איוב 24

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

“(Why does Almighty [God] not set a time when he will judge [evil people]?/I do not understand why Almighty [God does] not set a time when he will judge [evil people].) [RHQ] Those who know him never [RHQ] see him do that!

2 גבלות ישיגו עדר גזלו וירעו

[Some evil people] remove the markers of boundaries of [other people’s] land, [in order to steal their land]; they seize/steal [other people’s] sheep and put them in their own pastures.

3 חמור יתומים ינהגו יחבלו שור אלמנה

[Some] (take away/steal) the donkeys that belong to orphans, and they take widow’s oxen to guarantee that the widows will pay back the money that they loaned to those widows.

4 יטו אבינים מדרך יחד חבאו עניי-ארץ

[Some] shove poor people off the road (OR, prevent poor people from (obtaining their rights/being treated justly)), and they force poor people to find places to hide from them.

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

The result is that poor people have to search for food in the desert like wild donkeys do.

6 בשדה בלילו יקצירו (יקצורו) וכרם רשע ילקשו

The poor people harvest left-over grain in other people’s fields, and gather grapes from vineyards that belong to wicked men.

7 ערום ילינו מבלי לבוש ואין כסות בקרה

During the night they have nothing to cover their bodies, nothing to keep them warm.

8 מזרם הרים ירטבו ומבלי מחסה חבקו-צור

When it rains on the mountains, the poor people become very wet, so they huddle under the rock ledges to be protected [from the rain].

9 יגזלו משד יתום ועל-עני יחבלו

[Some evil men] snatch infants away from their widowed mothers [SYN], and they say ‘I will return your babies to you when you repay the money that I lent to you.’

10 ערום הלכו בלי לבוש ורעבים נשאו עמר

But the poor people walk around with no clothes on; they are hungry while they are working to carry [other people’s] bundles of grain [to the places where their grain will be threshed].

11 בין-שורתם יצהירו יקבים דרכו ויצמאו

Poor people press olives to make [olive] oil; they tread on grapes [to make juice for wine], but [they are not allowed to drink any of it when] they become thirsty.

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

In the cities, people who are wounded and dying cry out [to God for help], but God does not heed their prayers.

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

Some wicked people avoid the light [because they do evil things in the dark]; they do not walk on roads that are lighted.

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

Murderers steal things during the night, and then they arise before dawn in order that they may [go out again and] kill needy [DOU] people.

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

Those who want to commit adultery wait for twilight/evening; they say ‘I do not want anyone to see me,’ so they keep their faces covered.

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

It is during the night that robbers break into houses [to steal things], but during the day they hide because they want to avoid [being seen in] the light.

17 כי יחדו בקר למו צלמות כי-יכיר בלהות צלמות

All of those [people] want to do their evil things at night, not in the morning [when it is light], because they are not afraid of [the things that happen during the] night that terrify others.”

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

“[But it is wicked people] who are swept/carried away by floods, and God curses the land that they own, and no one goes to work in their vineyards.

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

Just like the snow melts away when it is hot and there is no rain, those who have sinned disappear into the place where dead people are. (Sheol h7585)

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

Not even their mothers remember them now; wicked people are destroyed like trees that are cut down, and maggots eat their corpses.

21 רעה עקרה לא תלד ואלמנה לא ייטיב

They mistreat women who have been unable to give birth to children and women who no longer have children [to take care of them], and they never do good things for widows.

22 ומשך אבירים בכחו יקום ולא-יאמין בחיין

But God, by his power, gets rid of mighty/influential people. God acts and causes the wicked people to die.

23 יתן-לו לבטח וישען ועיניהו על-דרכיהם

God allows them to think that they are secure and safe, but he is watching [MTY] them all the time.

24 רומו מעט ואיננו והמכו ככל יקפצון וכראש שבלת ימלו

They prosper for a little while, and then [suddenly] they are gone; they disappear like weeds wither and die; they are like [SIM] stalks of grain that have been cut off.

25 ואם-לא אפו מי יכזיבני וישם לאל מלתי

If this is not true, is there [RHQ] anyone who will show that I am a liar and prove that what I have said is not true?”