Job 24
1 “Why does the Almighty not reserve times for judgment? Why may those who know Him never see His days?
Why are not times treasured up with the Almighty? why do not they that know him see his days?
2 Men move boundary stones; they pasture stolen flocks.
They remove the landmarks; they violently take away the flocks and pasture them;
3 They drive away the donkey of the fatherless and take the widow’s ox in pledge.
They drive away the ass of the fatherless, they take the widow's ox for a pledge;
4 They push the needy off the road and force all the poor of the land into hiding.
They turn the needy out of the way: the afflicted of the land all hide themselves.
5 Indeed, like wild donkeys in the desert, the poor go to work foraging for food; the wasteland is food for their children.
Lo, [as] wild asses in the desert, they go forth to their work, seeking early for the prey: the wilderness [yieldeth] them food for [their] children.
6 They gather fodder in the fields and glean the vineyards of the wicked.
They reap in the field the fodder thereof, and they gather the vintage of the wicked;
7 Without clothing, they spend the night naked; they have no covering against the cold.
They pass the night naked without clothing, and have no covering in the cold;
8 Drenched by mountain rains, they huddle against the rocks for want of shelter.
They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and for want of a shelter embrace the rock...
9 The fatherless infant is snatched from the breast; the nursing child of the poor is seized for a debt.
They pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor:
10 Without clothing, they wander about naked. They carry the sheaves, but still go hungry.
These go naked without clothing, and, hungry, they bear the sheaf;
11 They crush olives within their walls; they tread the winepresses, but go thirsty.
They press out oil within their walls, they tread their winepresses, and suffer thirst.
12 From the city, men groan, and the souls of the wounded cry out, yet God charges no one with wrongdoing.
Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded crieth out; and God imputeth not the impiety.
13 Then there are those who rebel against the light, not knowing its ways or staying on its paths.
There are those that rebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof.
14 When daylight is gone, the murderer rises to kill the poor and needy; in the night he is like a thief.
The murderer riseth with the light, killeth the afflicted and needy, and in the night is as a thief.
15 The eye of the adulterer watches for twilight. Thinking, ‘No eye will see me,’ he covers his face.
And the eye of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me; and he putteth a covering on [his] face.
16 In the dark they dig through houses; by day they shut themselves in, never to experience the light.
In the dark they dig through houses; by day they shut themselves in; they know not the light:
17 For to them, deep darkness is their morning; surely they are friends with the terrors of darkness!
For the morning is to them all [as] the shadow of death; for they are familiar with the terrors of the shadow of death.
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.
He is swift on the face of the waters; their portion is cursed on the earth: he turneth not unto the way of the vineyards.
19 As drought and heat consume the melting snow, so Sheol steals those who have sinned. (Sheol h7585)
Drought and heat consume snow waters; so doth Sheol those that have sinned. (Sheol h7585)
20 The womb forgets them; the worm feeds on them; they are remembered no more. So injustice is like a broken tree.
The womb forgetteth him; the worm feedeth sweetly on him: he shall be no more remembered; and unrighteousness is broken as a tree, —
21 They prey on the barren and childless, and show no kindness to the widow.
He that despoileth the barren that beareth not, and doeth not good to the widow:
22 Yet by His power, God drags away the mighty; though rising up, they have no assurance of life.
He draweth also the mighty with his power; he riseth up, and no [man] is sure of life.
23 He gives them a sense of security, but His eyes are on their ways.
[God] setteth him in safety, and he resteth thereon; but his eyes are upon their ways.
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.
They are exalted for a little, and are no more; they are laid low; like all [other] are they gathered, and are cut off as the tops of the ears of corn.
25 If this is not so, then who can prove me a liar and reduce my words to nothing?”
If it be not so now, who will make me a liar, and make my speech nothing worth?
