Job 24:16 | English Standard Version

English Standard Version

1 “Why are not times of judgment kept by the Almighty, and why do those who know him never see his days? (Job 15:20; Job 18:20; Ec 9:12; Isa 2:12; Isa 13:6; Isa 13:9; Isa 13:22; Jer 27:7; Eze 22:3; Eze 30:3; Joe 1:15; Joe 2:1; Am 5:18)

Job 15:20Job 18:20Ec 9:12Isa 2:12Isa 13:6Isa 13:9Isa 13:22Jer 27:7Eze 22:3Eze 30:3Joe 1:15Joe 2:1Am 5:18

2 Some move landmarks; they seize flocks and pasture them. (De 19:14) 3 They drive away the donkey of the fatherless; they take the widow’s ox for a pledge. (Job 22:6) 4 They thrust the poor off the road; the poor of the earth all hide themselves. (Job 30:5; Pr 28:28; Am 2:7; Am 5:12; Mal 3:5)

Job 30:5Pr 28:28Am 2:7Am 5:12Mal 3:5

5 Behold, like wild donkeys in the desert the poor^[1] go out to their toil, seeking game; the wasteland yields food for their children. (Ps 104:21; Ps 104:23) 6 They gather their^[2] fodder in the field, and they glean the vineyard of the wicked man. 7 They lie all night naked, without clothing, and have no covering in the cold. (Ex 22:26; De 24:12) 8 They are wet with the rain of the mountains and cling to the rock for lack of shelter. (La 4:5) 9 (There are those who snatch the fatherless child from the breast, and they take a pledge against the poor.) 10 They go about naked, without clothing; hungry, they carry the sheaves; (2Ti 2:6; Jas 5:4) 11 among the olive rows of the wicked^[3] they make oil; they tread the winepresses, but suffer thirst. 12 From out of the city the dying^[4] groan, and the soul of the wounded cries for help; yet God charges no one with wrong. (Job 1:22; Jer 51:52; Eze 30:24) 13 “There are those who rebel against the light, who are not acquainted with its ways, and do not stay in its paths. (Joh 3:19) 14 The murderer rises before it is light, that he may kill the poor and needy, and in the night he is like a thief. (Ps 10:8) 15 The eye of the adulterer also waits for the twilight, saying, ‘No eye will see me’; and he veils his face. (Ps 10:11; Pr 7:9) 16 In the dark they dig through houses; by day they shut themselves up; they do not know the light. (Ex 22:2; Job 31:9; Mt 6:20) 17 For deep darkness is morning to all of them; for they are friends with the terrors of deep darkness. (Job 3:5) 18 “You say, ‘Swift are they on the face of the waters; their portion is cursed in the land; no treader turns toward their vineyards. (Job 9:26; Ho 10:7) 19 Drought and heat snatch away the snow waters; so does Sheol those who have sinned. (Job 21:13) 20 The womb forgets them; the worm finds them sweet; they are no longer remembered, so wickedness is broken like a tree.’ (Job 18:16; Pr 10:7) 21 “They wrong the barren, childless woman, and do no good to the widow. 22 Yet God^[5] prolongs the life of the mighty by his power; they rise up when they despair of life. 23 He gives them security, and they are supported, and his eyes are upon their ways. (Ps 11:4; Pr 15:3) 24 They are exalted a little while, and then are gone; they are brought low and gathered up like all others; they are cut off like the heads of grain. (Job 14:2; Job 27:19; Ps 37:10) 25 If it is not so, who will prove me a liar and show that there is nothing in what I say?” (Job 9:24)