Jó 31

¹ I made a covenant with mineI kept my eyes from all wanton looks.eyes; why then should I think uponWould not God then have punished me?a maid?

² For what portion should I haue of God from aboue? and what inheritance of the Almightie from on hie?

³ [Is] not destruction to the wicked? and a strange [punishment] toJob declares that the fear of God was a bridle to stay him from all wickedness.the workers of iniquity?

⁴ Doeth not he beholde my wayes and tell all my steps?

⁵ If I haue walked in vanitie, or if my foote hath made haste to deceite,

⁶ Let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know mineHe shows what his uprightness stands in, in as much as he was blameless before men and did not sin against the second table.integrity.

⁷ If my step hath turned out of the way, and mine heartThat is, has accomplished the lust of my eyes.walked after mine eyes, and if any blot hath cleaved to mine hands;

⁸ [Then] let me sow, and let anotherAccording to the curse of the law, (Deu_28:33).eat; yea, let my offspring be rooted out.

⁹ If mine heart hath bene deceiued by a woman, or if I haue layde wayte at the doore of my neighbour,

¹⁰ [Then] let my wifeLet her be made a slave.grind unto another, and let others bow down upon her.

¹¹ For this is a wickednes, and iniquitie to bee condemned:

¹² For it [is] a fire [that] consumethHe shows that although man neglects the punishment of adultery, yet the wrath of God will never cease till such are destroyed.to destruction, and would root out all mine increase.

¹³ If I did despise the cause of my manservant or of my maidservant, when theyWhen they thought themselves evil intreated by me.contended with me;

¹⁴ What then shall I do whenIf I had oppressed others, how would I have escaped God's judgment.God riseth up? and when he visiteth, what shall I answer him?

¹⁵ Did not he that made me in the womb makeHe was moved to show pity to servants, because they were God's creatures as he was.him? and did not one fashion us in the womb?

¹⁶ If I have withheld the poor from [their] desire, or have caused the eyes of the widowBy long waiting for her request.to fail;

¹⁷ Or haue eaten my morsels alone, and the fatherles hath not eaten thereof,

¹⁸ (For from my youth he was brought up with me,He nourished the fatherless, and maintained the widows cause.as [with] a father, and I have guided her from my mother's womb;)

¹⁹ If I haue seene any perish for want of clothing, or any poore without couering,

²⁰ If his loynes haue not blessed me, because he was warmed with the fleece of my sheepe,

²¹ If I have liftedTo oppress him and to do him harm.up my hand against the fatherless, when I saw my help in the gate:

²² [Then] let mineLet me rot in pieces.arm fall from my shoulder blade, and mine arm be broken from the bone.

²³ For destruction [from] God [was] aI did not refrain from sin for fear of men, but because I feared God.terror to me, and by reason of his highness I could not endure.

²⁴ If I made gold mine hope, or haue sayd to the wedge of golde, Thou art my confidence,

²⁵ If I reioyced because my substance was great, or because mine hand had gotten much,

²⁶ If I beheld theIf I was proud of my worldly prosperity and happiness, which is meant by the shining of the sun, and brightness of the moon.sun when it shined, or the moon walking [in] brightness;

²⁷ And my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed myIf my own doings delighted me.hand:

²⁸ This also [were] an iniquity [to be punished by] the judge: for I should have denied the God [that is]By putting confidence in anything but in him alone.above.

²⁹ If I reioyced at his destruction that hated me, or was mooued to ioye when euill came vpon him,

³⁰ Neither haue I suffred my mouth to sinne, by wishing a curse vnto his soule.

³¹ If the men of myMy servants moved me to be avenged of my enemy, yet I never wished him harm.tabernacle said not, Oh that we had of his flesh! we cannot be satisfied.

³² The stranger did not lodge in the streete, but I opened my doores vnto him, that went by the way.

³³ If I coveredNot confessed it freely, by which it is evident that he justified himself before men, and not before God.my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom:

³⁴ Did I fear a great multitude, or did the contempt of familiesThat is, I reverenced the most weak and contemned and was afraid to offend them.terrify me, that I keptI suffered them to speak evil of me, and went not out of my house to avenge it.silence, [and] went not out of the door?

³⁵ Oh that one would hear me! behold, myThis is a sufficient token of my righteousness, that God is my witness and will justify my cause.desire [is, that] the Almighty would answer me, and [that] mine adversary had written a book.

³⁶ Surely I would take it upon my shoulder, [and] bind it [as] aShould not this book of his accusations be a praise and commendation to me?crown to me.

³⁷ I would declare unto him the number of my steps; as aI will make him account of all my life, without fear.prince would I go near unto him.

³⁸ If my landAs though I had withheld their wages that laboured in it.cry against me, or that the furrows likewise thereof complain;

³⁹ If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, or have causedMeaning, that he was not a briber or extortioner.the owners thereof to lose their life:

⁴⁰ Let thistles grow instead of wheat, and cockle instead of barley. TheThat is, the talk which he had with his three friends.words of Job are ended.