איוב 24

1 מדוע--משדי לא-נצפנו עתים וידעו לא-חזו ימיו

But why have the seasons been hidden from the Lord,

2 גבלות ישיגו עדר גזלו וירעו

while the ungodly have passed over the bound, carrying off the flock with the shepherd?

3 חמור יתומים ינהגו יחבלו שור אלמנה

They have led away, the ass of the fatherless, and taken the widow's ox for a pledge.

4 יטו אבינים מדרך יחד חבאו עניי-ארץ

They have turned aside the weak from the right way: and the meek of the earth have hidden themselves together.

5 הן פראים במדבר-- יצאו בפעלם משחרי לטרף ערבה לו לחם לנערים

And they have departed like asses in the field, having gone forth on my account according to their own order: his bread is sweet to [his] little ones.

6 בשדה בלילו יקצירו (יקצורו) וכרם רשע ילקשו

They have reaped a field that was not their own before the time: the poor have laboured in the vineyards of the ungodly without pay and without food.

7 ערום ילינו מבלי לבוש ואין כסות בקרה

They have caused many naked to sleep without clothes, and they have taken away the covering of their body.

8 מזרם הרים ירטבו ומבלי מחסה חבקו-צור

They are wet with the drops of the mountains: they have embraced the rock, because they had no shelter.

9 יגזלו משד יתום ועל-עני יחבלו

They have snatched the fatherless from the breast, and have afflicted the outcast.

10 ערום הלכו בלי לבוש ורעבים נשאו עמר

And they have wrongfully caused [others] to sleep without clothing, and taken away the morsel of the hungry.

11 בין-שורתם יצהירו יקבים דרכו ויצמאו

They have unrighteously laid wait in narrow places, and have not known the righteous way.

12 מעיר מתים ינאקו-- ונפש-חללים תשוע ואלוה לא-ישים תפלה

Who have cast forth [the] poor from the city and their own houses, and the soul of the children has groaned aloud.

13 המה היו--במרדי-אור לא-הכירו דרכיו ולא ישבו בנתיבתיו

Why then has he not visited these? forasmuch as they were upon the earth, and took no notice, and they knew not the way of righteousness, neither have they walked in their [appointed] paths?

14 לאור יקום רוצח--יקטל-עני ואביון ובלילה יהי כגנב

But having known their works, he delivered them into darkness: and in the night one will be as a thief:

15 ועין נאף שמרה נשף לאמר-- לא-תשורני עין וסתר פנים ישים

and the eye of the adulterer has watched [for] the darkness, saying, Eye shall not perceive me, and he puts a covering on his face.

16 חתר בחשך בתים יומם חתמו-למו לא-ידעו אור

In darkness he digs through houses: by day they conceal themselves securely: they know not the light.

17 כי יחדו בקר למו צלמות כי-יכיר בלהות צלמות

For the morning is to them all [as] the shadow of death, for [each] will be conscious of the terror of the shadow of death.

18 קל-הוא על-פני-מים-- תקלל חלקתם בארץ לא-יפנה דרך כרמים

He is swift on the face of the water: let his portion be cursed on the earth; and let their plants be laid bare.

19 ציה גם-חם יגזלו מימי-שלג שאול חטאו (Sheol h7585)

[Let them be] withered upon the earth; for they have plundered the sheaves of the fatherless. (Sheol h7585)

20 ישכחהו רחם מתקו רמה-- עוד לא-יזכר ותשבר כעץ עולה

Then is his sin brought to remembrance, and he vanishes like a vapor of dew: but let what he has done be recompensed to him, and let every unrighteous one be crushed like rotten wood.

21 רעה עקרה לא תלד ואלמנה לא ייטיב

For he has not treated the barren woman well, and has had no pity on a feeble woman.

22 ומשך אבירים בכחו יקום ולא-יאמין בחיין

And in wrath he has overthrown the helpless: therefore when he has arisen, [a man] will not feel secure of his own life.

23 יתן-לו לבטח וישען ועיניהו על-דרכיהם

When he has fallen sick, let him not hope to recover: but let him perish by disease.

24 רומו מעט ואיננו והמכו ככל יקפצון וכראש שבלת ימלו

For his exaltation has hurt many; but he has withered as mallows in the heat, or as an ear of corn falling off of itself from the stalk.

25 ואם-לא אפו מי יכזיבני וישם לאל מלתי

But if not, who is he that says I speak falsely, and will make my words of no account?