Job 24
24
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 labor 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#24:11 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.;
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 heads of grain.
25“If this is not so, who can prove me false
and reduce my words to nothing?”
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Job 24: NIV
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The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®
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Job 24
24
Absence of justice
1Why doesn’t the Almighty establish times for punishment?#24.1 Heb lacks for punishment.
Why can’t those who know him see his days?
2People move boundary stones,
herd flocks they’ve stolen,
3drive off an orphan’s donkey,
take a widow’s ox as collateral,
4thrust the poor out of the way,
make the land’s needy hide together.
5They are like the wild donkeys in the desert;
they go forth at dawn searching for prey;
the wasteland is food for their young.
6They gather their food in the field,
glean in unproductive vineyards,
7spend the night naked, unclothed,
in the cold without a cover,
8wet from mountain rains,
with no refuge, huddled against a rock.
9The orphan is stolen from the breast;
the infant#24.9 Reading Heb we‘ul (infant) for we‘al (against) of the poor is taken as collateral.
10The poor go around naked, without clothes,
carry bundles of grain while hungry,
11crush olives between millstones,#24.11 Heb uncertain
tread winepresses, but remain thirsty.
12From the city, the dying cry out;
the throat of the mortally wounded screams, but God assigns no blame.
Sinners’ conduct
13They rebel against light,
don’t acknowledge its direction,
don’t dwell in its paths.
14The murderer rises at twilight,
kills the poor and needy;
at night, they are like a thief.
15The adulterer’s eye watches for twilight,
thinking, No eye can see me,
and puts a mask over his face.
16In the dark they break into houses;
they shut themselves in by day;
they don’t know the light.
17Deep darkness is morning to them
because they recognize the horror of darkness.
18They are scum on the water’s surface;
their portion of the land is cursed;
no one walks down a path in the vineyards.
19Drought and heat steal melted snow,
just as the underworld#24.19 Heb Sheol steals sinners.
20The womb forgets them;
the worm consumes them;
they aren’t remembered,
and so wickedness is shattered like a tree.
21They prey on the barren, the childless,
do nothing good for the widow.
22They drag away the strong by force;
they may get up but without guarantee of survival.
23They make themselves secure;
they are at ease.
His#24.23 Or God’s eyes are on their ways.
24They are exalted for a short time, but no longer.
They are humbled then gathered in like everyone else;
cut off like heads of grain.
25If this isn’t so, who can prove me a liar
and make my words disappear?
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