איוב 24
| מדוע--משדי לא-נצפנו עתים וידעו לא-חזו ימיו | 1 |
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?
| גבלות ישיגו עדר גזלו וירעו | 2 |
The wicked move boundary stones; they seize other people's flocks and move them to their own pastures.
| חמור יתומים ינהגו יחבלו שור אלמנה | 3 |
They steal the orphan's donkey; they take the widow's ox as security for a debt.
| יטו אבינים מדרך יחד חבאו עניי-ארץ | 4 |
They push the poor out of their way; the destitute are forced to hide from them.
| הן פראים במדבר-- יצאו בפעלם משחרי לטרף ערבה לו לחם לנערים | 5 |
Like wild donkeys in the desert, the poor have to scavenge for their food, looking for anything to feed their children in the wasteland.
| בשדה בלילו יקצירו (יקצורו) וכרם רשע ילקשו | 6 |
They are forced to find what they can in other people's fields, to glean among the vineyards of the wicked.
| ערום ילינו מבלי לבוש ואין כסות בקרה | 7 |
They spend the night naked because they have no clothes; they have nothing to cover themselves against the cold.
| מזרם הרים ירטבו ומבלי מחסה חבקו-צור | 8 |
They are soaked by the cold mountain storms, and huddle beside the rocks for shelter.
| יגזלו משד יתום ועל-עני יחבלו | 9 |
Fatherless children are snatched from their mother's breasts, taking the babies of the poor as security for a debt.
| ערום הלכו בלי לבוש ורעבים נשאו עמר | 10 |
Because they have no clothes to wear they have to go naked, harvesting sheaves of grain while they themselves are hungry.
| בין-שורתם יצהירו יקבים דרכו ויצמאו | 11 |
In the olive groves they work to produce oil, but do not taste it; they tread the winepress, but are thirsty.
| מעיר מתים ינאקו-- ונפש-חללים תשוע ואלוה לא-ישים תפלה | 12 |
In the city the dying groan, and the wounded cry for help, but God ignores their prayers.
| המה היו--במרדי-אור לא-הכירו דרכיו ולא ישבו בנתיבתיו | 13 |
These are people who rebel against the light. They do not want to know its ways, or to stay on its paths.
| לאור יקום רוצח--יקטל-עני ואביון ובלילה יהי כגנב | 14 |
The murderer gets up at dawn to kill the poor and needy, and when night falls he becomes a thief.
| ועין נאף שמרה נשף לאמר-- לא-תשורני עין וסתר פנים ישים | 15 |
The adulterer waits for dusk, saying to himself, ‘No one will see me now,’ and he covers his face.
| חתר בחשך בתים יומם חתמו-למו לא-ידעו אור | 16 |
Thieves break into houses during the night and they sleep during the day. They don't even know what the light is like!
| כי יחדו בקר למו צלמות כי-יכיר בלהות צלמות | 17 |
Total darkness is like light to them, for they are familiar with the night.
| קל-הוא על-פני-מים-- תקלל חלקתם בארץ לא-יפנה דרך כרמים | 18 |
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.
| ציה גם-חם יגזלו מימי-שלג שאול חטאו (Sheol h7585) | 19 |
Just as heat and drought dry up snowmelt, so Sheol takes away those who have sinned. (Sheol h7585)
| ישכחהו רחם מתקו רמה-- עוד לא-יזכר ותשבר כעץ עולה | 20 |
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.
| רעה עקרה לא תלד ואלמנה לא ייטיב | 21 |
They mistreat childless women and are mean to widows.
| ומשך אבירים בכחו יקום ולא-יאמין בחיין | 22 |
God prolongs the life of the wicked by his power; but when they arise, they have no assurance of life.
| יתן-לו לבטח וישען ועיניהו על-דרכיהם | 23 |
He supports them and gives them security, but he is always watching what they're doing.
| רומו מעט ואיננו והמכו ככל יקפצון וכראש שבלת ימלו | 24 |
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.
| ואם-לא אפו מי יכזיבני וישם לאל מלתי | 25 |
If this isn't so, who can prove I'm a liar and there's nothing to what I say?”
