Job 24
1 “(Why does Almighty [God] not set a time when he will judge [evil people]?/I do not understand why Almighty [God does] not set a time when he will judge [evil people].) [RHQ] Those who know him never [RHQ] see him do that!
“Why does the Almighty not reserve times for judgment? Why may those who know Him never see His days?
2 [Some evil people] remove the markers of boundaries of [other people’s] land, [in order to steal their land]; they seize/steal [other people’s] sheep and put them in their own pastures.
Men move boundary stones; they pasture stolen flocks.
3 [Some] (take away/steal) the donkeys that belong to orphans, and they take widow’s oxen to guarantee that the widows will pay back the money that they loaned to those widows.
They drive away the donkey of the fatherless and take the widow’s ox in pledge.
4 [Some] shove poor people off the road (OR, prevent poor people from (obtaining their rights/being treated justly)), and they force poor people to find places to hide from them.
They push the needy off the road and force all the poor of the land into hiding.
5 The result is that poor people have to search for food in the desert like wild donkeys do.
Indeed, like wild donkeys in the desert, the poor go to work foraging for food; the wasteland is food for their children.
6 The poor people harvest left-over grain in other people’s fields, and gather grapes from vineyards that belong to wicked men.
They gather fodder in the fields and glean the vineyards of the wicked.
7 During the night they have nothing to cover their bodies, nothing to keep them warm.
Without clothing, they spend the night naked; they have no covering against the cold.
8 When it rains on the mountains, the poor people become very wet, so they huddle under the rock ledges to be protected [from the rain].
Drenched by mountain rains, they huddle against the rocks for want of shelter.
9 [Some evil men] snatch infants away from their widowed mothers [SYN], and they say ‘I will return your babies to you when you repay the money that I lent to you.’
The fatherless infant is snatched from the breast; the nursing child of the poor is seized for a debt.
10 But the poor people walk around with no clothes on; they are hungry while they are working to carry [other people’s] bundles of grain [to the places where their grain will be threshed].
Without clothing, they wander about naked. They carry the sheaves, but still go hungry.
11 Poor people press olives to make [olive] oil; they tread on grapes [to make juice for wine], but [they are not allowed to drink any of it when] they become thirsty.
They crush olives within their walls; they tread the winepresses, but go thirsty.
12 In the cities, people who are wounded and dying cry out [to God for help], but God does not heed their prayers.
From the city, men groan, and the souls of the wounded cry out, yet God charges no one with wrongdoing.
13 Some wicked people avoid the light [because they do evil things in the dark]; they do not walk on roads that are lighted.
Then there are those who rebel against the light, not knowing its ways or staying on its paths.
14 Murderers steal things during the night, and then they arise before dawn in order that they may [go out again and] kill needy [DOU] people.
When daylight is gone, the murderer rises to kill the poor and needy; in the night he is like a thief.
15 Those who want to commit adultery wait for twilight/evening; they say ‘I do not want anyone to see me,’ so they keep their faces covered.
The eye of the adulterer watches for twilight. Thinking, ‘No eye will see me,’ he covers his face.
16 It is during the night that robbers break into houses [to steal things], but during the day they hide because they want to avoid [being seen in] the light.
In the dark they dig through houses; by day they shut themselves in, never to experience the light.
17 All of those [people] want to do their evil things at night, not in the morning [when it is light], because they are not afraid of [the things that happen during the] night that terrify others.”
For to them, deep darkness is their morning; surely they are friends with the terrors of darkness!
18 “[But it is wicked people] who are swept/carried away by floods, and God curses the land that they own, and no one goes to work in their vineyards.
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.
19 Just like the snow melts away when it is hot and there is no rain, those who have sinned disappear into the place where dead people are. (Sheol h7585)
As drought and heat consume the melting snow, so Sheol steals those who have sinned. (Sheol h7585)
20 Not even their mothers remember them now; wicked people are destroyed like trees that are cut down, and maggots eat their corpses.
The womb forgets them; the worm feeds on them; they are remembered no more. So injustice is like a broken tree.
21 They mistreat women who have been unable to give birth to children and women who no longer have children [to take care of them], and they never do good things for widows.
They prey on the barren and childless, and show no kindness to the widow.
22 But God, by his power, gets rid of mighty/influential people. God acts and causes the wicked people to die.
Yet by His power, God drags away the mighty; though rising up, they have no assurance of life.
23 God allows them to think that they are secure and safe, but he is watching [MTY] them all the time.
He gives them a sense of security, but His eyes are on their ways.
24 They prosper for a little while, and then [suddenly] they are gone; they disappear like weeds wither and die; they are like [SIM] stalks of grain that have been cut off.
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.
25 If this is not true, is there [RHQ] anyone who will show that I am a liar and prove that what I have said is not true?”
If this is not so, then who can prove me a liar and reduce my words to nothing?”
