Job 31:33-40 ▼

33 “Have I concealed my transgressions like Adam or like other men, By hiding my wickedness in my bosom,

34 Because I feared the great multitude, And the contempt of families terrified me, So that I kept silence and did not acknowledge my sin and did not go out of the door?

35 “Oh, that I had one to listen to me! Look, here is my signature (mark); Let the Almighty answer me! Let my adversary write out His indictment [and put His vague accusations in tangible form].

36 “Surely I would [proudly] bear it on my shoulder, And bind the scroll around my head like a crown.

37 “I would count out to Him the number of my steps [with every detail of my life], Approaching His presence as if I were a prince.

38 “For if my land has cried out against me, And its furrows weep together;

39 If I have eaten its fruits without paying for them, Or have caused its [rightful] owners to lose their lives,

40 Let thorns grow instead of wheat, And stinkweed and cockleburs instead of barley.” So the words of Job [with his friends] are finished.