Job’s Final Protest of Innocence

31 “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[a] another man;
    let other men sleep with her.
11 For lust is a shameful sin,
    a crime that should be punished.
12 It is a fire that burns all the way to hell.[b]
    It would wipe out everything I own.

13 “If I have been unfair to my male or female servants
    when they brought their complaints to me,
14 how could I face God?
    What could I say when he questioned me?
15 For God created both me and my servants.
    He created us both in the womb.

16 “Have I refused to help the poor,
    or crushed the hopes of widows?
17 Have I been stingy with my food
    and refused to share it with orphans?
18 No, from childhood I have cared for orphans like a father,
    and all my life I have cared for widows.
19 Whenever I saw the homeless without clothes
    and the needy with nothing to wear,
20 did they not praise me
    for providing wool clothing to keep them warm?

21 “If I raised my hand against an orphan,
    knowing the judges would take my side,
22 then let my shoulder be wrenched out of place!
    Let my arm be torn from its socket!
23 That would be better than facing God’s judgment.
    For if the majesty of God opposes me, what hope is there?