< Ἰώβ 24 >
1 διὰ τί δὲ κύριον ἔλαθον ὧραι
"Why aren't times made known by Shaddai? Why do not those who know him see his days?
2 ἀσεβεῖς δὲ ὅριον ὑπερέβησαν ποίμνιον σὺν ποιμένι ἁρπάσαντες
There are people who remove the landmarks. They violently take away flocks, and feed them.
3 ὑποζύγιον ὀρφανῶν ἀπήγαγον καὶ βοῦν χήρας ἠνεχύρασαν
They drive away the donkey of the fatherless, and they take the widow's ox for a pledge.
4 ἐξέκλιναν ἀδυνάτους ἐξ ὁδοῦ δικαίας ὁμοθυμαδὸν ἐκρύβησαν πραεῖς γῆς
They turn the needy out of the way. The poor of the earth all hide themselves.
5 ἀπέβησαν δὲ ὥσπερ ὄνοι ἐν ἀγρῷ ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ ἐξελθόντες τὴν ἑαυτῶν πρᾶξιν ἡδύνθη αὐτῷ ἄρτος εἰς νεωτέρους
Look, as wild donkeys in the desert, they go forth to their work, seeking diligently for food. The wilderness yields them bread for their children.
6 ἀγρὸν πρὸ ὥρας οὐκ αὐτῶν ὄντα ἐθέρισαν ἀδύνατοι δὲ ἀμπελῶνας ἀσεβῶν ἀμισθὶ καὶ ἀσιτὶ ἠργάσαντο
They cut their provender in the field. They glean the vineyard of the wicked.
7 γυμνοὺς πολλοὺς ἐκοίμισαν ἄνευ ἱματίων ἀμφίασιν δὲ ψυχῆς αὐτῶν ἀφείλαντο
They lie all night naked without clothing, and have no covering in the cold.
8 ἀπὸ ψεκάδων ὀρέων ὑγραίνονται παρὰ τὸ μὴ ἔχειν αὐτοὺς σκέπην πέτραν περιεβάλοντο
They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and embrace the rock for lack of a shelter.
9 ἥρπασαν ὀρφανὸν ἀπὸ μαστοῦ ἐκπεπτωκότα δὲ ἐταπείνωσαν
There are those who pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor,
10 γυμνοὺς δὲ ἐκοίμισαν ἀδίκως πεινώντων δὲ τὸν ψωμὸν ἀφείλαντο
So that they go around naked without clothing. Being hungry, they carry the sheaves.
11 ἐν στενοῖς ἀδίκως ἐνήδρευσαν ὁδὸν δὲ δικαίαν οὐκ ᾔδεισαν
They make oil within the walls of these men. They tread wine presses, and suffer thirst.
12 οἳ ἐκ πόλεως καὶ οἴκων ἰδίων ἐξεβάλλοντο ψυχὴ δὲ νηπίων ἐστέναξεν μέγα αὐτὸς δὲ διὰ τί τούτων ἐπισκοπὴν οὐ πεποίηται
From out of the populous city, men groan. The soul of the wounded cries out, yet God doesn't regard the folly.
13 ἐπὶ γῆς ὄντων αὐτῶν καὶ οὐκ ἐπέγνωσαν ὁδὸν δὲ δικαιοσύνης οὐκ ᾔδεισαν οὐδὲ ἀτραποὺς αὐτῆς ἐπορεύθησαν
"These are of those who rebel against the light. They do not know its ways, nor abide in its paths.
14 γνοὺς δὲ αὐτῶν τὰ ἔργα παρέδωκεν αὐτοὺς εἰς σκότος καὶ νυκτὸς ἔσται ὡς κλέπτης
The murderer rises with the light. He kills the poor and needy. In the night he is like a thief.
15 καὶ ὀφθαλμὸς μοιχοῦ ἐφύλαξεν σκότος λέγων οὐ προσνοήσει με ὀφθαλμός καὶ ἀποκρυβὴν προσώπου ἔθετο
The eye also of the adulterer waits for the twilight, saying, 'No eye shall see me.' He disguises his face.
16 διώρυξεν ἐν σκότει οἰκίας ἡμέρας ἐσφράγισαν ἑαυτούς οὐκ ἐπέγνωσαν φῶς
In the dark they dig through houses. They shut themselves up in the daytime. They do not know the light.
17 ὅτι ὁμοθυμαδὸν τὸ πρωὶ αὐτοῖς σκιὰ θανάτου ὅτι ἐπιγνώσεται ταραχὰς σκιᾶς θανάτου
For the morning is to all of them like thick darkness, for they know the terrors of the thick darkness.
18 ἐλαφρός ἐστιν ἐπὶ πρόσωπον ὕδατος καταραθείη ἡ μερὶς αὐτῶν ἐπὶ γῆς
"They are foam on the surface of the waters. Their portion is cursed in the earth. They do not turn into the way of the vineyards.
19 ἀναφανείη δὲ τὰ φυτὰ αὐτῶν ἐπὶ γῆς ξηρά ἀγκαλίδα γὰρ ὀρφανῶν ἥρπασαν (Sheol )
Drought and heat consume the snow waters, so does Sheol those who have sinned. (Sheol )
20 εἶτ’ ἀνεμνήσθη αὐτοῦ ἡ ἁμαρτία ὥσπερ δὲ ὁμίχλη δρόσου ἀφανὴς ἐγένετο ἀποδοθείη δὲ αὐτῷ ἃ ἔπραξεν συντριβείη δὲ πᾶς ἄδικος ἴσα ξύλῳ ἀνιάτῳ
The womb shall forget him. The worm shall feed sweetly on him. He shall be no more remembered. Unrighteousness shall be broken as a tree.
21 στεῖραν γὰρ οὐκ εὖ ἐποίησεν καὶ γύναιον οὐκ ἠλέησεν
He devours the barren who do not bear. He shows no kindness to the widow.
22 θυμῷ δὲ κατέστρεψεν ἀδυνάτους ἀναστὰς τοιγαροῦν οὐ μὴ πιστεύσῃ κατὰ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ ζωῆς
Yet he preserves the mighty by his power. He rises up who has no assurance of life.
23 μαλακισθεὶς μὴ ἐλπιζέτω ὑγιασθῆναι ἀλλὰ πεσεῖται νόσῳ
He gives them security, and they rest in it. His eyes are on their ways.
24 πολλοὺς γὰρ ἐκάκωσεν τὸ ὕψωμα αὐτοῦ ἐμαράνθη δὲ ὥσπερ μολόχη ἐν καύματι ἢ ὥσπερ στάχυς ἀπὸ καλάμης αὐτόματος ἀποπεσών
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.
25 εἰ δὲ μή τίς ἐστιν ὁ φάμενος ψευδῆ με λέγειν καὶ θήσει εἰς οὐδὲν τὰ ῥήματά μου
If it isn't so now, who will prove me a liar, and make my speech worth nothing?"