1‘Why doesn’t the Mighty One set a time for judging sinful people? Why do those who know him have to keep waiting for that day?2People move their neighbour’s boundary stones. They steal their neighbour’s flocks.3They take away the donkeys that belong to children whose fathers have died. They take a widow’s ox until she has paid what she owes.4They push those who are needy out of their way. They force all the poor people in the land to go into hiding.5The poor are like wild donkeys in the desert. They have to go around looking for food. The dry and empty land provides the only food for their children.6The poor go to the fields and get a little corn. They gather up what is left in the vineyards of sinners.7The poor don’t have any clothes. So they spend the night naked. They don’t have anything to cover themselves in the cold.8They are soaked by mountain rains. They hug the rocks because they don’t have anything to keep them warm.9Children whose fathers have died are torn away from their mothers. A poor person’s baby is taken away to pay back what is owed.10The poor don’t have any clothes. They go around naked. They carry bundles of corn, but they still go hungry.11They work very hard as they crush olives. They tread grapes in winepresses, but they are still thirsty.12The groans of those who are dying are heard from the city. Those who are wounded cry out for help. But God doesn’t charge anyone with doing what is wrong.13‘Some people hate it when daylight comes. In the daytime they never walk outside.14When daylight is gone, murderers get up. They kill poor people and those who are in need. In the night they sneak around like robbers.15Those who commit adultery wait until the sun goes down. They think, “No one will see us.” They keep their faces hidden.16In the dark, thieves break into houses. But by day they shut themselves in. They don’t want anything to do with the light.17Midnight is like morning to them. The terrors of darkness are their friends.18‘But sinners are like bubbles on the surface of water. Their share of the land is under God’s curse. So no one goes to their vineyards.19Melted snow disappears when the air is hot and dry. And sinners disappear when they go down into their graves.20Even their mothers forget them. The worms in their graves eat them up. No one remembers sinful people anymore. They are cut down like trees.21They mistreat women who aren’t able to have children. They aren’t kind to widows.22But God is powerful. He even drags away people who are strong. When he rises up against them, they can never be sure they are safe.23God might let them rest and feel secure. But his eyes see how they live.24For a little while they are honoured. Then they are gone. They are brought low. And they die like everyone else. They are cut off like ears of corn.25‘Who can prove that what I’m saying is wrong? Who can prove that my words aren’t true?’
Job 24
English Standard Version
1“Why are not times of judgment kept by the Almighty, and why do those who know him never see his days? (Job 15:20; Job 18:20; Ec 9:12; Isa 2:12; Isa 13:6; Isa 13:9; Isa 13:22; Jer 27:7; Eze 22:3; Eze 30:3; Joe 1:15; Joe 2:1; Am 5:18)2Some move landmarks; they seize flocks and pasture them. (De 19:14)3They drive away the donkey of the fatherless; they take the widow’s ox for a pledge. (Job 22:6)4They thrust the poor off the road; the poor of the earth all hide themselves. (Job 30:5; Pr 28:28; Am 2:7; Am 5:12; Mal 3:5)5Behold, like wild donkeys in the desert the poor[1] go out to their toil, seeking game; the wasteland yields food for their children. (Ps 104:21; Ps 104:23)6They gather their[2] fodder in the field, and they glean the vineyard of the wicked man.7They lie all night naked, without clothing, and have no covering in the cold. (Ex 22:26; De 24:12)8They are wet with the rain of the mountains and cling to the rock for lack of shelter. (La 4:5)9(There are those who snatch the fatherless child from the breast, and they take a pledge against the poor.)10They go about naked, without clothing; hungry, they carry the sheaves; (2Ti 2:6; Jas 5:4)11among the olive rows of the wicked[3] they make oil; they tread the winepresses, but suffer thirst.12From out of the city the dying[4] groan, and the soul of the wounded cries for help; yet God charges no one with wrong. (Job 1:22; Jer 51:52; Eze 30:24)13“There are those who rebel against the light, who are not acquainted with its ways, and do not stay in its paths. (Joh 3:19)14The murderer rises before it is light, that he may kill the poor and needy, and in the night he is like a thief. (Ps 10:8)15The eye of the adulterer also waits for the twilight, saying, ‘No eye will see me’; and he veils his face. (Ps 10:11; Pr 7:9)16In the dark they dig through houses; by day they shut themselves up; they do not know the light. (Ex 22:2; Job 31:9; Mt 6:20)17For deep darkness is morning to all of them; for they are friends with the terrors of deep darkness. (Job 3:5)18“You say, ‘Swift are they on the face of the waters; their portion is cursed in the land; no treader turns toward their vineyards. (Job 9:26; Ho 10:7)19Drought and heat snatch away the snow waters; so does Sheol those who have sinned. (Job 21:13)20The womb forgets them; the worm finds them sweet; they are no longer remembered, so wickedness is broken like a tree.’ (Job 18:16; Pr 10:7)21“They wrong the barren, childless woman, and do no good to the widow.22Yet God[5] prolongs the life of the mighty by his power; they rise up when they despair of life.23He gives them security, and they are supported, and his eyes are upon their ways. (Ps 11:4; Pr 15:3)24They are exalted a little while, and then are gone; they are brought low and gathered up like all others; they are cut off like the heads of grain. (Job 14:2; Job 27:19; Ps 37:10)25If it is not so, who will prove me a liar and show that there is nothing in what I say?” (Job 9:24)