Parallel Bible results for "job 31"

Job 31

The Message Bible MSG

1 "I made a solemn pact with myself never to undress a girl with my eyes.

2 So what can I expect from God? What do I deserve from God Almighty above?

3 Isn't calamity reserved for the wicked? Isn't disaster supposed to strike those who do wrong?

4 Isn't God looking, observing how I live? Doesn't he mark every step I take?

5 "Have I walked hand in hand with falsehood, or hung out in the company of deceit?

6 Weigh me on a set of honest scales so God has proof of my integrity.

7 If I've strayed off the straight and narrow, wanted things I had no right to, messed around with sin,

8 Go ahead, then - give my portion to someone who deserves it.

9 "If I've let myself be seduced by a woman and conspired to go to bed with her,

10 Fine, my wife has every right to go ahead and sleep with anyone she wants to.

11 For disgusting behavior like that, I'd deserve the worst punishment you could hand out.

12 Adultery is a fire that burns the house down; I wouldn't expect anything I count dear to survive it.

13 "Have I ever been unfair to my employees when they brought a complaint to me?

14 What, then, will I do when God confronts me? When God examines my books, what can I say?

15 Didn't the same God who made me, make them? Aren't we all made of the same stuff, equals before God?

16 "Have I ignored the needs of the poor, turned my back on the indigent,

17 Taken care of my own needs and fed my own face while they languished?

18 Wasn't my home always open to them? Weren't they always welcome at my table?

19 "Have I ever left a poor family shivering in the cold when they had no warm clothes?

20 Didn't the poor bless me when they saw me coming, knowing I'd brought coats from my closet?

21 "If I've ever used my strength and influence to take advantage of the unfortunate,

22 Go ahead, break both my arms, cut off all my fingers!

23 The fear of God has kept me from these things - how else could I ever face him? If Only Someone Would Give Me a Hearing!

24 "Did I set my heart on making big money or worship at the bank?

25 Did I boast about my wealth, show off because I was well-off?

26 Was I ever so awed by the sun's brilliance and moved by the moon's beauty

27 That I let myself become seduced by them and worshiped them on the sly?

28 If so, I would deserve the worst of punishments, for I would be betraying God himself.

29 "Did I ever crow over my enemy's ruin? Or gloat over my rival's bad luck?

30 No, I never said a word of detraction, never cursed them, even under my breath.

31 "Didn't those who worked for me say, 'He fed us well. There were always second helpings'?

32 And no stranger ever had to spend a night in the street; my doors were always open to travelers.

33 Did I hide my sin the way Adam did, or conceal my guilt behind closed doors

34 Because I was afraid what people would say, fearing the gossip of the neighbors so much That I turned myself into a recluse? You know good and well that I didn't.

35 "Oh, if only someone would give me a hearing! I've signed my name to my defense - let the Almighty One answer! I want to see my indictment in writing.

36 Anyone's welcome to read my defense; I'll write it on a poster and carry it around town.

37 I'm prepared to account for every move I've ever made - to anyone and everyone, prince or pauper.

38 "If the very ground that I farm accuses me, if even the furrows fill with tears from my abuse,

39 If I've ever raped the earth for my own profit or dispossessed its rightful owners,

40 Then curse it with thistles instead of wheat, curse it with weeds instead of barley." The words of Job to his three friends were finished. Elihu Speaks

World English Bible WEB

1 "I made a covenant with my eyes, How then should I look lustfully at a young woman?

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

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

4 Doesn't he see my ways, And number all my steps?

5 "If I have walked with falsehood, And my foot has hurried to deceit

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

7 If my step has turned out of the way, If my heart walked after my eyes, If any defilement has stuck to my hands,

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

9 "If my heart has been enticed to a woman, And I have laid wait at my neighbor's door;

10 Then let my wife grind for another, And let others sleep with her.

11 For that would be a heinous crime; Yes, it would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges:

12 For it is a fire that consumes to destruction, And would root out all my increase.

13 "If I have despised the cause of my man-servant Or of my maid-servant, When they contended with me;

14 What then shall I do when God rises up? When he visits, what shall I answer him?

15 Didn't he who made me in the womb make him? Didn't one fashion us in the womb?

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

17 Or have eaten my morsel alone, And the fatherless has not eaten of it

18 (No, from my youth he grew up with me as with a father, Her have I guided from my mother's womb);

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

20 If his heart hasn't blessed me, If he hasn't been warmed with my sheep's fleece;

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

22 Then let my shoulder fall from the shoulder-blade, And my arm be broken from the bone.

23 For calamity from God is a terror to me, By reason of his majesty I can do nothing.

24 "If I have made gold my hope, And have said to the fine gold, 'You are my confidence;'

25 If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, And because my hand had gotten much;

26 If I have seen the sun when it shined, Or the moon moving in splendor,

27 And my heart has been secretly enticed, My hand threw a kiss from my mouth:

28 This also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges; For I should have denied the God who is above.

29 "If I have rejoiced at the destruction of him who hated me, Or lifted up myself when evil found him;

30 (Yes, I have not allowed my mouth to sin By asking his life with a curse);

31 If the men of my tent have not said, 'Who can find one who has not been filled with his meat?'

32 (The sojourner has not lodged in the street; But I have opened my doors to the traveler);

33 If like Adam I have covered my transgressions, By hiding my iniquity in my heart,

34 Because I feared the great multitude, And the contempt of families terrified me, So that I kept silence, and didn't go out of the door--

35 Oh that I had one to hear me! (Behold, here is my signature, let the Almighty answer me); Let the accuser write my indictment!

36 Surely I would carry it on my shoulder; And I would bind it to me as a crown.

37 I would declare to him the number of my steps. As a prince would I go near to him.

38 If my land cries out against me, And the furrows of it weep together;

39 If I have eaten the fruits of it without money, Or have caused the owners of it to lose their life:

40 Let briars grow instead of wheat, And stinkweed instead of barley." The words of Job are ended.