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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /><title>Job 31 NLT</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/job/31.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" 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title="Job 30">◄</a> Job 31 <a href="../job/32.htm" title="Job 32">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">New Living Translation</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/nlt/esv/job/31.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></td></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><p class="hdg">Job’s Final Protest of Innocence</p><p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/job/31-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>“I made a covenant with my eyes</p><p class="line2">not to look with lust at a young woman.</p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/job/31-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>For what has God above chosen for us?</p><p class="line2">What is our inheritance from the Almighty on high?</p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/job/31-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>Isn’t it calamity for the wicked</p><p class="line2">and misfortune for those who do evil?</p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/job/31-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>Doesn’t he see everything I do</p><p class="line2">and every step I take?</p><p class="b"/><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/job/31-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>“Have I lied to anyone</p><p class="line2">or deceived anyone?</p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/job/31-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>Let God weigh me on the scales of justice,</p><p class="line2">for he knows my integrity.</p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/job/31-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>If I have strayed from his pathway,</p><p class="line2">or if my heart has lusted for what my eyes have seen,</p><p class="line2">or if I am guilty of any other sin,</p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/job/31-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>then let someone else eat the crops I have planted.</p><p class="line2">Let all that I have planted be uprooted.</p><p class="b"/><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/job/31-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>“If my heart has been seduced by a woman,</p><p class="line2">or if I have lusted for my neighbor’s wife,</p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/job/31-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>then let my wife serve<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">a</span></a> another man;</p><p class="line2">let other men sleep with her.</p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/job/31-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>For lust is a shameful sin,</p><p class="line2">a crime that should be punished.</p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/job/31-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>It is a fire that burns all the way to hell.<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">b</span></a></p><p class="line2">It would wipe out everything I own.</p><p class="b"/><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/job/31-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>“If I have been unfair to my male or female servants</p><p class="line2">when they brought their complaints to me,</p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/job/31-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>how could I face God?</p><p class="line2">What could I say when he questioned me?</p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/job/31-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>For God created both me and my servants.</p><p class="line2">He created us both in the womb.</p><p class="b"/><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/job/31-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>“Have I refused to help the poor,</p><p class="line2">or crushed the hopes of widows?</p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/job/31-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>Have I been stingy with my food</p><p class="line2">and refused to share it with orphans?</p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/job/31-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span>No, from childhood I have cared for orphans like a father,</p><p class="line2">and all my life I have cared for widows.</p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/job/31-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span>Whenever I saw the homeless without clothes</p><p class="line2">and the needy with nothing to wear,</p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/job/31-20.htm"><b>20</b></a></span>did they not praise me</p><p class="line2">for providing wool clothing to keep them warm?</p><p class="b"/><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/job/31-21.htm"><b>21</b></a></span>“If I raised my hand against an orphan,</p><p class="line2">knowing the judges would take my side,</p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/job/31-22.htm"><b>22</b></a></span>then let my shoulder be wrenched out of place!</p><p class="line2">Let my arm be torn from its socket!</p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/job/31-23.htm"><b>23</b></a></span>That would be better than facing God’s judgment.</p><p class="line2">For if the majesty of God opposes me, what hope is there?</p><p class="b"/><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/job/31-24.htm"><b>24</b></a></span>“Have I put my trust in money</p><p class="line2">or felt secure because of my gold?</p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/job/31-25.htm"><b>25</b></a></span>Have I gloated about my wealth</p><p class="line2">and all that I own?</p><p class="b"/><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/job/31-26.htm"><b>26</b></a></span>“Have I looked at the sun shining in the skies,</p><p class="line2">or the moon walking down its silver pathway,</p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/job/31-27.htm"><b>27</b></a></span>and been secretly enticed in my heart</p><p class="line2">to throw kisses at them in worship?</p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/job/31-28.htm"><b>28</b></a></span>If so, I should be punished by the judges,</p><p class="line2">for it would mean I had denied the God of heaven.</p><p class="b"/><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/job/31-29.htm"><b>29</b></a></span>“Have I ever rejoiced when disaster struck my enemies,</p><p class="line2">or become excited when harm came their way?</p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/job/31-30.htm"><b>30</b></a></span>No, I have never sinned by cursing anyone</p><p class="line2">or by asking for revenge.</p><p class="b"/><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/job/31-31.htm"><b>31</b></a></span>“My servants have never said,</p><p class="line2">‘He let others go hungry.’</p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/job/31-32.htm"><b>32</b></a></span>I have never turned away a stranger</p><p class="line2">but have opened my doors to everyone.</p><p class="b"/><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/job/31-33.htm"><b>33</b></a></span>“Have I tried to hide my sins like other people do,</p><p class="line2">concealing my guilt in my heart?</p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/job/31-34.htm"><b>34</b></a></span>Have I feared the crowd</p><p class="line2">or the contempt of the masses,</p><p class="line2">so that I kept quiet and stayed indoors?</p><p class="b"/><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/job/31-35.htm"><b>35</b></a></span>“If only someone would listen to me!</p><p class="line2">Look, I will sign my name to my defense.</p><p class="line1">Let the Almighty answer me.</p><p class="line2">Let my accuser write out the charges against me.</p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/job/31-36.htm"><b>36</b></a></span>I would face the accusation proudly.</p><p class="line2">I would wear it like a crown.</p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/job/31-37.htm"><b>37</b></a></span>For I would tell him exactly what I have done.</p><p class="line2">I would come before him like a prince.</p><p class="b"/><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/job/31-38.htm"><b>38</b></a></span>“If my land accuses me</p><p class="line2">and all its furrows cry out together,</p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/job/31-39.htm"><b>39</b></a></span>or if I have stolen its crops</p><p class="line2">or murdered its owners,</p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/job/31-40.htm"><b>40</b></a></span>then let thistles grow on that land instead of wheat,</p><p class="line2">and weeds instead of barley.”</p><p class="b"/><p class="m">Job’s words are ended.</p><A name="footnotes"></a><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"><span class="mainfootnotes"><span class="mainfootnoteshdg">Footnotes:</span><br><span class="fn">a</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">31:10 </span><span class="ft">Hebrew </span><span class="it">grind for.</span><br><span class="fn">b</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">31:12 </span><span class="ft">Hebrew </span><span class="it">to Abaddon.</span><br></span></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center"><em>Holy Bible</em>, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of <a href="http://www.tyndale.com">Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.</a>, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. 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