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Job 31:1-23

Read this passage and open each verse for the full verse feed and commentary tools.

Job Asserts His Integrity

1“I have made a covenant with my eyes;

How then could I look at a virgin?

2“And what is the portion of God from above,

Or the inheritance of the Almighty from on high?

3“Is it not disaster to the criminal,

And misfortune to those who practice injustice?

4“Does 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 accurate scales,

And let God know my integrity.

7“If my step has turned from the way,

Or my heart followed my eyes,

Or if any spot has stuck to my hands,

8Let me sow and another eat,

And let my crops 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 kneel down over her.

11“For that would be a lustful crime;

Moreover, it would be wrongdoing punishable by judges.

12“For it would be fire that consumes to Abaddon,

And would uproot all my increase.

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?

15“Did 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 shared it

18(But from my youth he grew up with me as with a father,

And from my 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 thanked 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 I had support in the gate,

22May my shoulder fall from its socket,

And my arm be broken off at the elbow.

23“For disaster from God is a terror to me,

And because of His majesty I can do nothing.