Job 24
1 Why are times for judging wicked people not set by the Almighty? Why do not those who are faithful to God see his days of judgment come?
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?
2 There are wicked people who remove boundary markers; there are wicked people who take away flocks by force and put them in their own pastures.
The wicked move boundary stones; they seize other people's flocks and move them to their own pastures.
3 They drive away the donkey of those without fathers; they take the widow's ox as security.
They steal the orphan's donkey; they take the widow's ox as security for a debt.
4 They force needy people out of their path; poor people of the earth all hide themselves from them.
They push the poor out of their way; the destitute are forced to hide from them.
5 See, these poor people go out to their work like wild donkeys in the wilderness, looking carefully for food; perhaps the Arabah will provide them food for their children.
Like wild donkeys in the desert, the poor have to scavenge for their food, looking for anything to feed their children in the wasteland.
6 Poor people reap in the night in other people's fields; they glean grapes from the harvest of those wicked people.
They are forced to find what they can in other people's fields, to glean among the vineyards of the wicked.
7 They lie naked all night without clothing; they have no covering in the cold.
They spend the night naked because they have no clothes; they have nothing to cover themselves against the cold.
8 They are wet with the showers of the mountains; they lie next to large rocks because they have no shelter.
They are soaked by the cold mountain storms, and huddle beside the rocks for shelter.
9 There are wicked people who pluck orphans from their mothers' breast, and wicked people who take children as security from poor people.
Fatherless children are snatched from their mother's breasts, taking the babies of the poor as security for a debt.
10 But the poor people go about naked without clothing; although they go hungry, they carry bundles of grain belonging to other people.
Because they have no clothes to wear they have to go naked, harvesting sheaves of grain while they themselves are hungry.
11 The poor people make oil within the walls of those wicked men; they tread the wicked men's winepresses, but they themselves suffer thirst.
In the olive groves they work to produce oil, but do not taste it; they tread the winepress, but are thirsty.
12 From out of the city the dying groan, and the throat of the wounded cries out for help. But God does not ascribe blame
In the city the dying groan, and the wounded cry for help, but God ignores their prayers.
13 Some of these wicked people rebel against the light; they know not its ways, nor do they stay in its paths.
These are people who rebel against the light. They do not want to know its ways, or to stay on its paths.
14 Before daylight the murderer rises and he kills poor and needy people; in the night he is like a thief.
The murderer gets up at dawn to kill the poor and needy, and when night falls he becomes a thief.
15 Also, the eye of the adulterer waits for the twilight; he says, 'No eye will see me.' He disguises his face.
The adulterer waits for dusk, saying to himself, ‘No one will see me now,’ and he covers his face.
16 In the darkness wicked people dig into houses; but they shut themselves up in the daytime; they do not care for the light.
Thieves break into houses during the night and they sleep during the day. They don't even know what the light is like!
17 For all of them, thick darkness is like the morning; for they are friends with the terrors of thick darkness.
Total darkness is like light to them, for they are familiar with the night.
18 Swiftly they pass away, however, like foam on the surface of the waters; their portion of the land is cursed; no one goes to work in their vineyards.
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.
19 As drought and heat melt away the snow into waters, so Sheol takes away those who have sinned. (Sheol h7585)
Just as heat and drought dry up snowmelt, so Sheol takes away those who have sinned. (Sheol h7585)
20 The womb that bore him will forget him; the worm will feed sweetly on him; he will be remembered no more; in this way, wickedness will be broken like a tree.
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.
21 The wicked one devours the barren women who have not borne children; he does no good to the widow.
They mistreat childless women and are mean to widows.
22 Yet God drags away the mighty people by his power; he rises up and does not strengthen them in life.
God prolongs the life of the wicked by his power; but when they arise, they have no assurance of life.
23 God allows them to think they are secure, and they are happy about that, but his eyes are on their ways.
He supports them and gives them security, but he is always watching what they're doing.
24 These people are exalted; still, in only a little while, they will be gone; indeed, they will be brought low; they will be gathered up like all the others; they will be cut off like the tops of ears of grain.
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.
25 If it is not so, who can prove me to be a liar; who can make my speech worth nothing?”
If this isn't so, who can prove I'm a liar and there's nothing to what I say?”
