Job’s Final Appeal 1 CPDV I reached an agreement with my eyes, that I would not so much as think about a virgin. BSB BSB: “I have made a covenant with my eyes. How then could I gaze with desire at a virgin?
2 CPDV For what portion should God from above hold for me, and what inheritance should the Almighty from on high keep? BSB BSB: For what is the allotment of God from above, or the heritage from the Almighty on high?
3 CPDV Is not destruction held for the wicked and repudiation kept for those who work injustice? BSB BSB: Does not disaster come to the unjust and calamity to the workers of iniquity?
4 CPDV Does he not examine my ways and number all my steps? BSB BSB: Does He not see my ways and count my every step?
5 CPDV If I have walked in vanity, or if my foot has hurried towards deceitfulness, BSB BSB: If I have walked in falsehood or my foot has rushed to deceit,
6 CPDV let him weigh me in a just balance, and let God know my simplicity. BSB BSB: let God weigh me with honest scales, that He may know my integrity.
7 CPDV If my steps have turned aside from the way, or if my heart has followed my eyes, or if a blemish has clung to my hands, BSB BSB: If my steps have turned from the path, if my heart has followed my eyes, or if impurity has stuck to my hands,
8 CPDV then may I sow, and let another consume, and let my offspring be eradicated. BSB BSB: then may another eat what I have sown, and may my crops be uprooted.
9 CPDV If my heart has been deceived over a woman, or if I have waited in ambush at my friend’s door, BSB BSB: If my heart has been enticed by my neighbor’s wife, or I have lurked at his door,
10 CPDV then let my wife be the harlot of another, and let other men lean over her. BSB BSB: then may my own wife grind grain for another, and may other men sleep with her.
11 CPDV For this is a crime and a very great injustice. BSB BSB: For that would be a heinous crime, an iniquity to be judged.
12 CPDV It is a fire devouring all the way to perdition, and it roots out all that springs forth. BSB BSB: For it is a fire that burns down to Abaddon; it would root out my entire harvest.
13 CPDV If I have despised being subject to judgment with my servant or my maid, when they had any complaint against me, BSB BSB: If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or maidservant when they made a complaint against me,
14 CPDV then what will I do when God rises to judge, and, when he inquires, how will I respond to him? BSB BSB: what will I do when God rises to judge? How will I answer when called to account?
15 CPDV Is not he who created me in the womb, also he who labored to make him? And did not one and the same form me in the womb? BSB BSB: Did not He who made me in the womb also make them? Did not the same One form us in the womb?
16 CPDV If I have denied the poor what they wanted and have made the eyes of the widow wait; BSB BSB: If I have denied the desires of the poor or allowed the widow’s eyes to fail,
17 CPDV if I have eaten my morsel of food alone, while orphans have not eaten from it; BSB BSB: if I have eaten my morsel alone, not sharing it with the fatherless—
18 CPDV (for from my infancy mercy grew with me, and it came out with me from my mother’s womb;) BSB BSB: though from my youth I reared him as would a father, and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow—
19 CPDV if I have looked down on him who was perishing because he had no clothing and the poor without any covering, BSB BSB: if I have seen one perish for lack of clothing, or a needy man without a cloak,
20 CPDV if his sides have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep; BSB BSB: if his heart has not blessed me for warming him with the fleece of my sheep,
21 CPDV if I have lifted up my hand over an orphan, even when it might seem to me that I have the advantage over him at the gate; BSB BSB: if I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless because I saw that I had support in the gate,
22 CPDV then may my shoulder fall from its joint, and may my arm, with all its bones, be broken. BSB BSB: then may my arm fall from my shoulder and be torn from its socket.
23 CPDV For I have always feared God, like waves flowing over me, whose weight I was unable to bear. BSB BSB: For calamity from God terrifies me, and His splendor I cannot overpower.
24 CPDV If I have considered gold to be my strength, or if I have called purified gold ‘my Trust;’ BSB BSB: If I have put my trust in gold or called pure gold my security,
25 CPDV if I have rejoiced over my great success, and over the many things my hand has obtained; BSB BSB: if I have rejoiced in my great wealth because my hand had gained so much,
26 CPDV if I gazed upon the sun when it shined and the moon advancing brightly, BSB BSB: if I have beheld the sun in its radiance or the moon moving in splendor,
27 CPDV so that my heart rejoiced in secret and I kissed my hand with my mouth, BSB BSB: so that my heart was secretly enticed and my hand threw a kiss from my mouth,
28 CPDV which is a very great iniquity and a denial against the most high God; BSB BSB: this would also be an iniquity to be judged, for I would have denied God on high.
29 CPDV if I have been glad at the ruin of him who hated me and have exulted that evil found him, BSB BSB: If I have rejoiced in my enemy’s ruin, or exulted when evil befell him—
30 CPDV for I have not been given my throat to sin by asking for a curse on his soul; BSB BSB: I have not allowed my mouth to sin by asking for his life with a curse—
31 CPDV if the men around my tabernacle have not said: “He might give us some of his food, so that we will be filled,” BSB BSB: if the men of my house have not said, ‘Who is there who has not had his fill?’—
32 CPDV for the foreigner did not remain at the door, my door was open to the traveler; BSB BSB: but no stranger had to lodge on the street, for my door has been open to the traveler—
33 CPDV if, as man does, I have hidden my sin and have concealed my iniquity in my bosom; BSB BSB: if I have covered my transgressions like Adam by hiding my guilt in my heart,
34 CPDV if I became frightened by an excessive crowd, and the disrespect of close relatives alarmed me, so that I would much rather have remained silent or have gone out the door; BSB BSB: because I greatly feared the crowds and the contempt of the clans terrified me, so that I kept silent and would not go outside—
35 CPDV then, would he grant me a hearing, so that the Almighty would listen to my desire, and he who judges would himself write a book, BSB BSB: (Oh, that I had one to hear me! Here is my signature. Let the Almighty answer me; let my accuser compose an indictment.
36 CPDV which I would then carry on my shoulder and wrap around me like a crown? BSB BSB: Surely I would carry it on my shoulder and wear it like a crown.
37 CPDV With each of my steps, I would pronounce and offer it, as if to a prince. BSB BSB: I would give account of all my steps; I would approach Him like a prince.)—
38 CPDV So, if my land cries out against me, and if its furrows weep with it, BSB BSB: if my land cries out against me and its furrows weep together,
39 CPDV if I have used its fruits for nothing but money and have afflicted the souls of its tillers, BSB BSB: if I have devoured its produce without payment or broken the spirit of its tenants,
40 CPDV then, may thistles spring forth for me instead of grain, and thorns instead of barley. (This ended the words of Job.) BSB BSB: then let briers grow instead of wheat and stinkweed instead of barley.” Thus conclude the words of Job.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.