Job 31:5-23

5He must know that I am an honest man. I have never tried to deceive people.

6So he should judge me in a fair way. He should realize that I am not guilty.

7God seems to think that I have not lived in the right way. He may think that I have wanted bad things when they looked nice to me. Or perhaps I have done something else that was wrong.

8If am really guilty of these things, someone else should eat the crops that I have planted. They should destroy all the crops in my fields.

9I have not wanted to love any woman except my wife. I have not hidden outside my friend's house to wait for his wife to be alone.

10If I had done those things, my wife should prepare food for another man. It would be right for other men to have sex with her.

11I would not have been faithful to my wife. I would have done a wicked thing and I would deserve punishment.

12If I loved another woman, it would be like a dangerous fire. It would destroy everything that I have worked hard to get.

13When my servants complain against me, I have always been fair to them.

14If I had been cruel to them, God would be right to punish me. When God judges me, I would have no answer to excuse myself.

15God made me and he made my servants too. God brought us all to birth.

16I have never refused to help people who are poor. I have always helped widows to hope for good things.

17I have never kept all my food for myself. I have always shared it with children who have no family.

18Since I was a young man, I have helped those children like a father. All my life I have helped widows too.

19I have seen people without enough clothes to keep them warm, or without a coat to wear.

20Then I would give them clothes. The wool from my sheep would keep them warm. And they all thanked me.

21I have not turned against children who have no family, even when the city judges agreed with me.

22God should punish me if these things are not true. I would accept the punishment that I deserve.

23I was afraid of the trouble that God might bring to me. So I could not do these bad things, because God is so great and powerful.