Job 24
24
Job Asks Why the Wicked Are Not Punished
1“Why doesn’t the Almighty bring the wicked to judgment?
Why must the godly wait for him in vain?
2Evil people steal land by moving the boundary markers.
They steal livestock and put them in their own pastures.
3They take the orphan’s donkey
and demand the widow’s ox as security for a loan.
4The poor are pushed off the path;
the needy must hide together for safety.
5Like wild donkeys in the wilderness,
the poor must spend all their time looking for food,
searching even in the desert for food for their children.
6They harvest a field they do not own,
and they glean in the vineyards of the wicked.
7All night they lie naked in the cold,
without clothing or covering.
8They are soaked by mountain showers,
and they huddle against the rocks for want of a home.
9“The wicked snatch a widow’s child from her breast,
taking the baby as security for a loan.
10The poor must go about naked, without any clothing.
They harvest food for others while they themselves are starving.
11They press out olive oil without being allowed to taste it,
and they tread in the winepress as they suffer from thirst.
12The groans of the dying rise from the city,
and the wounded cry for help,
yet God ignores their moaning.
13“Wicked people rebel against the light.
They refuse to acknowledge its ways
or stay in its paths.
14The murderer rises in the early dawn
to kill the poor and needy;
at night he is a thief.
15The adulterer waits for the twilight,
saying, ‘No one will see me then.’
He hides his face so no one will know him.
16Thieves break into houses at night
and sleep in the daytime.
They are not acquainted with the light.
17The black night is their morning.
They ally themselves with the terrors of the darkness.
18“But they disappear like foam down a river.
Everything they own is cursed,
and they are afraid to enter their own vineyards.
19The grave#24:19 Hebrew Sheol. consumes sinners
just as drought and heat consume snow.
20Their own mothers will forget them.
Maggots will find them sweet to eat.
No one will remember them.
Wicked people are broken like a tree in the storm.
21They cheat the woman who has no son to help her.
They refuse to help the needy widow.
22“God, in his power, drags away the rich.
They may rise high, but they have no assurance of life.
23They may be allowed to live in security,
but God is always watching them.
24And though they are great now,
in a moment they will be gone like all others,
cut off like heads of grain.
25Can anyone claim otherwise?
Who can prove me wrong?”
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Job 24: NLT
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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 wilderness,
the poor go out to their task of foraging for food;
the desert 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#24:8 Lit they embrace the rocks, shelterless.
9The fatherless infant is snatched from the breast;
the nursing child of the poor is seized as collateral.#24:9 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;#24:11 Lit olives between their rows
they tread the winepresses, but go thirsty.
12From the city, men#24:12 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,”
and he covers his face.
16In the dark they break#24:16 Lit dig into houses;
by day they lock themselves in,#24:16 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#24:18 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#24:21 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#24:22 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 gone;
they are brought low and shrivel up like everything else.#24:24 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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