Job 24:1-25
24 “Why does the Almighty not set a time?+
Why do those who know him not see his day?*
2 People move boundary markers;+They carry off flocks for their own pasture.
3 They drive away the donkey of fatherless childrenAnd seize the widow’s bull as security for a loan.*+
4 They force the poor off the road;The helpless of the earth must hide from them.+
5 The poor forage for food like wild donkeys+ in the wilderness;They seek food in the desert for their children.
6 They must harvest in another’s field*And glean from the vineyard of the wicked.
7 They spend the night naked, without clothing;+They have no covering for the cold.
8 They are drenched by the mountain rains;They cling to the rocks for lack of shelter.
9 The fatherless child is snatched away from the breast;+And the garments of the poor are taken as security for a loan,+
10 Forcing them to go about naked, without clothing,And hungry, as they carry the sheaves of grain.
11 They toil among the terrace walls in the heat of the day;*They tread the winepresses, yet they go thirsty.+
12 The dying keep groaning in the city;The fatally wounded* cry for help,+But God does not regard this as improper.*
13 There are those who rebel against light;+They do not recognize its ways,And they do not follow its paths.
14 The murderer rises at daybreak;He slays the helpless and the poor,+While at night he engages in theft.
15 The eye of the adulterer waits for the twilight,+Saying, ‘No one will see me!’+
And he covers his face.
16 In the darkness they break into* houses;By day they shut themselves in.
They are strangers to the light.+
17 For morning is the same as deep darkness for them;They are familiar with the terrors of deep darkness.
18 But they are swiftly carried away by the waters.*
Their portion of the land will be cursed.+
They will not return to their vineyards.
19 Just as drought and heat take away the melted snow,The Grave* takes away those who have sinned!+
20 His mother* will forget him; the maggot will feast on him.
He will be remembered no more.+
And unrighteousness will be broken just like a tree.
21 He preys on the barren woman,And mistreats the widow.
22 God* will use his strength to do away with the powerful;Though they may rise up, they have no assurance of life.
23 God* lets them become confident and secure,+But his eyes are on everything they do.*+
24 They are exalted for a little while, then they are no more.+
They are brought low+ and gathered like everyone else;They are cut off like heads of grain.
25 Now who can prove me a liarOr refute my word?”
Footnotes
^ That is, his day of judgment.
^ Or “as a pledge.”
^ Or possibly, “harvest fodder in the field.”
^ Or possibly, “they press out oil among the terrace walls.”
^ Or “souls of the wounded.”
^ Or possibly, “God charges no one with wrong.”
^ Lit., “dig into.”
^ Lit., “He is swift on the surface of the waters.”
^ Lit., “The womb.”
^ Lit., “He.”
^ Lit., “He.”
^ Lit., “on their ways.”
