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31:1  "I made a covenant with my eyes; how, then, can I focus my attention on a virgin?
31:2  What would I have from God above, what heritage from the Almighty on high,
31:3  if not calamity that is due the unjust, and misfortune that is due those who practice iniquity?
31:4  He watches my life, observing every one of my actions, does he not?"
31:5  "If I've lived my life in the company of vanity, or run quickly to embrace deception,
31:6  let my righteousness be weighed in honest scales, and God will make known my integrity.
31:7  If I have stepped away from the way, or if my heart covets whatever my eyes see, or if some other blemish clings to my hands,
31:8  what I've planted, let another eat or let my crops be uprooted."
31:9  "If my heart has been seduced by a woman and I've laid in wait at my friend's door,
31:10  then let my wife cook for another person and may someone else sleep with her,
31:11  because something as lascivious as that is an iniquity that should be judged.
31:12  The fires of Abaddon will burn, disrupting every part of my eternal reward."
31:13  "If I've refused to help my male and female servants when they complain against me,
31:14  what will I do when God stands up to act? When he asks the questions, how will I answer him?
31:15  The one who made me in the womb made them, too, didn't he? Didn't the same one prepare each of us in the womb?"
31:16  "If I refused to grant the desire of the poor or exhausted the eyes of the widow,
31:17  if I ate my meals by myself without feeding orphans,
31:18  (even a poor man had grown up with me as if I were his father, and even though I had guided the widow from the time I was born),
31:19  if I've observed someone who is about to die for lack of clothes or if I have no clothing to give to the poor,
31:20  if he hadn't thanked me from the bottom of his heart, if he had not been warmed by wool from my sheep,
31:21  if I've raised my hand against an orphan when I thought I would against him in court,
31:22  then let my arm fall from its socket; and may my arm be torn off at the shoulder.
31:23  For I'm terrified of what calamity God may have in store for me; and I cannot endure his grandeur."
31:24  "If I've put my confidence in gold, if I've told gold, 'You're my security,'
31:25  if I've found joy in great wealth that I own, if I've earned a lot with my own hands,
31:26  if I look at the sun when it shines or the moon as it rises in steady splendor,
31:27  so that in the depths of my deceived heart I worshipped them with my mouth and hands,
31:28  this is also a sin that deserves to be judged, since I would have tried to deceive God above."
31:29  "Have I rejoiced in the destruction of those who hate me, or have I been happy that evil caught up with him?
31:30  No, I haven't allowed my mouth to sin by asking for his life with a curse.
31:31  People in my household have said, 'We cannot find anyone who has not been satisfied with his meat,' haven't they?
31:32  No stranger ever spent the night in the street, because I opened my doors to travelers."
31:33  "Have I covered my transgression like other people, to conceal iniquity within myself?
31:34  Have I feared large crowds? Has my family's contempt ever terrified me so that I remained silent and wouldn't go outside?"
31:35  "Who will grant me a hearing? Here's my signature —let the Almighty answer! Since my adversary indicted me,
31:36  I'll wear it on my shoulder, or tie it on my head for a crown!
31:37  I'll give an account for every step I've taken; I'll approach him confidently like a Commander-in-Chief."
31:38  "If my land were to cry out against me or if all its furrows wept as one,
31:39  If I've consumed its produce without paying for it and snuffed out the life of its owners;
31:40  may thorns spring up instead of wheat, and obnoxious weeds instead of barley." With this, Job's discourse with his friends is completed.