Have I eaten my food alone?
1 I have made a covenant with my eyes
not even to gaze at a virgin.
2 For what is man’s lot from God on high,
his heritage from the Almighty above?
3 Is it not ruin for the wicked,
disaster for the wrongdoer?
4 Does he not see my ways
and number all my steps?
5 Have I walked in falsehood?
Have my feet hastened towards deceit?
6 Let me be weighed in honest scales,
that God may know I am guiltless.
7 If my steps have turned from the way
and my heart’s desire has gone astray,
if my hands have been stained,
8 then may others eat what I have sown,
or may my crops be stricken down.
9 If I have been enticed by a woman,
if I have lurked at my neighbor’s door,
10 then may my wife grind for another,
and may other men sleep with her.
11 (For that is enough to make one ashamed,
a crime that should be utterly condemned.)
12 For it is a fire that burns to destruction;
it would have consumed all my possessions.
13 If I have denied justice to my servants
when they had a grievance against me,
14 what would I do when confronted by God?
What would I answer when called to account?
15 No less than I, they too were formed in the womb
by the same God who formed us all within our mothers.
38 If my land has cried against me
and its furrows wept
39 because I have eaten its fruits unjustly
after getting rid of its owners,
40 let thorns grow instead of wheat
and weeds in the place of barley.
16 Have I denied anything to the poor,
or allowed the widow’s eyes to languish?
17 Have I eaten my food alone,
not sharing it with the fatherless?
18 No! since youth I have fostered him,
and from my mother’s womb, I have guided the widow.
19 Have I seen a man cold and shivering,
destitute, in need of clothing,
20 who did not bless me from his heart
for giving him the warmth of my fleece?
21 If I have raised my hand against the orphan,
trusting in my power and influence,
22 then let my shoulder fall from its socket,
let my arm be broken at the joint.
23 For I feared God-sent calamity,
and how could I stand in his presence?
24 If I have put my trust in gold
or have sought my security from it,
25 if I have gloated over my wealth,
my fortune and accomplishments,
26 if I have regarded the sun in its radiance
or the moon in its splendor,
27 and having been enticed offered them
a kiss of my hand in homage,
28 then these also would be sins to judge
for I would have been unfaithful to God.
29 Have I rejoiced at my enemy’s misfortune
or gloated over disaster that came his way?
30 I have not even allowed my mouth to sin
by invoking a curse against him.
31 Those of my household used to say,
“Who has not been fed with Job’s meat?”
32 No sojourner ever spent the night in the street,
for my door was always open to wayfarers.
33 Have I, out of human weakness,
hidden my sins and concealed guilt in my heart,
34 keeping silent by myself,
because I feared the crowd and their contempt?
35 Oh, that I had someone to hear me!
Let the Almighty answer! This is my plea.
Let my accuser write his indictment
36 and I will wear it on my shoulder,
or bind it round my head like a tur ban.
37 I would give him an account of my every step,
and go as boldly as a prince to meet him.
This is the end of the words of Job.
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Comments Job, Chapter 31
• 31.1 Job looks at his behavior according to the law of God as it is presented in many pages of the Old Testament: a law of goodness and honesty centered on concern for one’s neighbor. In a world with a very modest standard of living, those lucky enough not to lack anything had the obligation of sharing with the less fortunate. The most serious sin was the lack of social solidarity.
In Job’s examination of conscience the sin of idolatry appears (vv. 26-28). This, however, plays a minor role.