Job 24
1 Ab Omnipotente non sunt abscondita tempora: qui autem noverunt eum, ignorant dies illius.
“Why does the Almighty not reserve times for judgment? Why may those who know Him never see His days?
2 Alii terminos transtulerunt; diripuerunt greges, et paverunt eos.
Men move boundary stones; they pasture stolen flocks.
3 Asinum pupillorum abegerunt, et abstulerunt pro pignore bovem viduæ.
They drive away the donkey of the fatherless and take the widow’s ox in pledge.
4 Subverterunt pauperum viam, et oppresserunt pariter mansuetos terræ.
They push the needy off the road and force all the poor of the land into hiding.
5 Alii quasi onagri in deserto egrediuntur ad opus suum: vigilantes ad prædam, præparant panem liberis.
Indeed, like wild donkeys in the desert, the poor go to work foraging for food; the wasteland is food for their children.
6 Agrum non suum demetunt, et vineam ejus, quem vi oppresserint, vindemiant.
They gather fodder in the fields and glean the vineyards of the wicked.
7 Nudos dimittunt homines, indumenta tollentes, quibus non est operimentum in frigore:
Without clothing, they spend the night naked; they have no covering against the cold.
8 quos imbres montium rigant, et non habentes velamen, amplexantur lapides.
Drenched by mountain rains, they huddle against the rocks for want of shelter.
9 Vim fecerunt deprædantes pupillos, et vulgum pauperem spoliaverunt.
The fatherless infant is snatched from the breast; the nursing child of the poor is seized for a debt.
10 Nudis et incedentibus absque vestitu, et esurientibus tulerunt spicas.
Without clothing, they wander about naked. They carry the sheaves, but still go hungry.
11 Inter acervos eorum meridiati sunt, qui calcatis torcularibus sitiunt.
They crush olives within their walls; they tread the winepresses, but go thirsty.
12 De civitatibus fecerunt viros gemere, et anima vulneratorum clamavit: et Deus inultum abire non patitur.
From the city, men groan, and the souls of the wounded cry out, yet God charges no one with wrongdoing.
13 Ipsi fuerunt rebelles lumini: nescierunt vias ejus, nec reversi sunt per semitas ejus.
Then there are those who rebel against the light, not knowing its ways or staying on its paths.
14 Mane primo consurgit homicida; interficit egenum et pauperem: per noctem vero erit quasi fur.
When daylight is gone, the murderer rises to kill the poor and needy; in the night he is like a thief.
15 Oculus adulteri observat caliginem, dicens: Non me videbit oculus: et operiet vultum suum.
The eye of the adulterer watches for twilight. Thinking, ‘No eye will see me,’ he covers his face.
16 Perfodit in tenebris domos, sicut in die condixerant sibi, et ignoraverunt lucem.
In the dark they dig through houses; by day they shut themselves in, never to experience the light.
17 Si subito apparuerit aurora, arbitrantur umbram mortis: et sic in tenebris quasi in luce ambulant.
For to them, deep darkness is their morning; surely they are friends with the terrors of darkness!
18 Levis est super faciem aquæ: maledicta sit pars ejus in terra, nec ambulet per viam vinearum.
They are but foam on the surface of the water; their portion of the land is cursed, so that no one turns toward their vineyards.
As drought and heat consume the melting snow, so Sheol steals those who have sinned. (Sheol h7585)
20 Obliviscatur ejus misericordia; dulcedo illius vermes: non sit in recordatione, sed conteratur quasi lignum infructuosum.
The womb forgets them; the worm feeds on them; they are remembered no more. So injustice is like a broken tree.
21 Pavit enim sterilem quæ non parit, et viduæ bene non fecit.
They prey on the barren and childless, and show no kindness to the widow.
22 Detraxit fortes in fortitudine sua, et cum steterit, non credet vitæ suæ.
Yet by His power, God drags away the mighty; though rising up, they have no assurance of life.
23 Dedit ei Deus locum pœnitentiæ, et ille abutitur eo in superbiam: oculi autem ejus sunt in viis illius.
He gives them a sense of security, but His eyes are on 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 moment, then they are gone; they are brought low and gathered up like all others; they are cut off like heads of grain.
25 Quod si non est ita, quis me potest arguere esse mentitum, et ponere ante Deum verba mea?
If this is not so, then who can prove me a liar and reduce my words to nothing?”
