Job: Let the Almighty Answer Me
24 “If I have made gold my hope, and have said to the fine gold, ‘You are my confidence;’ 25 If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because my hand had gotten much; 26 if I have seen the sun when it shined, or the moon moving in splendor, 27 and my heart has been secretly enticed, and my hand threw a kiss from my mouth; 28 this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges, for I would have denied the God who is above. 29 “If I have rejoiced at the destruction of him who hated me, or lifted up myself when evil found him 30 (I have certainly not allowed my mouth to sin by asking his life with a curse); 31 if the men of my tent have not said, ‘Who can find one who has not been filled with his meat?’ 32 (the foreigner has not camped in the street, but I have opened my doors to the traveler); 33 if like Adam I have covered my transgressions, by hiding my iniquity in my heart, 34 because I feared the great multitude, and the contempt of families terrified me, so that I kept silence, and didn’t go out of the door— 35 oh that I had one to hear me! Behold, here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me! Let the accuser write my indictment! 36 Surely I would carry it on my shoulder, and I would bind it to me as a crown. 37 I would declare to him the number of my steps. I would go near to him like a prince. 38 If my land cries out against me, and its furrows weep together; 39 if I have eaten its fruits without money, or have caused its owners to lose their life, 40 let briers grow instead of wheat, and stinkweed instead of barley.” The words of Job are ended.
The oath ends with the sins nobody would have caught, and then Job signs his name and demands the indictment.
The second half of the oath moves to sins that leave no evidence at all.
Money first, and the fault named is not wealth but reliance: if I have made gold my hope, and have said to the fine gold, 'You are my confidence' Job 31:24. He had more than anyone in the east Job 1:3, and the question is what he leaned on.
Then a form of idolatry so private that it consists of a gesture. Seeing the sun shining or the moon in splendor, the heart secretly enticed, and the hand throwing a kiss Job 31:26–27. He calls it denying the God who is above, and treats a fleeting inward movement as a punishable crime.
Next, gladness at an enemy's downfall — and even the wish is renounced: I have certainly not allowed my mouth to sin by asking his life with a curse Job 31:29–30. His servants are called as witnesses on hospitality, and the line about it is one of the best in the book: the foreigner has not camped in the street, but I have opened my doors to the traveler Job 31:32.
Then concealment, and the comparison he chooses is the first hiding recorded in Scripture: if like Adam I have covered my transgressions, by hiding my iniquity in my heart Job 31:33 Genesis 3:8. He gives the motive too, which is fear of what people would say Job 31:34. He is denying not only that he sinned but that he hid anything.
And then the whole book comes to its point.
oh that I had one to hear me! Behold, here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me! Let the accuser write my indictment!
He signs the statement and files it. He is not asking for pity or for relief; he is demanding that the charges be produced in writing so he can answer them. And what he would do with such a document is the most confident thing he says: I would carry it on my shoulder, and I would bind it to me as a crown Job 31:36. He would wear the indictment, certain that reading it in public would clear him.
I would declare to him the number of my steps. I would go near to him like a prince.
Not crawling. Walking up.
There is one more oath, and it is the strangest. If his land cries out against him, if he ate its fruit without paying, if he cost its owners their lives — then let it grow briers and stinkweed Job 31:38–40. He swears about how he acquired his estate, and he lets the ground itself testify.
Then four words, in the narrator's voice: the words of Job are ended.
He has said everything he has. The indictment he asked for never comes, and when God finally speaks it is not to bring charges.
settled What this mark means