Job 24
1 “Why does the Almighty not reserve times for judgment? Why may those who know Him never see His days?
“For this reason from the Mighty One Times have not been hidden, And those knowing Him have not seen His days.
2 Men move boundary stones; they pasture stolen flocks.
They reach the borders, They have taken a drove away violently, Indeed, they do evil.
3 They drive away the donkey of the fatherless and take the widow’s ox in pledge.
They lead away the donkey of the fatherless, They take in pledge the ox of the widow,
4 They push the needy off the road and force all the poor of the land into hiding.
They turn aside the needy from the way, Together have hid the poor of the earth.
5 Indeed, like wild donkeys in the desert, the poor go to work foraging for food; the wasteland is food for their children.
Behold, wild donkeys in a wilderness, They have gone out about their work, Seeking early for prey, A mixture for himself—food for young ones.
6 They gather fodder in the fields and glean the vineyards of the wicked.
They reap his provender in a field, And they glean the vineyard of the wicked.
7 Without clothing, they spend the night naked; they have no covering against the cold.
They cause the naked to lodge without clothing. And there is no covering in the cold.
8 Drenched by mountain rains, they huddle against the rocks for want of shelter.
From the inundation of hills they are wet, And without a refuge—have embraced a rock.
9 The fatherless infant is snatched from the breast; the nursing child of the poor is seized for a debt.
They take away violently The orphan from the breast, And they lay a pledge on the poor.
10 Without clothing, they wander about naked. They carry the sheaves, but still go hungry.
Naked, they have gone without clothing, And hungry—have taken away a sheaf.
11 They crush olives within their walls; they tread the winepresses, but go thirsty.
They make oil between their walls, They have trodden winepresses, and thirst.
12 From the city, men groan, and the souls of the wounded cry out, yet God charges no one with wrongdoing.
Men groan because of enmity, And the soul of pierced ones cries, And God does not give praise.
13 Then there are those who rebel against the light, not knowing its ways or staying on its paths.
They have been those rebelling against light, They have not discerned His ways, Nor abided in His paths.
14 When daylight is gone, the murderer rises to kill the poor and needy; in the night he is like a thief.
The murderer rises at the light, He slays the poor and needy, And in the night he 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 an adulterer Has observed the twilight, Saying, No eye beholds me. And he puts the face in secret.
16 In the dark they dig through houses; by day they shut themselves in, never to experience the light.
He has dug in the darkness—houses; By day they shut themselves up, They have not known light.
17 For to them, deep darkness is their morning; surely they are friends with the terrors of darkness!
When together, morning [is] death-shade to them, When he discerns the terrors of death-shade.
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] light on the face of the waters, Their portion is vilified in the earth, He does not turn the way of vineyards.
19 As drought and heat consume the melting snow, so Sheol steals those who have sinned. (Sheol h7585)
Drought—also heat—consume snow-waters, Sheol—[those who] 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 forgets him, The worm sweetens [on] him, He is remembered no more, And wickedness is broken as a tree.
21 They prey on the barren and childless, and show no kindness to the widow.
Treating evil the barren [who] does not bear, And he does no good [to] the widow,
22 Yet by His power, God drags away the mighty; though rising up, they have no assurance of life.
And [God] has drawn the mighty by His power, He rises, and none believes in life.
23 He gives them a sense of security, but His eyes are on their ways.
He gives to him confidence, and he is supported, And His eyes [are] on 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 were high [for] a little, and they are not, And they have been brought low. They are shut up as all [others], And cut off as the head of an ear of grain.
25 If this is not so, then who can prove me a liar and reduce my words to nothing?”
And if not now, who proves me a liar, And makes my word of nothing?”
