Job 24
1 Why are not times treasured up with the Almighty? why do not they that know him see his days?
But why have the seasons been hidden from the Lord,
2 They remove the landmarks; they violently take away the flocks and pasture them;
while the ungodly have passed over the bound, carrying off the flock with the shepherd?
3 They drive away the ass of the fatherless, they take the widow's ox for a pledge;
They have led away, the ass of the fatherless, and taken the widow's ox for a pledge.
4 They turn the needy out of the way: the afflicted of the land all hide themselves.
They have turned aside the weak from the right way: and the meek of the earth have hidden themselves together.
5 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.
And they have departed like asses in the field, having gone forth on my account according to their own order: his bread is sweet to [his] little ones.
6 They reap in the field the fodder thereof, and they gather the vintage of the wicked;
They have reaped a field that was not their own before the time: the poor have laboured in the vineyards of the ungodly without pay and without food.
7 They pass the night naked without clothing, and have no covering in the cold;
They have caused many naked to sleep without clothes, and they have taken away the covering of their body.
8 They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and for want of a shelter embrace the rock...
They are wet with the drops of the mountains: they have embraced the rock, because they had no shelter.
9 They pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor:
They have snatched the fatherless from the breast, and have afflicted the outcast.
10 These go naked without clothing, and, hungry, they bear the sheaf;
And they have wrongfully caused [others] to sleep without clothing, and taken away the morsel of the hungry.
11 They press out oil within their walls, they tread their winepresses, and suffer thirst.
They have unrighteously laid wait in narrow places, and have not known the righteous way.
12 Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded crieth out; and God imputeth not the impiety.
Who have cast forth [the] poor from the city and their own houses, and the soul of the children has groaned aloud.
13 There are those that rebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof.
Why then has he not visited these? forasmuch as they were upon the earth, and took no notice, and they knew not the way of righteousness, neither have they walked in their [appointed] paths?
14 The murderer riseth with the light, killeth the afflicted and needy, and in the night is as a thief.
But having known their works, he delivered them into darkness: and in the night one will be as a thief:
15 And the eye of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me; and he putteth a covering on [his] face.
and the eye of the adulterer has watched [for] the darkness, saying, Eye shall not perceive me, and he puts a covering on his face.
16 In the dark they dig through houses; by day they shut themselves in; they know not the light:
In darkness he digs through houses: by day they conceal themselves securely: they know not the light.
17 For the morning is to them all [as] the shadow of death; for they are familiar with the terrors of the shadow of death.
For the morning is to them all [as] the shadow of death, for [each] will be conscious of the terror of the shadow of death.
18 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.
He is swift on the face of the water: let his portion be cursed on the earth; and let their plants be laid bare.
[Let them be] withered upon the earth; for they have plundered the sheaves of the fatherless. (Sheol h7585)
20 The womb forgetteth him; the worm feedeth sweetly on him: he shall be no more remembered; and unrighteousness is broken as a tree, —
Then is his sin brought to remembrance, and he vanishes like a vapour of dew: but let what he has done be recompensed to him, and let every unrighteous one be crushed like rotten wood.
21 He that despoileth the barren that beareth not, and doeth not good to the widow:
For he has not treated the barren woman well, and has had no pity on a feeble woman.
22 He draweth also the mighty with his power; he riseth up, and no [man] is sure of life.
And in wrath he has overthrown the helpless: therefore when he has arisen, [a man] will not feel secure of his own life.
23 [God] setteth him in safety, and he resteth thereon; but his eyes are upon their ways.
When he has fallen sick, let him not hope to recover: but let him perish by disease.
24 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.
For his exaltation has hurt many; but he has withered as mallows in the heat, or as an ear of corn falling off of itself from the stalk.
25 If it be not so now, who will make me a liar, and make my speech nothing worth?
But if not, who is he that says I speak falsely, and will make my words of no account?
