Job 31:1-11

1 “I made a covenant with my eyes not to look with lust at a young woman.
2 For what has God above chosen for us? What is our inheritance from the Almighty on high?
3 Isn’t it calamity for the wicked and misfortune for those who do evil?
4 Doesn’t he see everything I do and every step I take?
5 “Have I lied to anyone or deceived anyone?
6 Let God weigh me on the scales of justice, for he knows my integrity.
7 If I have strayed from his pathway, or if my heart has lusted for what my eyes have seen, or if I am guilty of any other sin,
8 then let someone else eat the crops I have planted. Let all that I have planted be uprooted.
9 “If my heart has been seduced by a woman, or if I have lusted for my neighbor’s wife,
10 then let my wife serve another man; let other men sleep with her.
11 For lust is a shameful sin, a crime that should be punished.

Job 31:1-11 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JOB 31

In this chapter Job gives an account of himself in private life, of the integrity and uprightness of his life, and his holy walk and conversation, with this view, that it might be thought that the afflictions which were upon him were not on account of a vicious course of life he had indulged unto, as was suggested; and he clears himself from various crimes which it might be insinuated he was guilty of, as from unchastity; and he observes the method he took to prevent his falling into it, and the reasons that dissuaded him from it, Job 31:1-4; from injustice in his dealings with men, Job 31:5-8; from the sin of adultery, Job 31:9-12; from ill usage of his servants, Job 31:13-15; from unkindness to the poor, which he enlarges upon, and gives many instances of his charity to them, Job 31:16-23; from covetousness, and a vain confidence in wealth, Job 31:24,25; from idolatry, the worship of the sun and moon, Job 31:26-28; from a revengeful spirit, Job 31:29-31; and from inhospitality to strangers, Job 31:32; from covering his sin, Job 31:33; and fear of men, Job 31:34; and then wishes his cause might be heard before God, Job 31:35-37; and the chapter is closed with an imprecation on his head if guilty of any injustice, Job 31:38-40.

Footnotes 1

Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.