When a soccer player dives and the referee penalises him with a red card, he will often protest his innocence. He will wave his hands as if to say, ″What?! How outrageous to think I would cheat!″

We are used to being sceptical about such claims of innocence. When people say, ″I'm in the right; I don't deserve this,″ we are naturally dubious. We have seen too many examples of guilty people claiming to be innocent.

But Job is an exception. In this last part of his final speech in Job 31, we hear him repeatedly claiming innocence. When we reread Job 1:1, 8 and 2:3, and look ahead to Job 42:7, we must remember that Job is indeed a righteous and blameless believer. He is not sinless, and does not claim to be. But he is a forgiven sinner walking through life before God with a clear conscience.

Job begins by speaking of ″a covenant with (his) eyes not to look lustfully at a young woman″ (31:1). But it probably stands for all wrong desires. Job agrees that wrong desires deserve to be punished. But he is walking before God ″in the light″, as John will later put it (1 John 1:7).

In Job 31:4-6, Job challenges God to weigh him, to vindicate him as ″blameless″. And then, in verses 7-34, he offers a catalogue of the kinds of sins he might have committed, but hasn't. This list doesn't include every possible sin, but it contains quite a few. In each case, Job says something like this: if I had committed this sin, then God would be right to punish me, because it would be wrong. But, in fact, I have not. Job repeatedly claims to be a righteous and innocent man.

The list includes dishonesty (vv. 7-8), adultery (vv. 9-12), treating junior people unfairly (vv. 13-15), not being generous to people in need (vv. 16-20), using his power against the fatherless (that is, the defenceless) (vv. 21-23), trusting in his wealth (vv. 24-25), worshipping created things (vv. 26-28), being pleased when bad things happen to his enemies (vv. 29-30), not being hospitable to travellers (vv. 31-32), and being a hypocrite (vv. 33-34).

In verses 35-37, Job boldly challenges God himself to consider his case. It is as though his final defence statement has been typed up, and he now signs it. And, by signing it, he challenges God to vindicate him. It is an extraordinarily brave gesture. We, the readers, now wait expectantly to hear what God will do.