Job 31 - Meaning, Themes & Application

" I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid? "

" For what portion of God is there from above? and what inheritance of the Almighty from on high? "

" Is not destruction to the wicked? and a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity? "

" Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps? "

" If I have walked with vanity, or if my foot hath hasted to deceit; "

" Let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know mine integrity. "

" If my step hath turned out of the way, and mine heart walked after mine eyes, and if any blot hath cleaved to mine hands; "

" Then let me sow, and let another eat; yea, let my offspring be rooted out. "

" If mine heart have been deceived by a woman, or if I have laid wait at my neighbour's door; "

" Then let my wife grind unto another, and let others bow down "

" For this is an heinous crime; yea, it is an iniquity to be punished by the judges. "

" For it is a fire that consumeth to destruction, and would root out all mine increase. "

" If I did despise the cause of my manservant or of my maidservant, when they contended "

" What then shall I do when God riseth up? and when he visiteth, what shall I answer "

" Did not he that made me in the womb make him? and did not one fashion us in the womb? "

" If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail; "

" Or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten "

" (For from my youth he was brought up with me, as with a father, and I have guided her from my mother's womb;) "

" If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or any poor without covering; "

" If his loins have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep; "

" If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, when I saw my help in the gate: "

" Then let mine arm fall from my shoulder blade, and mine arm be broken from the bone. "

" For destruction from God was a terror to me, and by reason of his highness I could "

" If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence; "

" If I rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because mine hand had gotten much; "

" If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness; "

" And my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand: "

" This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have denied the God that is above. "

" If I rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me, or lifted up myself when evil found "

" Neither have I suffered my mouth to sin by wishing a curse to his soul. "

" If the men of my tabernacle said not, Oh that we had of his flesh! we cannot be satisfied. "

" The stranger did not lodge in the street: but I opened my doors to the traveller. "

" If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom: "

" Did I fear a great multitude, or did the contempt of families terrify me, that I kept silence, and went not out of the door? "

" Oh that one would hear me! behold, my desire is, that the Almighty would answer me, and that mine adversary had written a book. "

" Surely I would take it upon my shoulder, and bind it as a crown "

" I would declare unto him the number of my steps; as a prince would I go near "

" If my land cry against me, or that the furrows likewise thereof complain; "

" If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, or have caused the owners thereof to lose their life: "

" Let thistles grow instead of wheat, and cockle instead of barley. The words of Job are ended. "