約伯記 24
1 全能者為何不劃定一個期限呢﹖忠於他的人為何看不到他的日子﹖
Why doesn't the Almighty set a definite time to punish the wicked? Why don't those who follow him never see him act in judgment?
2 惡人挪移地界，搶去羊群自去牧放；
The wicked move boundary stones; they seize other people's flocks and move them to their own pastures.
3 趕走孤兒的驢，拿去寡婦的牛作抵押；
They steal the orphan's donkey; they take the widow's ox as security for a debt.
4 迫使窮人離開正路，使境內的貧民隱藏不露。
They push the poor out of their way; the destitute are forced to hide from them.
5 看啊! 他們像曠野的野驢，出來尋覓食物；他們縱使到晚操作，卻找不到養子女的食物。
Like wild donkeys in the desert, the poor have to scavenge for their food, looking for anything to feed their children in the wasteland.
6 夜間遂到田間去收割，到惡人的葡萄園中去摘取。
They are forced to find what they can in other people's fields, to glean among the vineyards of the wicked.
7 赤身過宿，無衣蔽體；嚴寒之時，沒有舖蓋。
They spend the night naked because they have no clothes; they have nothing to cover themselves against the cold.
8 在山中為暴雨淋透，因無處避身，而臥於磐石下。
They are soaked by the cold mountain storms, and huddle beside the rocks for shelter.
9 另有些人將孤兒從母懷中搶去，剝去窮人的衣服作抵押，
Fatherless children are snatched from their mother's breasts, taking the babies of the poor as security for a debt.
10 致使他們無衣赤身行走，枵腹擔荷麥捆；
Because they have no clothes to wear they have to go naked, harvesting sheaves of grain while they themselves are hungry.
11 在石槽中搾油、踐踏，反受口渴之苦。
In the olive groves they work to produce oil, but do not taste it; they tread the winepress, but are thirsty.
12 臨死者的呻吟，聲聞城外；負傷者呼求救援，天主卻不理會他們的哀求。
In the city the dying groan, and the wounded cry for help, but God ignores their prayers.
13 另有些人反抗光明，不認識光明的道路，更不走光明的途徑。
These are people who rebel against the light. They do not want to know its ways, or to stay on its paths.
14 兇手黎明即起，去殺害困苦和貧窮的人，夜間去作盜賊。
The murderer gets up at dawn to kill the poor and needy, and when night falls he becomes a thief.
15 姦夫的眼盼望黃昏，他心裏說：「沒有眼可看見我! 」就將自己的臉遮蔽起來。
The adulterer waits for dusk, saying to himself, ‘No one will see me now,’ and he covers his face.
16 竊賊夜間挖穿屋牆，白日將自己關起，不願看見光明，
Thieves break into houses during the night and they sleep during the day. They don't even know what the light is like!
17 因為早晨對這班人有如死影，他們已熟悉了黑暗的恐怖。
Total darkness is like light to them, for they are familiar with the night.
18 他們輕如水萍，隨波逐流，地上的家業已被詛咒，榨酒者不再走入他們的葡萄園。
Like bubbles on the surface of a river they are quickly carried away. The land they own is cursed by God. They don't enter their own vineyards.
Just as heat and drought dry up snowmelt, so Sheol takes away those who have sinned. (Sheol h7585)
20 懷孕他的要忘掉他，蛆蟲要腐蝕他，人不再記念他，邪惡如樹一般被人砍倒。
Even their mothers forget them, maggots feast on them, they are no longer remembered, and their wickedness becomes like a tree that is broken into pieces.
21 他欺壓了不生育的石女，沒有善待寡婦。
They mistreat childless women and are mean to widows.
22 然而天主將以威力擄獲強者，他必興起，使他們不能保存生命。
God prolongs the life of the wicked by his power; but when they arise, they have no assurance of life.
23 雖暫時讓他們平安休息，但他的眼正監視著他們的行徑。
He supports them and gives them security, but he is always watching what they're doing.
24 他們居於高位，不久即不見了；他們必喪亡，有如鹹草；必被剪去，猶如麥穗。
Though they may be illustrious for a while, soon they are gone. They are brought down like all others, cut off like the heads of grain.
25 是否如此﹖誰能證明我說謊，誰能以我的話為荒誕﹖
If this isn't so, who can prove I'm a liar and there's nothing to what I say?”
