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Job 31
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| 31:1
I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid? |
(31:1-14) "I made a covenant with mine eyes....."
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| 31:2
For what portion of God is there from above? and what inheritance of the
Almighty from on high? |
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| 31:3
Is not destruction to the wicked? and a strange punishment to the workers
of iniquity? |
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| 31:4
Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps? |
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| 31:5
If I have walked with vanity, or if my foot hath hasted to deceit; |
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| 31:6
Let me be weighed in an even balance that God may know mine integrity. |
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| 31:7
If my step hath turned out of the way, and mine heart walked after mine
eyes, and if any blot hath cleaved to mine hands; |
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| 31:8
Then let me sow, and let another eat; yea, let my offspring be rooted out. |
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| 31:9
If mine heart have been deceived by a woman, or if I have laid wait at my
neighbour's door; |
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| 31:10
Then let my wife grind unto another, and let others bow down upon her. |
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| 31:11
For this is an heinous crime; yea, it is an iniquity to be punished by the
judges. |
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| 31:12
For it is a fire that consumeth to destruction, and would root out all
mine increase. |
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| 31:13
If I did despise the cause of my manservant or of my maidservant, when
they contended with me; |
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| 31:14
What then shall I do when God riseth up? and when he visiteth, what shall
I answer him? |
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| 31:15
Did not he that made me in the womb make him? and did not one fashion us
in the womb? |
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| 31:16
If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of
the widow to fail; |
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| 31:17
Or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten
thereof; |
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| 31:18
(For from my youth he was brought up with me, as with a father, and I have
guided her from my mother's womb;) |
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| 31:19
If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or any poor without
covering; |
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| 31:20
If his loins have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the
fleece of my sheep; |
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| 31:21
If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, when I saw my help in
the gate: |
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| 31:22
Then let mine arm fall from my shoulder blade, and mine arm be broken from
the bone. |
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| 31:23
For destruction from God was a terror to me, and by reason of his highness
I could not endure. |
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| 31:24
If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold, Thou art my
confidence; |
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| 31:25
If I rejoice because my wealth was great, and because mine hand had gotten
much; |
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| 31:26
If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness; |
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| 31:27
And my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand: |
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| 31:28
This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have
denied the God that is above. |
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| 31:29
If I rejoice at the destruction of him that hated me, or lifted up myself
when evil found him: |
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| 31:30
Neither have I suffered my mouth to sin by wishing a curse to his soul. |
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| 31:31
If the men of my tabernacle said not, Oh that we had of his flesh! we
cannot be satisfied. |
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| 31:32
The stranger did not lodge in the street: but I opened my doors to the
traveller. |
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| 31:33
If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine iniquity in my
bosom: |
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| 31:34
Did I fear a great multitude, or did the contempt of families terrify me,
that I kept silence, and went not out of the door? |
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| 31:35
Oh that one would hear me! behold, my desire is, that the Almighty would
answer me, and that mine adversary had written a book. |
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| 31:36
Surely I would take it upon my shoulder, and bind it as a crown to me. |
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| 31:37
I would declare unto him the number of my steps; as a prince would I go
near unto him. |
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| 31:38
If my land cry against me, or that the furrows likewise thereof complain; |
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| 31:39
If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, or have caused the
owners thereof to lose their life: |
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| 31:40
Let thistles grow instead of wheat, and cockle instead of barley. The
words of Job are ended.
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