In declaring his innocence, Job considers a considerable list of possible sins. These include lusting after a pretty girl (Job 31:1) or actual adultery (31:9); failure to provide justice for his workers (31:13), failure to care for the poor (31:16), failure to show hospitality to foreigners (31:32), or failure to care for the land (31:38-39).

They also include idolatry of his wealth (31:24-25) or of nature (31:26-27), as well as the sin of hiding his shame in secret (31:33-34) and (perhaps with a sidelong glance toward the accusations of his friends) the sin of delighting in someone’s misfortunes or cursing them (31:29-30). Job is confident that he is innocent of all these things.

It’s a very broad list. It includes a thorough mix of inward thoughts and outward actions, rather than focusing on one to the exclusion of the other. Sexual sins and social injustice sins both make the list; xenophobia and idolatry and judgmentalism are all present as well. In our present day, both conservatives and liberals will see the sins of their opponents well-represented here (though perhaps, as happens so often, we will not recognize our own).

Suppose someone genuinely was pure in heart, innocent of all of these. And suppose God messed up that person’s life. That’s me, says Job, and despite all the efforts of Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar to shout him down, we know that Job is right, because that’s what the book itself told us, right at the start. And so Job yearns to bring his case before God, so that he can defend himself and give an account of all his deeds (31:35-37). That opportunity is coming …

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Job might be innocent of all these things, O God, but I see myself on his list of sins quite a few times. Help me, Lord. Change my heart. In your mercy cleanse me of my sin, that I might live in devotion and righteousness in the days to come.