Job 24
1 “Why aren’t times laid up by the Almighty? Why don’t those who know him see his days?
“For this reason from the Mighty One Times have not been hidden, And those knowing Him have not seen His days.
2 There are people who remove the landmarks. They violently take away flocks, and feed them.
They reach the borders, They have taken a drove away violently, Indeed, they do evil.
3 They drive away the donkey of the fatherless, and they take the widow’s ox for a pledge.
They lead away the donkey of the fatherless, They take in pledge the ox of the widow,
4 They turn the needy out of the way. The poor of the earth all hide themselves.
They turn aside the needy from the way, Together have hid the poor of the earth.
5 Behold, as wild donkeys in the desert, they go out to their work, seeking diligently for food. The wilderness yields them bread for their children.
Behold, wild donkeys in a wilderness, They have gone out about their work, Seeking early for prey, A mixture for himself—food for young ones.
6 They cut their food in the field. They glean the vineyard of the wicked.
They reap his provender in a field, And they glean the vineyard of the wicked.
7 They lie all night naked without clothing, and have no covering in the cold.
They cause the naked to lodge without clothing. And there is no covering in the cold.
8 They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and embrace the rock for lack of a shelter.
From the inundation of hills they are wet, And without a refuge—have embraced a rock.
9 There are those who pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor,
They take away violently The orphan from the breast, And they lay a pledge on the poor.
10 so that they go around naked without clothing. Being hungry, they carry the sheaves.
Naked, they have gone without clothing, And hungry—have taken away a sheaf.
11 They make oil within the walls of these men. They tread wine presses, and suffer thirst.
They make oil between their walls, They have trodden winepresses, and thirst.
12 From out of the populous city, men groan. The soul of the wounded cries out, yet God doesn’t regard the folly.
Men groan because of enmity, And the soul of pierced ones cries, And God does not give praise.
13 “These are of those who rebel against the light. They don’t know its ways, nor stay in its paths.
They have been those rebelling against light, They have not discerned His ways, Nor abided in His paths.
14 The murderer rises with the light. He kills the poor and needy. In the night he is like a thief.
The murderer rises at the light, He slays the poor and needy, And in the night he is as a thief.
15 The eye also of the adulterer waits for the twilight, saying, ‘No eye will see me.’ He disguises his face.
And the eye of an adulterer Has observed the twilight, Saying, No eye beholds me. And he puts the face in secret.
16 In the dark they dig through houses. They shut themselves up in the daytime. They don’t know the light.
He has dug in the darkness—houses; By day they shut themselves up, They have not known light.
17 For the morning is to all of them like thick darkness, for they know the terrors of the thick darkness.
When together, morning [is] death-shade to them, When he discerns the terrors of death-shade.
18 “They are foam on the surface of the waters. Their portion is cursed in the earth. They don’t turn into the way of the vineyards.
He [is] light on the face of the waters, Their portion is vilified in the earth, He does not turn the way of vineyards.
Drought—also heat—consume snow-waters, Sheol—[those who] have sinned. (Sheol h7585)
20 The womb will forget him. The worm will feed sweetly on him. He will be no more remembered. Unrighteousness will be broken as a tree.
The womb forgets him, The worm sweetens [on] him, He is remembered no more, And wickedness is broken as a tree.
21 He devours the barren who don’t bear. He shows no kindness to the widow.
Treating evil the barren [who] does not bear, And he does no good [to] the widow,
22 Yet God preserves the mighty by his power. He rises up who has no assurance of life.
And [God] has drawn the mighty by His power, He rises, and none believes in life.
23 God gives them security, and they rest in it. His eyes are on their ways.
He gives to him confidence, and he is supported, And His eyes [are] on their ways.
24 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.
They were high [for] a little, and they are not, And they have been brought low. They are shut up as all [others], And cut off as the head of an ear of grain.
25 If it isn’t so now, who will prove me a liar, and make my speech worth nothing?”
And if not now, who proves me a liar, And makes my word of nothing?”
