Job 24
1 Why, seeing times [are] not hid from the Almighty, do they that know him not see his days?
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 [Some] remove the landmarks: they violently take away flocks, and [their] feed.
The wicked move boundary stones; they seize other people's flocks and move them to their own pastures.
3 They drive away the ass of the fatherless, they take the widow's ox for a pledge.
They steal the orphan's donkey; they take the widow's ox as security for a debt.
4 They turn the needy out of the way: the poor of the earth hide themselves together.
They push the poor out of their way; the destitute are forced to hide from them.
5 Behold, [as] wild asses in the desert, they go forth to their work; rising betimes for a prey: the wilderness [yieldeth] food for them [and] 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 They reap [every one] his corn in the field: and they gather the vintage of the wicked.
They are forced to find what they can in other people's fields, to glean among the vineyards of the wicked.
7 They cause the naked to lodge without clothing, that [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, and embrace the rock for want of a shelter.
They are soaked by the cold mountain storms, and huddle beside the rocks for shelter.
9 They pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor.
Fatherless children are snatched from their mother's breasts, taking the babies of the poor as security for a debt.
10 They cause [him] to go naked without clothing, and they take away the sheaf [from] the hungry;
Because they have no clothes to wear they have to go naked, harvesting sheaves of grain while they themselves are hungry.
11 [Who] make oil within their walls, [and] tread [their] wine-presses, and suffer thirst.
In the olive groves they work to produce oil, but do not taste it; they tread the winepress, but are thirsty.
12 Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded crieth out: yet God layeth not folly [to them].
In the city the dying groan, and the wounded cry for help, but God ignores their prayers.
13 They are of those that rebel against the light; they know not its ways, nor abide 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 The murderer rising with the light killeth the poor and needy, and in the night is as a thief.
The murderer gets up at dawn to kill the poor and needy, and when night falls he becomes a thief.
15 The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me: and disguiseth [his] face.
The adulterer waits for dusk, saying to himself, ‘No one will see me now,’ and he covers his face.
16 In the dark they dig through houses, [which] they had marked for themselves in the day-time: they know not 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 the morning [is] to them even as the shades of death: if [one] knoweth [them], [they are in] the terrors of the shades of death.
Total darkness is like light to them, for they are familiar with the night.
18 He [is] swift as the waters; their portion is cursed in the earth: he beholdeth not the way of the 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 Drouth and heat consume the snow-waters: [so doth] the grave [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 shall forget him; the worm shall feed sweetly on him; he shall be no more remembered; and wickedness shall be broken as 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 He oppresseth the barren [that] beareth not: and doeth not good to the widow.
They mistreat childless women and are mean to widows.
22 He draweth also the mighty with his power: he riseth up, and no [man] is sure of life.
God prolongs the life of the wicked by his power; but when they arise, they have no assurance of life.
23 [Though] it is given him [to be] in safety, on which he resteth; yet his eyes [are] upon their ways.
He supports them and gives them security, but he is always watching what they're doing.
24 They are exalted for a little while, but are gone and brought low; they are taken out of the way as all [others], and cut off as the tops of the ears of corn.
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 And if [it is] not [so] now, who will make me a liar, and make my speech of no worth?
If this isn't so, who can prove I'm a liar and there's nothing to what I say?”
