Job 24
1 Ab Omnipotente non sunt abscondita tempora: qui autem noverunt eum, ignorant dies illius.
Why, seeing times [are] not hid 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 [their] feed.
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, they go 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.
[Who] make oil within their walls, [and] tread [their] wine-presses, 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 its ways, nor abide in its paths.
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 day-time: 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 shades of death: if [one] knoweth [them], [they are in] the terrors of the shades 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.
Drouth and heat consume the snow-waters: [so doth] the grave [those who] 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 oppresseth 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 is given him [to be] in safety, on which 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 [others], 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 is] not [so] now, who will make me a liar, and make my speech of no worth?
