If his waist has not Lit blessed; i.e., for clothingthanked me,
And if he has not been warmed with the fleece of my sheep,
21If I have lifted up my hand against the orphan,
Because I saw Lit my helpI had support in the gate,
And my arm be broken off Lit from the bone of the upper armat the elbow.
23For disaster from God is a terror to me,
And because of His majesty I can do nothing.
24“If I have put my confidence in gold,
And called fine gold my trust,
25If I have gloated because my wealth was great,
And because my hand had obtained so much;
26If I have looked at the Lit lightsun when it shone,
Or the moon going in splendor,
27And my heart was secretly enticed,
And my hand Lit kissed my mouththrew a kiss from my mouth,
For I would have denied God above.
29“Have I rejoiced at the misfortune of my enemy,
Or become excited when evil found him?
By asking for his life in a curse.
31Have the people of my tent not said,
‘Who can Lit givefind one who has not been satisfied with his meat’?
32The stranger has not spent the night outside,
For I have opened my doors to the MT waytraveler.
33Have I covered my wrongdoings like a man,
By hiding my guilt in my shirt pocket,
34Because I feared the great multitude
And the contempt of families terrified me,
And I kept silent and did not go out of doors?
35Oh that I had one to hear me!
Here is my Lit marksignature;
Let the Almighty answer me!
And the indictment which my adversary has written,
36I would certainly carry it on my shoulder,
I would tie it to myself like a garland.
37I would declare to Him the number of my steps;
Like a prince, I would approach Him.
38“If my land cries out against me,
And its furrows weep together;
39If I have eaten its Lit strengthfruit without money,
Or have caused Lit the soul of its owners to expireits owners to lose their lives,
40May the thorn-bush Lit come forthgrow instead of wheat,
And stinkweed instead of barley.”
The words of Job are ended.
New American Standard Bible
Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020
by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved.
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