Job 24
1 “Why does the Almighty not reserve times for judgment? Why may those who know Him never see His days?
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﹖
2 Men move boundary stones; they pasture stolen flocks.
惡人挪移地界，搶去羊群自去牧放；
3 They drive away the donkey of the fatherless and take the widow’s ox in pledge.
趕走孤兒的驢，拿去寡婦的牛作抵押；
4 They push the needy off the road and force all the poor of the land into hiding.
迫使窮人離開正路，使境內的貧民隱藏不露。
5 Indeed, like wild donkeys in the desert, the poor go to work foraging for food; the wasteland is food for their children.
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。
6 They gather fodder in the fields and glean the vineyards of the wicked.
夜間遂到田間去收割，到惡人的葡萄園中去摘取。
7 Without clothing, they spend the night naked; they have no covering against the cold.
赤身過宿，無衣蔽體；嚴寒之時，沒有舖蓋。
8 Drenched by mountain rains, they huddle against the rocks for want of shelter.
在山中為暴雨淋透，因無處避身，而臥於磐石下。
9 The fatherless infant is snatched from the breast; the nursing child of the poor is seized for a debt.
另有些人將孤兒從母懷中搶去，剝去窮人的衣服作抵押，
10 Without clothing, they wander about naked. They carry the sheaves, but still go hungry.
致使他們無衣赤身行走，枵腹擔荷麥捆；
11 They crush olives within their walls; they tread the winepresses, but go thirsty.
在石槽中搾油、踐踏，反受口渴之苦。
12 From the city, men groan, and the souls of the wounded cry out, yet God charges no one with wrongdoing.
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。
13 Then there are those who rebel against the light, not knowing its ways or staying on its paths.
另有些人反抗光明，不認識光明的道路，更不走光明的途徑。
14 When daylight is gone, the murderer rises to kill the poor and needy; in the night he is like a thief.
兇手黎明即起，去殺害困苦和貧窮的人，夜間去作盜賊。
15 The eye of the adulterer watches for twilight. Thinking, ‘No eye will see me,’ he covers his face.
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。
16 In the dark they dig through houses; by day they shut themselves in, never to experience the light.
竊賊夜間挖穿屋牆，白日將自己關起，不願看見光明，
17 For to them, deep darkness is their morning; surely they are friends with the terrors of darkness!
因為早晨對這班人有如死影，他們已熟悉了黑暗的恐怖。
18 They are but foam on the surface of the water; their portion of the land is cursed, so that no one turns toward their vineyards.
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。
19 As drought and heat consume the melting snow, so Sheol steals those who have sinned. (Sheol h7585)
亢旱酷暑怎樣溶盡雪水，陰府也怎樣將罪犯吸去。 (Sheol h7585)
20 The womb forgets them; the worm feeds on them; they are remembered no more. So injustice is like a broken tree.
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。
21 They prey on the barren and childless, and show no kindness to the widow.
他欺壓了不生育的石女，沒有善待寡婦。
22 Yet by His power, God drags away the mighty; though rising up, they have no assurance of life.
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。
23 He gives them a sense of security, but His eyes are on their ways.
雖暫時讓他們平安休息，但他的眼正監視著他們的行徑。
24 They are exalted for a moment, then they are gone; they are brought low and gathered up like all others; they are cut off like heads of grain.
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。
25 If this is not so, then who can prove me a liar and reduce my words to nothing?”
是否如此﹖誰能證明我說謊，誰能以我的話為荒誕﹖
