Job 24
1 Why doesn't the Almighty set a definite time to punish the wicked? Why don't those who follow him never see him act in judgment?
"Why aren't times made known by Shaddai? Why do not those who know him see his days?
2 The wicked move boundary stones; they seize other people's flocks and move them to their own pastures.
There are people who remove the landmarks. They violently take away flocks, and feed them.
3 They steal the orphan's donkey; they take the widow's ox as security for a debt.
They drive away the donkey of the fatherless, and they take the widow's ox for a pledge.
4 They push the poor out of their way; the destitute are forced to hide from them.
They turn the needy out of the way. The poor of the earth all hide themselves.
5 Like wild donkeys in the desert, the poor have to scavenge for their food, looking for anything to feed their children in the wasteland.
Look, as wild donkeys in the desert, they go forth to their work, seeking diligently for food. The wilderness yields them bread for their children.
6 They are forced to find what they can in other people's fields, to glean among the vineyards of the wicked.
They cut their provender in the field. They glean the vineyard of the wicked.
7 They spend the night naked because they have no clothes; they have nothing to cover themselves against the cold.
They lie all night naked without clothing, and have no covering in the cold.
8 They are soaked by the cold mountain storms, and huddle beside the rocks for shelter.
They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and embrace the rock for lack of a shelter.
9 Fatherless children are snatched from their mother's breasts, taking the babies of the poor as security for a debt.
There are those who pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor,
10 Because they have no clothes to wear they have to go naked, harvesting sheaves of grain while they themselves are hungry.
So that they go around naked without clothing. Being hungry, they carry the sheaves.
11 In the olive groves they work to produce oil, but do not taste it; they tread the winepress, but are thirsty.
They make oil within the walls of these men. They tread wine presses, and suffer thirst.
12 In the city the dying groan, and the wounded cry for help, but God ignores their prayers.
From out of the populous city, men groan. The soul of the wounded cries out, yet God doesn't regard the folly.
13 These are people who rebel against the light. They do not want to know its ways, or to stay on its paths.
"These are of those who rebel against the light. They do not know its ways, nor abide in its paths.
14 The murderer gets up at dawn to kill the poor and needy, and when night falls he becomes a thief.
The murderer rises with the light. He kills the poor and needy. In the night he is like a thief.
15 The adulterer waits for dusk, saying to himself, ‘No one will see me now,’ and he covers his face.
The eye also of the adulterer waits for the twilight, saying, 'No eye shall see me.' He disguises his face.
16 Thieves break into houses during the night and they sleep during the day. They don't even know what the light is like!
In the dark they dig through houses. They shut themselves up in the daytime. They do not know the light.
17 Total darkness is like light to them, for they are familiar with the night.
For the morning is to all of them like thick darkness, for they know the terrors of the thick darkness.
18 Like bubbles on the surface of a river they are quickly carried away. The land they own is cursed by God. They don't enter their own vineyards.
"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.
19 Just as heat and drought dry up snowmelt, so Sheol takes away those who have sinned. (Sheol h7585)
Drought and heat consume the snow waters, so does Sheol those who have sinned. (Sheol h7585)
20 Even their mothers forget them, maggots feast on them, they are no longer remembered, and their wickedness becomes like a tree that is broken into pieces.
The womb shall forget him. The worm shall feed sweetly on him. He shall be no more remembered. Unrighteousness shall be broken as a tree.
21 They mistreat childless women and are mean to widows.
He devours the barren who do not bear. He shows no kindness to the widow.
22 God prolongs the life of the wicked by his power; but when they arise, they have no assurance of life.
Yet he preserves the mighty by his power. He rises up who has no assurance of life.
23 He supports them and gives them security, but he is always watching what they're doing.
He gives them security, and they rest in it. His eyes are on their ways.
24 Though they may be illustrious for a while, soon they are gone. They are brought down like all others, cut off like the heads of grain.
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.
25 If this isn't so, who can prove I'm a liar and there's nothing to what I say?”
If it isn't so now, who will prove me a liar, and make my speech worth nothing?"
