Job 31:1-40 Job Wants a Fair Judgment

Job Wants a Fair Judgment

Job 31:1-40                                 Book of Job [in Smaller Chunks]

I made a covenant, [a.k.a. contract,] [to be faithful, but went astray] with [my] eyes. Then, why should I [dare to] think upon a maid [that I saw?] For what portion [from] God is there from above? And what inheritance [is there] [from] the Almighty, from on high? [Job 20:29 This is the portion [for] a wicked man from God, & the heritage appointed to him by God.]

Isn't destruction [for] the wicked? And a strange punishment [for those who work sinfully?] [Doesn't God] see my ways, & count all my steps?

If I have walked with vanity, or if my foot [has hurried] to [be] [deceitful,] Let me be weighed in [a fair] balance, [a.k.a. scale, so] that God may know [my] integrity. [Job 27:5-6 God forbid that I should justify you. I will not remove [my] integrity from me, [until] I die. I hold [tight to] my righteousness, & won't let it go. My heart shall not [disgrace] me as long as I live.]

If my [steps] have turned [astray,] & [my] heart walked, [a.k.a. followed,] after [my] eyes, & if any blot, [a.k.a. stain, has clung] to [my] hands; then, let me sow [crops,] & let another [person] eat [it.] [Yes,] let my [children] be [uprooted.]

If [my] heart [has] been deceived by a woman, or if I have laid [in] wait at my neighbor's door [to sneak into his house when he's not there;] Then, let my wife grind, [a.k.a. be intimate, with] another, & others [be intimate with] her, [as well.] [Jeremiah 8:9-10 The wise men are ashamed, & they are [discouraged,] & [captured.] [Look,] they have rejected the Word of the Lord, & what wisdom is in them? Therefore, I will give their wives to others, & their fields to [those who] shall inherit them. For everyone from the [powerless,] even to the [powerful,] is given to [greed,] from the prophet, even to the priest, & everyone [deals] falsely, [a.k.a. deceitfully.]

For this is a [destable] crime; [yes,] it is a [sin punishable] by the judges. For [adultery] is a fire that [consumes,] [& leads] to destruction, & would [uproot] all [my] increase.

If I [despised] the [case] of my [male or female servants,] when they [complained against] me, then, what shall I do, when God rises up [against this evil?] And when [God visits] [this issue,] what shall I answer Him?

Didn't He [Who] made me in the womb [also] make him? And didn't One [form] us in the womb? If I have withheld their desire from the poor, or have caused the eyes of the widow to [grow dim;] or have eaten my [small amount of food by] myself, alone, [when] the fatherless [haven't] eaten [from it.]

(For from my youth, [the fatherless] was brought up with me, [like] with a father, & from my mother's womb, I have guided the [widow:]) If I have seen any perish for [lack] of clothing, or any poor without [a] covering;

If his [heart hasn't] blessed me, & if he weren't warmed by the fleece [covering made from] my sheep; If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, when I saw [that I had] help [at] the gate:

Then, let [my] arm [be dislocated] from my shoulder blade, & [my] arm be broken from the [bone's] [socket.] For destruction from God [terrified] me, & [because] of His [majesty,] I couldn't endure.

If I have made my hope, gold; or have said to the fine gold, [I have] confidence in you; If I rejoiced, because my wealth was [large,] & because [my] hand had gotten much [wealth;]

[Job 1:9-10 Then Satan answered the Lord & said, Does Job fear, [a.k.a. respect,] God for [nothing?] Haven't you made a hedge [around Job, & around] his house, & [around] everything that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, & his [possessions have] increased in the land.]

If I [saw] the sun when it shined, or the moon [while] walking in [its] brightness;

[Deuteronomy 4:19 And lest you lift up your eyes to heaven, & when you see the sun, the moon, & the stars, even all the host of heaven, & should be [drawn] to worship them, & serve them, which the Lord, your God, has [separated,] & given to all nations under the whole heaven.]

And my heart has been secretly [lured,] or my mouth has kissed my [own] hand: [Proverbs 30:8 Remove far from me: vanity & lies. Give me neither poverty, nor riches. Feed me with food convenient for me.] [These] were also [sins] to be punished by the Judge. For I [would] have denied the God, [Who] is above.

If I [rejoiced] at the destruction of him, [who] hated me, or [elevated] myself when evil found him; Neither [would] I have [allowed] my mouth to sin by wishing a curse [upon] his soul.

[Not even] if the men of my [tent] said, Oh, we can’t be satisfied [unless] we had [the meat] of his flesh [to eat.] The strangers didn’t lodge in the street: but I opened my doors to the [traveler.] If I [hid my sins like] Adam, by hiding [my sins in my heart.]

Did I fear a [large] multitude, or did the [disapproval] of families terrify me, [so] that I kept [silent,] & [didn't go] out of the door?

[Exodus 23:1-2 You shall not raise a false report. [Don't] put your hand with the wicked to be an [untruthful] witness. You shall not follow a multitude to do evil. Neither shall you speak in a [case to divert justice.]

Oh, that [someone] would hear me! [See,] my desire is, that the Almighty would answer me, & that [my enemy] had written a book. [Job 16:19 Also [look] now, my witness is in heaven, & my record is on high.]

Surely, I would take it upon my shoulder, & [tie it like] a crown [for] me. I would declare to [God] the number of my steps, [like] a prince, & I would go [close] to Him.

If my land [cries] [out] against me, or the furrows [of the field] [also] complain; If I have [its] fruit without [paying] money, or have caused [its] owners to lose their [livelihood:]

[James 5:4 [Look,] the [wages] which you kept back [from] the [laborers,] by fraud, who have [harvested] your fields, [cry] [out.] And the cries of [those who] have [harvested have] entered the ears of the Lord of [the] Sabbath.]

Let thistles grow instead of wheat, & [harmful weeds] [grow in your fields] instead of barley. The words of Job [have] ended.