38:16 Have you gone to the springs that fill the sea, 1
or walked about in the recesses of the deep?
VI. The Divine Speeches (38:1-42:6)
The Lord’s First Speech 238:1 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind: 3
31:1 “I made a covenant with 4 my eyes;
how then could I entertain thoughts against a virgin? 5
31:2 What then would be one’s lot from God above,
one’s heritage from the Almighty 6 on high?
31:3 Is it not misfortune for the unjust,
and disaster for those who work iniquity?
31:4 Does he not see my ways
and count all my steps?
31:5 If 7 I have walked in falsehood,
and if 8 my foot has hastened 9 to deceit –
31:6 let him 10 weigh me with honest 11 scales;
then God will discover 12 my integrity.
31:7 If my footsteps have strayed from the way,
if my heart has gone after my eyes, 13
or if anything 14 has defiled my hands,
31:8 then let me sow 15 and let another eat,
and let my crops 16 be uprooted.
31:9 If my heart has been enticed by a woman,
and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door, 17
31:10 then let my wife turn the millstone 18 for another man,
and may other men have sexual relations with her. 19
31:11 For I would have committed 20 a shameful act, 21
an iniquity to be judged. 22
31:12 For it is a fire that devours even to Destruction, 23
and it would uproot 24 all my harvest.
31:13 “If I have disregarded the right of my male servants
or my female servants
when they disputed 25 with me,
31:14 then what will I do when God confronts me in judgment; 26
when he intervenes, 27
how will I respond to him?
31:15 Did not the one who made me in the womb make them? 28
Did not the same one form us in the womb?
31:16 If I have refused to give the poor what they desired, 29
or caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
31:17 If I ate my morsel of bread myself,
and did not share any of it with orphans 30 –
31:18 but from my youth I raised the orphan 31 like a father,
and from my mother’s womb 32
I guided the widow! 33
31:19 If I have seen anyone about to perish for lack of clothing,
or a poor man without a coat,
31:20 whose heart did not bless me 34
as he warmed himself with the fleece of my sheep, 35
31:21 if I have raised my hand 36 to vote against the orphan,
when I saw my support in the court, 37
31:22 then 38 let my arm fall from the shoulder, 39
let my arm be broken off at the socket. 40
31:23 For the calamity from God was a terror to me, 41
and by reason of his majesty 42 I was powerless.
31:24 “If I have put my confidence in gold
or said to pure gold,
‘You are my security!’
31:25 if I have rejoiced because of the extent of my wealth,
or because of the great wealth my hand had gained,
31:26 if I looked at the sun 43 when it was shining,
and the moon advancing as a precious thing,
31:27 so that my heart was secretly enticed,
and my hand threw them a kiss from my mouth, 44
31:28 then this 45 also would be iniquity to be judged, 46
for I would have been false 47 to God above.
31:29 If 48 I have rejoiced over the misfortune of my enemy 49
or exulted 50 because calamity 51 found him –
31:30 I 52 have not even permitted my mouth 53 to sin
by asking 54 for his life through a curse –
31:31 if 55 the members of my household 56 have never said, 57
‘If only there were 58 someone
who has not been satisfied from Job’s 59 meat!’ –
31:32 But 60 no stranger had to spend the night outside,
for I opened my doors to the traveler 61 –
31:33 if 62 I have covered my transgressions as men do, 63
by hiding 64 iniquity in my heart, 65
31:34 because I was terrified 66 of the great multitude, 67
and the contempt of families terrified me,
so that I remained silent
and would not go outdoors – 68
31:35 “If only I had 69 someone to hear me!
Here is my signature – 70
let the Almighty answer me!
If only I had an indictment 71
that my accuser had written. 72
31:36 Surely 73 I would wear it proudly 74 on my shoulder,
I would bind 75 it on me like a crown;
31:37 I would give him an accounting of my steps;
like a prince I would approach him.
31:38 “If my land cried out against me 77
and all its furrows wept together,
31:39 if I have eaten its produce without paying, 78
or caused the death 79 of its owners, 80
31:40 then let thorns sprout up in place of wheat,
and in place of barley, weeds!” 81
The words of Job are ended.