Job 24

24Why does the Almighty not reserve times for judgment? ^q

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 ^r

and take the widow’s ox as collateral.

⁴They push the needy off the road;

the poor of the land are forced into hiding. ^s

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. ^t

⁸Drenched by mountain rains,

they huddle against ^uthe rocks, shelterless.

⁹The fatherless infant is snatched from the breast;

the nursing child of the poor is seized as collateral. ^v

¹⁰Without clothing, they wander about naked.

They carry sheaves but go hungry. ^w

¹¹They crush olives in their presses; ^x

they tread the winepresses, but go thirsty.

¹²From the city, men ^ygroan;

the mortally wounded cry for help,

yet God pays no attention to this crime. ^z

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 ^ainto houses;

by day they lock themselves in, ^b

never experiencing the light.

¹⁷For the morning is like darkness to them.

Surely they are familiar with the terrors of darkness!

¹⁸They float ^con 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 ^dsteals those who have sinned.

²⁰The womb forgets them;

worms feed on them;

they are remembered ^eno more.

So injustice is broken like a tree.

²¹They prey on ^fthe childless woman who is unable to conceive,

and do not deal kindly with the widow.

²²Yet God drags away ^gthe 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, ^h

but His eyes ⁱwatch over their ways.

²⁴They are exalted for a moment, then they are gone;

they are brought low and shrivel up like everything else. ^j

They wither like heads of grain. ^k

²⁵If this is not true, then who can prove me a liar ^l

and show that my speech is worthless?