New International Version

Darby Bible Translation

“I made a covenant with my eyes
not to look lustfully at a young woman.

1

Job's Final Appeal

I made a covenant with mine eyes; and how should I fix my regard upon a maid?

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For what is our lot from God above,
our heritage from the Almighty on high?

2

For what would have been [my] portion of +God from above, and what the heritage of the Almighty from on high?

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Is it not ruin for the wicked,
disaster for those who do wrong?

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Is not calamity for the unrighteous? and misfortune for the workers of iniquity?

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Does he not see my ways
and count my every step?

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Doth not he see my ways, and number all my steps?

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“If I have walked with falsehood
or my foot has hurried after deceit —

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If I have walked with falsehood, and my foot hath hasted to deceit,

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let God weigh me in honest scales
and he will know that I am blameless —

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(Let me be weighed in an even balance, and +God will take knowledge of my blamelessness;)

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if my steps have turned from the path,
if my heart has been led by my eyes,
or if my hands have been defiled,

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If my step have turned out of the way, and my heart followed mine eyes, and if any blot cleaveth to my hands;

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then may others eat what I have sown,
and may my crops be uprooted.

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Let me sow, and another eat; and let mine offspring be rooted out.

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“If my heart has been enticed by a woman,
or if I have lurked at my neighbor’s door,

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If my heart have been enticed unto a woman, so that I laid wait at my neighbour's door,

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then may my wife grind another man’s grain,
and may other men sleep with her.

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Let my wife grind for another, and let others bow down upon her.

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For that would have been wicked,
a sin to be judged.

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For this is an infamy; yea, it is an iniquity [to be judged by] the judges:

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It is a fire that burns to Destructiona;
it would have uprooted my harvest.

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

13

“If I have denied justice to any of my servants,
whether male or female,
when they had a grievance against me,

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If I have despised the cause of my bondman or of my bondmaid, when they contended with me,

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what will I do when God confronts me?
What will I answer when called to account?

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What then should I do when God riseth up? and if he visited, what should I answer him?

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Did not he who made me in the womb make them?
Did not the same one form us both within our mothers?

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

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“If I have denied the desires of the poor
or let the eyes of the widow grow weary,

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

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if I have kept my bread to myself,
not sharing it with the fatherless —

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Or have eaten my morsel alone, so that the fatherless ate not thereof,

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but from my youth I reared them as a father would,
and from my birth I guided the widow —

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(For from my youth he grew up with me as with a father, and I have guided the [widow] from my mother's womb;)

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if I have seen anyone perishing for lack of clothing,
or the needy without garments,

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If I have seen any perishing for want of clothing, or any needy without covering;

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and their hearts did not bless me
for warming them with the fleece from my sheep,

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

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if I have raised my hand against the fatherless,
knowing that I had influence in court,

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If I have lifted up my hand against an orphan, because I saw my help in the gate:

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then let my arm fall from the shoulder,
let it be broken off at the joint.

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[Then] let my shoulder fall from the shoulder-blade, and mine arm be broken from the bone!

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For I dreaded destruction from God,
and for fear of his splendor I could not do such things.

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For calamity from God was a terror to me, and by reason of his excellency I was powerless.

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“If I have put my trust in gold
or said to pure gold, ‘You are my security,’

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If I have made gold my hope, or said to the fine gold, My confidence!

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if I have rejoiced over my great wealth,
the fortune my hands had gained,

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

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if I have regarded the sun in its radiance
or the moon moving in splendor,

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If I beheld the sun when it shone, or the moon walking in brightness,

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so that my heart was secretly enticed
and my hand offered them a kiss of homage,

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And my heart have been secretly enticed, so that my mouth kissed my hand:

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then these also would be sins to be judged,
for I would have been unfaithful to God on high.

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This also would be an iniquity for the judge, for I should have denied the God who is above.

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“If I have rejoiced at my enemy’s misfortune
or gloated over the trouble that came to him —

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If I rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me, and exulted when evil befell him;

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I have not allowed my mouth to sin
by invoking a curse against their life —

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(Neither have I suffered my mouth to sin by asking his life with a curse;)

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if those of my household have never said,
‘Who has not been filled with Job’s meat?’ —

31

If the men of my tent said not, Who shall find one that hath not been satisfied with his meat? --

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but no stranger had to spend the night in the street,
for my door was always open to the traveler —

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The stranger did not lodge without; I opened my doors to the pathway.

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if I have concealed my sin as people do,b
by hiding my guilt in my heart

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

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because I so feared the crowd
and so dreaded the contempt of the clans
that I kept silent and would not go outside —

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Because I feared the great multitude, and the contempt of families terrified me, so that I kept silence, and went not out of the door, ...

35

(“Oh, that I had someone to hear me!
I sign now my defense — let the Almighty answer me;
let my accuser put his indictment in writing.

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Oh that I had one to hear me! Behold my signature: let the Almighty answer me! And let mine opponent write an accusation!

36

Surely I would wear it on my shoulder,
I would put it on like a crown.

36

Would I not take it upon my shoulder? I would bind it on to me [as] a crown;

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I would give him an account of my every step;
I would present it to him as to a ruler.) —

37

I would declare unto him the number of my steps; as a prince would I come near to him.

38

“if my land cries out against me
and all its furrows are wet with tears,

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If my land cry out against me, and its furrows weep together;

39

if I have devoured its yield without payment
or broken the spirit of its tenants,

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If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, and have tormented to death the souls of its owners:

40

then let briers come up instead of wheat
and stinkweed instead of barley.”
The words of Job are ended.

40

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

Parallel

New International Version

Darby Bible Translation

Job 31

Job 31