Job31

Job – Chapter 31

¹I made a covenant with my eyes

not to gaze upon a virgin.

²What portion comes from God above,

what heritage from the Almighty on high?

³Is it not calamity for the unrighteous,

and woe for evildoers?

⁴Does he not see my ways,

and number all my steps?

⁵If I have walked in falsehood

and my foot has hastened to deceit,

⁶Let God weigh me in the scales of justice;

thus will he know my innocence!

⁷If my steps have turned out of the way,

and my heart has followed my eyes,

or any stain clings to my hands,

⁸Then may I sow, but another eat,

and may my produce be rooted up!

⁹If my heart has been enticed toward a woman,

and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door;

¹⁰Then may my wife grind for another,

and may others kneel over her!

¹¹For that would be heinous,

a crime to be condemned,

¹²A fire that would consume down to Abaddon

till it uprooted all my crops.

¹³Had I refused justice to my manservant

or to my maidservant, when they had a complaint against me,

¹⁴What then should I do when God rises up?

What could I answer when he demands an account?

¹⁵Did not he who made me in the belly make him?

Did not the same One fashion us in the womb?

¹⁶If I have denied anything that the poor desired,

or allowed the eyes of the widow to languish

¹⁷While I ate my portion alone,

with no share in it for the fatherless,

¹⁸Though like a father he has reared me from my youth,

guiding me even from my mother’s womb—

¹⁹If I have seen a wanderer without clothing,

or a poor man without covering,

²⁰Whose limbs have not blessed me

when warmed with the fleece of my sheep;

²¹If I have raised my hand against the innocent

because I saw that I had supporters at the gate—

²²Then may my arm fall from the shoulder,

my forearm be broken at the elbow!

²³For I dread calamity from God,

and his majesty will overpower me.

²⁴Had I put my trust in gold

or called fine gold my security;

²⁵Or had I rejoiced that my wealth was great,

or that my hand had acquired abundance—

²⁶Had I looked upon the light as it shone,

or the moon in the splendor of its progress,

²⁷And had my heart been secretly enticed

to blow them a kiss with my hand,

²⁸This too would be a crime for condemnation,

for I should have denied God above.

²⁹Had I rejoiced at the destruction of my enemy

or exulted when evil came upon him,

³⁰Even though I had not allowed my mouth to sin

by invoking a curse against his life—

³¹Had not the men of my tent exclaimed,

“Who has not been filled with his meat!”

³²No stranger lodged in the street,

for I opened my door to wayfarers—

³³ Had I, all too human, hidden my sins

and buried my guilt in my bosom

³⁴Because I feared the great multitude

and the scorn of the clans terrified me—

then I should have remained silent, and not come out of doors!

³⁵ Oh, that I had one to hear my case:

here is my signature: let the Almighty answer me!

Let my accuser write out his indictment!

³⁶Surely, I should wear it on my shoulder

or put it on me like a diadem;

³⁷Of all my steps I should give him an account;

like a prince I should present myself before him.

³⁸If my land has cried out against me

till its furrows wept together;

³⁹If I have eaten its strength without payment

and grieved the hearts of its tenants;

⁴⁰Then let the thorns grow instead of wheat

and stinkweed instead of barley!

The words of Job are ended.

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THE REVISED NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB)