1‘Why does the Almighty not set times for judgment? Why must those who know him look in vain for such days?2There are those who move boundary stones; they pasture flocks they have stolen.3They drive away the orphan’s donkey and take the widow’s ox in pledge.4They thrust the needy from the path and force all the poor of the land into hiding.5Like wild donkeys in the desert, the poor go about their labour of foraging food; the wasteland provides food for their children.6They gather fodder in the fields and glean in the vineyards of the wicked.7Lacking clothes, they spend the night naked; they have nothing to cover themselves in the cold.8They are drenched by mountain rains and hug the rocks for lack of shelter.9The fatherless child is snatched from the breast; the infant of the poor is seized for a debt.10Lacking clothes, they go about naked; they carry the sheaves, but still go hungry.11They crush olives among the terraces[1]; they tread the winepresses, yet suffer thirst.12The groans of the dying rise from the city, and the souls of the wounded cry out for help. But God charges no-one with wrongdoing.13‘There are those who rebel against the light, who do not know its ways or stay in its paths.14When daylight is gone, the murderer rises up, kills the poor and needy, and in the night steals forth like a thief.15The eye of the adulterer watches for dusk; he thinks, “No eye will see me,” and he keeps his face concealed.16In the dark, thieves break into houses, but by day they shut themselves in; they want nothing to do with the light.17For all of them, midnight is their morning; they make friends with the terrors of darkness.18‘Yet they are foam on the surface of the water; their portion of the land is cursed, so that no-one goes to the vineyards.19As heat and drought snatch away the melted snow, so the grave snatches away those who have sinned.20The womb forgets them, the worm feasts on them; the wicked are no longer remembered but are broken like a tree.21They prey on the barren and childless woman, and to the widow they show no kindness.22But God drags away the mighty by his power; though they become established, they have no assurance of life.23He may let them rest in a feeling of security, but his eyes are on their ways.24For a little while they are exalted, and then they are gone; they are brought low and gathered up like all others; they are cut off like ears of corn.25‘If this is not so, who can prove me false and reduce my words to nothing?’
Job 24
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)2Some move landmarks; they seize flocks and pasture them. (De 19:14)3They drive away the donkey of the fatherless; they take the widow’s ox for a pledge. (Job 22:6)4They 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)5Behold, 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)6They gather their[2] fodder in the field, and they glean the vineyard of the wicked man.7They lie all night naked, without clothing, and have no covering in the cold. (Ex 22:26; De 24:12)8They 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.)10They go about naked, without clothing; hungry, they carry the sheaves; (2Ti 2:6; Jas 5:4)11among the olive rows of the wicked[3] they make oil; they tread the winepresses, but suffer thirst.12From 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)14The 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)15The 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)16In 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)17For 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)19Drought and heat snatch away the snow waters; so does Sheol those who have sinned. (Job 21:13)20The 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.22Yet God[5] prolongs the life of the mighty by his power; they rise up when they despair of life.23He gives them security, and they are supported, and his eyes are upon their ways. (Ps 11:4; Pr 15:3)24They 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)25If it is not so, who will prove me a liar and show that there is nothing in what I say?” (Job 9:24)