Job 24

1 “Why does the Almighty not reserve times for judgment? Why may those who know Him never see His days?

2 Men move boundary stones; they pasture stolen flocks.

3 They drive away the donkey of the fatherless and take the widow’s ox in pledge.

4 They push the needy off the road and force all the poor of the land into hiding.

5 Indeed, like wild donkeys in the desert, the poor go to work foraging for food; the wasteland is food for their children.

6 They gather fodder in the fields and glean the vineyards of the wicked.

7 Without clothing, they spend the night naked; they have no covering against the cold.

8 Drenched by mountain rains, they huddle against the rocks for want of shelter.

9 The fatherless infant is snatched from the breast; the nursing child of the poor is seized for a debt.

10 Without clothing, they wander about naked. They carry the sheaves, but still go hungry.

11 They crush olives within their walls; they tread the winepresses, but go thirsty.

12 From the city, men groan, and the souls of the wounded cry out, yet God charges no one with wrongdoing.

13 Then there are those who rebel against the light, not knowing its ways or staying on its paths.

14 When daylight is gone, the murderer rises to kill the poor and needy; in the night he is like a thief.

15 The eye of the adulterer watches for twilight. Thinking, ‘No eye will see me,’ he covers his face.

16 In the dark they dig through houses; by day they shut themselves in, never to experience the light.

17 For to them, deep darkness is their morning; surely they are friends with the terrors of darkness!

18 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.

19 As drought and heat consume the melting snow, so Sheol steals those who have sinned.

20 The womb forgets them; the worm feeds on them; they are remembered no more. So injustice is broken like a tree.

21 They prey on the barren and childless, and show no kindness to the widow.

22 Yet by His power, God drags away the mighty; though rising up, they have no assurance of life.

23 He gives them a sense of security, but His eyes are on their ways.

24 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 If this is not so, then who can prove me a liar and reduce my words to nothing?”

1 ¶ Why, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty, do they that know him not see his days?

2 [Some] remove the landmarks; they violently take away flocks, and feed [thereof].

3 They drive away the ass of the fatherless, they take the widow's ox for a pledge.

4 They turn the needy out of the way: the poor of the earth hide themselves together.

5 Behold, [as] wild asses in the desert, go they forth to their work; rising betimes for a prey: the wilderness [yieldeth] food for them [and] for [their] children.

6 They reap [every one] his corn in the field: and they gather the vintage of the wicked.

7 They cause the naked to lodge without clothing, that [they have] no covering in the cold.

8 They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and embrace the rock for want of a shelter.

9 They pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor.

10 They cause [him] to go naked without clothing, and they take away the sheaf [from] the hungry;

11 [Which] make oil within their walls, [and] tread [their] winepresses, and suffer thirst.

12 Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded crieth out: yet God layeth not folly [to them].

13 ¶ They are of those that rebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof.

14 The murderer rising with the light killeth the poor and needy, and in the night is as a thief.

15 The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me: and disguiseth [his] face.

16 In the dark they dig through houses, [which] they had marked for themselves in the daytime: they know not the light.

17 For the morning [is] to them even as the shadow of death: if [one] know [them, they are in] the terrors of the shadow of death.

18 ¶ He [is] swift as the waters; their portion is cursed in the earth: he beholdeth not the way of the vineyards.

19 Drought and heat consume the snow waters: [so doth] the grave [those which] have sinned.

20 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 He evil entreateth the barren [that] beareth not: and doeth not good to the widow.

22 He draweth also the mighty with his power: he riseth up, and no [man] is sure of life.

23 [Though] it be given him [to be] in safety, whereon he resteth; yet his eyes [are] upon their ways.

24 They are exalted for a little while, but are gone and brought low; they are taken out of the way as all [other], and cut off as the tops of the ears of corn.

25 And if [it be] not [so] now, who will make me a liar, and make my speech nothing worth?

1 Why should not the times be hid from the Almighty? And they that know him see not his days.

2 They drive back the borders; they rob the flocks, and feed them.

3 They take away the asses of the fatherless, and take the oxen of the widows for a prey.

4 the poor must give way to them, and the needy in the land must cower.

5 Behold, the wild beasts of the wilderness go forth early to the prey, as they tend, to prepare food for the young.

6 They reap in the field all that it yieldeth, and gather the vineyard which they have wrongfully.

7 They leave them that are naked, and leave them no covering in the frost, from whom they have taken away their garments,

8 That they must cleave unto the rocks, when a downpour is poured upon them from the mountains; for otherwise they have no comfort.

9 They pluck the child from the breasts, and make him an orphan, and make the people poor with pledges.

10 They let the naked go without clothes, and they take the sheaves from the hungry.

11 They force them to make oil in their own mill, and to tread their own winepress, and yet make them suffer thirst.

12 They make the people of the city groan, and the souls of the slain cry out; and GOD overthrow them not.

13 Therefore have they turned aside from the light, and know not his way, and return not again unto his highway.

14 When the day dawneth, the murderer riseth up, and slayeth the poor and needy: and by night he is as a thief.

15 The eye of the adulterer looketh on the darkness, and saith, Eye seeth me not; and covereth his face.

16 In darkness he breaketh in upon the houses. By day they hide themselves together, and shun the light.

17 For when the morning cometh, it is unto them as darkness: for he knoweth the terror of darkness.

18 He saileth lightly, as upon the waters: his substance is few in the land, and he treadeth not his vineyard.

19 Hell taketh away them that sin, as the heat and the drought consume the snow water.

20 The merciful shall be forgotten; his desire shall become wormwood; he shall be remembered no more; he shall be broken as a rotten tree.

21 He hath offended the lone that beareth not, and hath not done good to the widow.

22 And the mighty are drawn under him with his power. If he stand, he shall not be sure of his life.

23 He maketh him sure himself, that he may rely thereon: but his eyes are upon their doings.

24 They are exalted for a little season, and shall be destroyed, and subdued, and utterly cut off; and as the first blossom of the ears of corn they shall be cut off.

25 Is it not so? Well then, who will give me the lie, and prove that my speech is nothing?