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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The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®
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Job 24
24
1Why does the Almighty not reserve times for judgment? # Ec 9:12; Is 2:12; Ac 1:7
Why do those who know Him never see His days?
2The wicked displace boundary markers.
They steal a flock and provide pasture for it.
3They drive away the donkeys owned by the fatherless # Dt 27:19; Jb 22:9; 31:21
and take the widow’s ox as collateral.
4They push the needy off the road;
the poor of the land are forced into hiding. # Jdg 5:6; Pr 28:28; Am 2:7
5Like wild donkeys in the desert,
the poor go out to their task of foraging for food;
the wilderness provides nourishment for their children.
6They gather their fodder in the field
and glean the vineyards of the wicked.
7Without clothing, they spend the night naked,
having no covering against the cold. # Ex 22:26-27; Dt 24:12-13; Jb 22:6
8Drenched by mountain rains,
they huddle against # Lit they embrace the rocks, shelterless.
9The fatherless infant is snatched from the breast;
the nursing child of the poor is seized as collateral. # Text emended; MT reads breast; they seize collateral against the poor
10Without clothing, they wander about naked.
They carry sheaves but go hungry. # Dt 24:19; 2Tm 2:6; Jms 5:4
11They crush olives in their presses; # Lit olives between their rows
they tread the winepresses, but go thirsty.
12From the city, men # One Hb ms, Syr read the dying groan;
the mortally wounded cry for help,
yet God pays no attention to this crime. # Jb 1:22; Ps 69:26
13The wicked are those who rebel against the light.
They do not recognize its ways
or stay on its paths.
14The murderer rises at dawn
to kill the poor and needy,
and by night he becomes a thief.
15The adulterer’s eye watches for twilight,
thinking: No eye will see me;
he covers his face.
16In the dark they break # Lit dig into houses;
by day they lock themselves in, # Lit they seal for themselves
never experiencing the light.
17For the morning is like darkness to them.
Surely they are familiar with the terrors of darkness!
18They float # Lit are insignificant on the surface of the water.
Their section of the land is cursed,
so that they never go to their vineyards.
19As dry ground and heat snatch away the melted snow,
so Sheol # Jb 7:9; Ps 9:17; Pr 27:20 steals those who have sinned.
20The womb forgets them;
worms feed on them;
they are remembered # Jb 18:17; Pr 10:7; Jr 11:19 no more.
So injustice is broken like a tree.
21They prey on # LXX, Tg read They harm the childless woman who is unable to conceive,
and do not deal kindly with the widow.
22Yet God drags away # Or God prolongs the life of the mighty by His power;
when He rises up, they have no assurance of life.
23He gives them a sense of security, so they can rely on it, # Jb 11:18; Ps 4:8; Pr 3:24
but His eyes # Ps 11:4; Pr 15:3; Jr 16:17 watch over their ways.
24They are exalted for a moment, then they are gone;
they are brought low and shrivel up like everything else. # LXX reads like a mallow plant in the heat
They wither like heads of grain. # Jb 14:21; Ps 37:10; 106:43
25If this is not true, then who can prove me a liar # Jb 6:28; 27:4; 34:6
and show that my speech is worthless?
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