Job 31-32

Job 31

¹I MADE a covenant with mine eyes; how then should I look upon a maid?

²For what is the portion of God from above, and the heritage of the Almighty from on high?

³Is it not calamity to the unrighteous, and disaster to the workers of iniquity?

⁴Doth not he see my ways, and number all my steps?

⁵If I have walked with vanity, and my foot hath hasted to deceit;

⁶(Let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know mine integrity;)

⁷If my step hath turned out of the way, and mine heart walked after mine eyes, and if any spot hath cleaved to mine hands:

⁸Then let me sow, and let another eat; yea, let the produce of my field be rooted out.

⁹If mine heart have been enticed unto a woman, and I have laid wait at my neighbour’s door:

¹⁰Then let my wife grind unto another, and let others bow down upon her.

¹¹For that were an heinous crime; yea, it were an iniquity to be punished by the judges:

¹²For it is a fire that consumeth unto Destruction, and would root out all mine increase.

¹³If I did despise the cause of my manservant or of my maidservant, when they contended with me:

¹⁴What then shall I do when God riseth up? and when he visiteth, what shall I answer him?

¹⁵Did not he that made me in the womb make him? and did not one fashion us in the womb?

¹⁶If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail;

¹⁷Or have eaten my morsel alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof;

¹⁸(Nay, from my youth he grew up with me as with a father, and I have been her guide from my mother’s womb;)

¹⁹If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or that the needy had no covering;

²⁰If his loins have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;

²¹If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, because I saw my help in the gate:

²²Then let my shoulder fall from the shoulder blade, and mine arm be broken from the bone.

²³For calamity from God was a terror to me, and by reason of his excellency I could do nothing.

²⁴If I have made gold my hope, and have said to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence;

²⁵If I rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because mine hand had gotten much;

²⁶If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness;

²⁷And my heart hath been secretly enticed, and my mouth hath kissed my hand:

²⁸This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judges: for I should have lied to God that is above.

²⁹If I rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me, or lifted up myself when evil found him;

³⁰(Yea, I suffered not my mouth to sin by asking his life with a curse;)

³¹If the men of my tent said not, Who can find one that hath not been satisfied with his flesh?

³²The stranger did not lodge in the street; but I opened my doors to the traveller;

³³If like Adam I covered my transgressions, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom;

³⁴Because I feared the great multitude, and the contempt of families terrified me, so that I kept silence, and went not out of the door—

³⁵Oh that I had one to hear me! (lo, here is my signature, let the Almighty answer me;) and that I had the indictment which mine adversary hath written!

³⁶Surely I would carry it upon my shoulder; I would bind it unto me as a crown.

³⁷I would declare unto him the number of my steps; as a prince would I go near unto him.

³⁸If my land cry out against me, and the furrows thereof weep together;

³⁹If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, or have caused the owners thereof to lose their life:

⁴⁰Let thistles grow instead of wheat, and cockle instead of barley. The words of Job are ended.

Job 32

¹So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.

²Then was kindled the wrath of Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram: against Job was his wrath kindled, because he justified himself rather than God.

³Also against his three friends was his wrath kindled, because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job.

⁴Now Elihu had waited to speak unto Job, because they were elder than he.

⁵And when Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of these three men, his wrath was kindled.

⁶And Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite answered and said, I am young, and ye are very old; wherefore I held back, and durst not shew you mine opinion.

⁷I said, Days should speak, and multitude of years should teach wisdom.

⁸But there is a spirit in man, and the breath of the Almighty giveth them understanding.

⁹It is not the great that are wise, nor the aged that understand judgment.

¹⁰Therefore I said, Hearken to me; I also will shew mine opinion.

¹¹Behold, I waited for your words, I listened for your reasons, whilst ye searched out what to say.

¹²Yea, I attended unto you, and, behold, there was none that convinced Job, or that answered his words, among you.

¹³Beware lest ye say, We have found wisdom; God may vanquish him, not man:

¹⁴For he hath not directed his words against me; neither will I answer him with your speeches.

¹⁵They are amazed, they answer no more: they have not a word to say.

¹⁶And shall I wait, because they speak not, because they stand still, and answer no more?

¹⁷I also will answer my part, I also will shew mine opinion.

¹⁸For I am full of words; the spirit within me constraineth me.

¹⁹Behold, my belly is as wine which hath no vent; like new bottles it is ready to burst.

²⁰I will speak, that I may be refreshed; I will open my lips and answer.

²¹Let me not, I pray you, respect any man’s person; neither will I give flattering titles unto any man.

²²For I know not to give flattering titles; else would my Maker soon take me away.