Job 24
24
Job Says God Seems to Ignore Wrongs
1“Why does the Almighty not set seasons for judgment?
Why do those who know Him not see His days [for punishment of the wicked]? [Acts 1:7]
2“Some remove the landmarks;
They [violently] seize and pasture flocks [appropriating land and flocks openly].
3“They drive away the donkeys of the orphans;
They take the widow’s ox for a pledge.
4“They crowd the needy off the road;
The poor of the land all hide themselves.
5“Behold, as wild donkeys in the desert,
The poor go to their work, diligently seeking food;
As bread for their children in the desert.
6“They harvest their fodder in a field [that is not their own],
And glean the vineyard of the wicked.
7“They spend the night naked, without clothing,
And have no covering against the cold.
8“They are wet from the rain of the mountains
And cling to the rock for lack of shelter.
9“Others snatch the fatherless [infants] from the breast [to sell or make them slaves],
And against the poor they take a pledge [of clothing].
10“They cause the poor to go about naked without clothing,
And they take away the sheaves [of grain] from the hungry.
11“Within the walls [of the wicked] the poor make [olive] oil;
They tread [the grapes in] the wine presses, but thirst.
12“From the [populous and crowded] city men groan,
And the souls of the wounded cry out for help;
Yet God [seemingly] does not pay attention to the wrong [done to them].
13¶“Others have been with those who rebel against the light;
They do not want to know its ways
Nor stay in its paths.
14“The murderer rises at dawn;
He kills the poor and the needy,
And at night he becomes a thief.
15“The eye of the adulterer waits for the twilight,
Saying, ‘No eye will see me,’
And he covers his face.
16“In the dark they dig into [the penetrable walls of] houses;
They shut themselves up by day;
They do not know the light [of day].
17“For the morning is the same to him as the thick darkness [of midnight];
For he is familiar with the terrors of thick darkness.
18¶“They are insignificant on the surface of the water;
Their portion is cursed on the earth;
They do not turn toward the vineyards.
19“Drought and heat consume the snow waters;
So does Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead) [consume] those who have sinned.
20“A mother will forget him;
The worm feeds on him until he is no longer remembered.
And wickedness will be broken like a tree [which cannot be restored]. [Prov 10:7]
21“He preys on the barren (childless) woman
And does no good for the widow.
22“Yet God draws away the mighty by His power;
He rises, but no one has assurance of life.
23“God gives them security, and they are supported;
And His eyes are on their ways.
24“They are exalted for a little while, and then they are gone;
Moreover, they are brought low and like everything [they are] gathered up and taken out of the way;
Even like the heads of grain they are cut off.
25“And if this is not so, who can prove me a liar
And make my speech worthless?”
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Job 24: AMP
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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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