Job 31
What Happens in This Chapter
This is the last part of Job's long answer to his friends. He goes through his whole life out loud and lists the wrongs he did not do. He says he was fair to workers, kind to the poor, faithful to his wife, and honest about his money and his land. He asks God to answer him and to write down any charge against him, and then Job stops speaking.
Plain reading written for kids. Short sentences, everyday words, one idea at a time.
I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?
1I made a promise to my own eyes. I said I would not look at a young woman with desire.
2For what portion of God is there from above? and what inheritance of the Almighty from on high?
2What would God above give me if I broke that promise? What would the Almighty, the all-powerful God, hand me?
3Is not destruction to the wicked? and a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity?
3Trouble comes to people who do wrong. Hard things come to those who hurt others.
4Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps?
4God sees everything I do. He counts every step I take.
5If I have walked with vanity, or if my foot hath hasted to deceit;
5Have I ever lived a lie? Have I ever run to trick someone?
6Let me be weighed in an even balance that God may know mine integrity.
6Then let God weigh me on honest scales. He will see that I am honest.
7If my step hath turned out of the way, and mine heart walked after mine eyes, and if any blot hath cleaved to mine hands;
7Have my feet left the right path? Has my heart chased what my eyes wanted? Are my hands dirty with wrong?
8Then let me sow, and let another eat; yea, let my offspring be rooted out.
8If so, let someone else eat the food I planted. Let my crops be pulled out of the ground.
9If mine heart have been deceived by a woman, or if I have laid wait at my neighbour’s door;
9Have I wanted another man's wife? Have I waited by his door to sneak in?
10Then let my wife grind unto another, and let others bow down upon her.
10If so, let my own wife grind grain for another man. Let other men sleep with her.
11For this is an heinous crime; yea, it is an iniquity to be punished by the judges.
11That would be a terrible thing to do. Judges would have to punish it.
12For it is a fire that consumeth to destruction, and would root out all mine increase.
12That kind of sin is a fire that burns everything down. It would destroy all that I have.
13If I did despise the cause of my manservant or of my maidservant, when they contended with me;
13Sometimes my workers had a complaint against me. Did I ever refuse to listen to them?
14What then shall I do when God riseth up? and when he visiteth, what shall I answer him?
14If I did, what will I do when God stands up? What will I say when he asks me?
15Did not he that made me in the womb make him? and did not one fashion us in the womb?
15God made me inside my mother. He made my workers the very same way.
16If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail;
16Have I said no to poor people who needed help? Have I let a widow wait and get nothing?
17Or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof;
17Have I eaten my food all by myself? Did I share none with children who had no father?
18(For from my youth he was brought up with me, as with a father, and I have guided her from my mother’s womb;)
18No. Since I was young I raised such a child like a father. All my life I helped widows.
19If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or any poor without covering;
19Have I seen anyone dying because he had no clothes? Have I seen a poor man with nothing to wear?
20If his loins have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;
20He warmed himself with wool from my sheep. His whole body was glad and thanked me.
21If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, when I saw my help in the gate:
21Have I ever raised my hand against a child with no father? I knew the judges at the gate would take my side.
The town gate was where judges met and cases were decided. Job means he had friends in charge who would have backed him up.
22Then let mine arm fall from my shoulder blade, and mine arm be broken from the bone.
22If I did that, let my arm drop off my shoulder. Let it break away at the joint.
23For destruction from God was a terror to me, and by reason of his highness I could not endure.
23Trouble from God frightened me. He is so great that I could not stand against him.
24If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence;
24Have I trusted my gold to keep me safe? Did I call fine gold my security?
25If I rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because mine hand had gotten much;
25Have I been proud because I was so rich? Was I proud of all my hands had gained?
26If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness;
26Have I looked at the sun shining bright? Have I watched the moon move in its glow?
27And my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand:
27Did my heart get pulled toward them in secret? Did my hand throw them a kiss?
Blowing a kiss toward the sun or moon was a way of worshiping them. Job says he never did that.
28This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have denied the God that is above.
28That too is a sin that judges must punish. It would mean saying no to God above.
29If I rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me, or lifted up myself when evil found him:
29Have I been glad when someone who hated me was ruined? Did I cheer when trouble found him?
30Neither have I suffered my mouth to sin by wishing a curse to his soul.
30No. I never let my mouth sin that way. I never asked for my enemy to die.
31If the men of my tabernacle said not, Oh that we had of his flesh! we cannot be satisfied.
31Every man in my house could say the same thing. Everyone at my table ate until he was full.
32The stranger did not lodge in the street: but I opened my doors to the traveller.
32No stranger ever had to sleep out in the street. My door was always open to travelers.
33If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom:
33Have I covered up my sins the way Adam did? Did I keep my wrongs hidden in my heart?
34Did I fear a great multitude, or did the contempt of families terrify me, that I kept silence, and went not out of the door?
34Was I so afraid of the crowd? Did families laughing at me scare me into staying quiet indoors?
35Oh that one would hear me! behold, my desire is, that the Almighty would answer me, and that mine adversary had written a book.
35I wish someone would listen to me! Here is my name signed to it. Let the Almighty answer me. Let the one who blames me write down the charge.
Job is asking for a real trial. He signs his name to what he has said, and he wants any charge against him written down.
36Surely I would take it upon my shoulder, and bind it as a crown to me.
36I would carry that paper on my shoulder. I would wear it like a crown.
37I would declare unto him the number of my steps; as a prince would I go near unto him.
37I would tell God about every step I took. I would walk up to him like a prince.
38If my land cry against me, or that the furrows likewise thereof complain;
38Does my own land cry out against me? Do its plowed rows weep about how I treated them?
39If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, or have caused the owners thereof to lose their life:
39Have I eaten its food without paying for it? Have I broken the hearts of the farmers there?
40Let thistles grow instead of wheat, and cockle instead of barley. The words of Job are ended.
40If I did, let thorny weeds grow where wheat should be. Let stinkweed grow instead of barley. These are the last words of Job.
← → to turn the page · P for plain English · click a verse to sit with it