Job 24
1 Why are times not laid up by the Almighty? and why do not they which know him see his days?
But why have the seasons been hidden from the Lord,
2 There are that remove the landmarks; they violently take away flocks, and feed 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 poor of the earth hide themselves together.
They have turned aside the weak from the right way: and the meek of the earth have hidden themselves together.
5 Behold, as wild asses in the desert they go forth to their work, seeking diligently for meat; 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 cut their provender in the field; and they glean 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 lie all 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 embrace the rock for want of a shelter.
They are wet with the drops of the mountains: they have embraced the rock, because they had no shelter.
9 There are that 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 [So that] they go about naked without clothing, and being an-hungred they carry the sheaves;
And they have wrongfully caused [others] to sleep without clothing, and taken away the morsel of the hungry.
11 They make oil within the walls of these men; they tread [their] winepresses, and suffer thirst.
They have unrighteously laid wait in narrow places, and have not known the righteous way.
12 From out of the populous city men groan, and the soul of the wounded crieth out: yet God imputeth it not for folly.
Who have cast forth [the] poor from the city and their own houses, and the soul of the children has groaned aloud.
13 These are of them 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, he killeth the poor and needy; and in the night he 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 The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me: and he disguiseth 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: they shut themselves up in the daytime; 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 all of them as the shadow of death; for they know 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 upon the face of the waters; their portion is cursed in the earth: he turneth not by 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.
19 Drought and heat consume the snow waters: [so doth] Sheol [those which] have sinned. (Sheol h7585)
[Let them be] withered upon the earth; for they have plundered the sheaves of the fatherless. (Sheol h7585)
20 The womb shall forget him; the worm shall feed sweetly on him; he shall be no more remembered: and unrighteousness shall be 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 devoureth 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 away the mighty also by 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] giveth them to be in security, and they rest thereon; and 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; yet a little while, and they are gone; yea, they are brought low, they are taken out of the way as all other, 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 And if it be not so now, who will prove 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?
