Job 24
1 [Ab Omnipotente non sunt abscondita tempora: qui autem noverunt eum, ignorant dies illius.
Why, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty, do they that know him not see his days?
2 Alii terminos transtulerunt; diripuerunt greges, et paverunt eos.
[Some] remove the landmarks; they violently take away flocks, and feed [thereof].
3 Asinum pupillorum abegerunt, et abstulerunt pro pignore bovem viduæ.
They drive away the ass of the fatherless, they take the widow’s ox for a pledge.
4 Subverterunt pauperum viam, et oppresserunt pariter mansuetos terræ.
They turn the needy out of the way: the poor of the earth hide themselves together.
5 Alii quasi onagri in deserto egrediuntur ad opus suum: vigilantes ad prædam, præparant panem liberis.
Behold, [as] wild asses in the desert, go they forth to their work; rising betimes for a prey: the wilderness [yieldeth] food for them [and] for [their] children.
6 Agrum non suum demetunt, et vineam ejus, quem vi oppresserint, vindemiant.
They reap [every one] his corn in the field: and they gather the vintage of the wicked.
7 Nudos dimittunt homines, indumenta tollentes, quibus non est operimentum in frigore:
They cause the naked to lodge without clothing, that [they have] no covering in the cold.
8 quos imbres montium rigant, et non habentes velamen, amplexantur lapides.
They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and embrace the rock for want of a shelter.
9 Vim fecerunt deprædantes pupillos, et vulgum pauperem spoliaverunt.
They pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor.
10 Nudis et incedentibus absque vestitu, et esurientibus tulerunt spicas.
They cause [him] to go naked without clothing, and they take away the sheaf [from] the hungry;
11 Inter acervos eorum meridiati sunt, qui calcatis torcularibus sitiunt.
[Which] make oil within their walls, [and] tread [their] winepresses, and suffer thirst.
12 De civitatibus fecerunt viros gemere, et anima vulneratorum clamavit: et Deus inultum abire non patitur.
Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded crieth out: yet God layeth not folly [to them].
13 Ipsi fuerunt rebelles lumini: nescierunt vias ejus, nec reversi sunt per semitas ejus.
They are of those that rebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof.
14 Mane primo consurgit homicida; interficit egenum et pauperem: per noctem vero erit quasi fur.
The murderer rising with the light killeth the poor and needy, and in the night is as a thief.
15 Oculus adulteri observat caliginem, dicens: Non me videbit oculus: et operiet vultum suum.
The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me: and disguiseth [his] face.
16 Perfodit in tenebris domos, sicut in die condixerant sibi, et ignoraverunt lucem.
In the dark they dig through houses, [which] they had marked for themselves in the daytime: they know not the light.
17 Si subito apparuerit aurora, arbitrantur umbram mortis: et sic in tenebris quasi in luce ambulant.
For the morning [is] to them even as the shadow of death: if [one] know [them, they are in] the terrors of the shadow of death.
18 Levis est super faciem aquæ: maledicta sit pars ejus in terra, nec ambulet per viam vinearum.
He [is] swift as the waters; their portion is cursed in the earth: he beholdeth not the way of the vineyards.
Drought and heat consume the snow waters: [so doth] the grave [those which] have sinned. (Sheol h7585)
20 Obliviscatur ejus misericordia; dulcedo illius vermes: non sit in recordatione, sed conteratur quasi lignum infructuosum.
The womb shall forget him; the worm shall feed sweetly on him; he shall be no more remembered; and wickedness shall be broken as a tree.
21 Pavit enim sterilem quæ non parit, et viduæ bene non fecit.
He evil entreateth the barren [that] beareth not: and doeth not good to the widow.
22 Detraxit fortes in fortitudine sua, et cum steterit, non credet vitæ suæ.
He draweth also the mighty with his power: he riseth up, and no [man] is sure of life.
23 Dedit ei Deus locum pœnitentiæ, et ille abutitur eo in superbiam: oculi autem ejus sunt in viis illius.
[Though] it be given him [to be] in safety, whereon he resteth; yet his eyes [are] upon their ways.
24 Elevati sunt ad modicum, et non subsistent: et humiliabuntur sicut omnia, et auferentur, et sicut summitates spicarum conterentur.
They are exalted for a little while, but are gone and brought low; they are taken out of the way as all [other], and cut off as the tops of the ears of corn.
25 Quod si non est ita, quis me potest arguere esse mentitum, et ponere ante Deum verba mea?]
And if [it be] not [so] now, who will make me a liar, and make my speech nothing worth?
