Job 24
1 “Why are not times laid up by the Almighty? Why do not those who know him see his days?
The times are not hidden from the Almighty; even those who know him, do not know his days.
2 There are people who remove the landmarks. They violently take away flocks, and feed them.
Some have crossed the boundaries, plundered the flocks, and given them pasture.
3 They drive away the donkey of the fatherless, and they take the widow’s ox for a pledge.
They have driven away the donkey of orphans, and have taken the cow from the widow as collateral.
4 They turn the needy out of the way. The poor of the earth all hide themselves.
They have undermined the way of the poor, and have pressed together the meek of the earth.
5 Behold, as wild donkeys in the desert, they go out to their work, seeking diligently for food. The wilderness yields them bread for their children.
Others, like wild asses in the desert, go forth to their work; by watching for prey, they obtain bread for their children.
6 They cut their food in the field. They glean the vineyard of the wicked.
They reap a field that is not their own, and they harvest a vineyard that they have taken by force.
7 They lie all night naked without clothing, and have no covering in the cold.
They send men away naked, having taken the clothing of those who have no covering in the cold;
8 They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and embrace the rock for lack of a shelter.
these are wet with the mountain rain, and, having no covering, they embrace the rocks.
9 There are those who pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor,
They have used violence to deprive orphans, and they have robbed the poor common people.
10 so that they go around naked without clothing. Being hungry, they carry the sheaves.
From the naked and those who do not have enough clothing, and from the hungry, they have taken away sheaves of grain.
11 They make oil within the walls of these men. They tread wine presses, and suffer thirst.
They take their midday rest among the stockpiles of those who, though they have trodden the winepresses, suffer thirst.
12 From out of the populous city, men groan. The soul of the wounded cries out, yet God does not regard the folly.
In the cities, they caused the men to groan and the spirit of the wounded to cry out, and so God does not allow this to go unpunished.
13 “These are of those who rebel against the light. They do not know its ways, nor stay in its paths.
They have been rebellious against the light; they have not known his ways, nor have they returned by his paths.
14 The murderer rises with the light. He kills the poor and needy. In the night he is like a thief.
The killer of men rises at first light; he executes the destitute and the poor, but, in truth, he is like a thief in the night.
15 The eye also of the adulterer waits for the twilight, saying, ‘No eye will see me.’ He disguises his face.
The eye of the adulterer waits for darkness, saying, “No eye will see me,” and he covers his face.
16 In the dark they dig through houses. They shut themselves up in the daytime. They do not know the light.
He passes through houses in the nighttime, just as they had agreed among themselves in the daytime; and they are ignorant of the light.
17 For the morning is to all of them like thick darkness, for they know the terrors of the thick darkness.
If sunrise should suddenly appear, it is treated by them like the shadow of death; and they walk in darkness, as if in light.
18 “They are foam on the surface of the waters. Their portion is cursed in the earth. They do not turn into the way of the vineyards.
He is nimble on the surface of water. His place on land is to be accursed. May he not walk by way of the vineyards.
May he cross from the snowy waters to excessive heat, and his sin, all the way to hell. (Sheol h7585)
20 The womb will forget him. The worm will feed sweetly on him. He will be no more remembered. Unrighteousness will be broken as a tree.
Let mercy forget him. His charm is worms. Let him not be remembered, but instead be broken like an unfruitful tree.
21 He devours the barren who do not bear. He shows no kindness to the widow.
For he has fed on the barren, who does not bear fruit, and he has not done good to the widow.
22 Yet God preserves the mighty by his power. He rises up who has no assurance of life.
He has pulled down the strong by his strength, and, when he stands up, he will not have trust in his life.
23 God gives them security, and they rest in it. His eyes are on their ways.
God has given him a place for repentance, and he abuses it with arrogance, but his eyes are upon his ways.
24 They are exalted; yet a little while, and they are gone. Yes, they are brought low, they are taken out of the way as all others, and are cut off as the tops of the ears of grain.
They are lifted up for a little while, but they will not continue, and they will be brought low, just like all things, and they will be taken away, and, like the tops of the ears of grain, they will be crushed.
25 If it is not so now, who will prove me a liar, and make my speech worth nothing?”
But, if this is not so, who is able to prove to me that I have lied and to place my words before God?
