Job’s Final Defense Continued

• so[fn] how could I look closely upon a virgin?
• 2 And what is the portion of God from above or[fn] the heritage of Shaddai from on high?
• 3 Is not disaster for the evil one and ruin for the workers of mischief?
• 4 Does he not see my ways and count all my steps?
• 5 “If I have walked with falseness, and my foot has hastened to deceit,
• 6 let him weigh me in the balance of justice, and let God know my blamelessness.
• 7 If my steps have turned aside from the way, and my heart has walked after my eyes,
• and my hand has clung to a spot,
• 8 let me sow, and let another eat, and let my crops be rooted out.
• 9 “If my heart has been enticed by a woman, and at my neighbor’s doorway I have lain in wait,
• 10 let my wife grind for another, and let other men kneel over her,
• 11 for that is a shameful act, and that is a criminal offense .[fn]
• 12 Indeed, that is a fire that will consume up to Abaddon, and it would uproot all my crop.
• 13 “If I have rejected my male or[fn] female slave’s case when their complaint was against me,
• 14 then[fn] what shall I do when God rises up? And when he enquires, how shall I answer him?
• 15 Did not he who made me in the womb make them? And did not one fashion us in the womb?
• 16 “If I have withheld the desire of the poor from them, or[fn] I have caused the widow’s eyes to fail,
• 17 or I have eaten my morsel alone ,[fn] and the orphan has not eaten from it
• 18 (for from my childhood he[fn] grew up with[fn] me like a father, and from my mother’s womb I guided her[fn]),
• 19 if I have seen the one who perishes because of no clothing or[fn] that there is no covering for the poor,
• 20 if his loins have not blessed me, or[fn] by means of my sheep’s fleece he has warmed himself,
• 21 if I have raised my hand against an orphan because I saw my supporters at the gate,
• 22 then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder, and let my arm be broken from its socket.
• 23 Indeed, the disaster from God was a dread for me, and I was powerless[fn] because of his majesty.
• 24 “If I have made gold my trust, or[fn] I have called fine gold my security,
• 25 if I have rejoiced because my wealth was great or[fn] because my hand found a fortune,
• 26 if I looked at the sun when it shone or[fn] at the moon moving in splendor,
• 27 and I was secretly enticed ,[fn] and my hand threw them a kiss ,[fn]
• 28 this also is an iniquity to be judged, for I have deceived God above.
• 29 “If I have rejoiced at the ruin of the one who hated me or[fn] have exulted when evil overtook him—
• 30 no,[fn] I have not allowed my mouth to sin, to ask his life with a curse.
• 31 Have the people of my tent not said ,[fn] ‘ O that[fn] someone[fn] had not been satisfied with his meat’?
• 32 An alien has not lodged in the street; I have opened my door to the traveler.
• 33 Have I concealed[fn] my transgressions as other human beings to hide my iniquity in my bosom
• 34 because I dreaded the great multitude, and the contempt of clans terrified me,
• so that I kept quiet, I did not go out of the doorway?
• 35 O that[fn] I had[fn] someone hearing me! Here is my signature;
• let Shaddai answer me!
• As for[fn] the written communication that my adversary[fn] has written,
• 36 I would surely[fn] carry it on my shoulder; I would bind it on me like a crown.
• 37 I would give him an account of my steps; I would approach him like a noble.
• 38 If my land has cried out against me, and its furrows have wept together,
• 39 if I have eaten its yield without payment, or[fn] I have caused the breath of its owners to die,
• 40 let thorns grow in place of wheat and noxious weeds in place of barley.”
• The words of Job are ended.