Chapter 24

Job Says God Seems to Ignore Wrongs

1 “aWhy are 1times not stored up by the Almighty,

And why do those who know Him not see bHis days?

2 “1Some aremove the landmarks;

They seize and 2devour flocks.

3 “They drive away the donkeys of the aorphans;

They take the bwidow’s ox for a pledge.

4 “They push athe needy aside from the road;

The bpoor of the land are made to hide themselves altogether.

5 “Behold, as awild donkeys in the wilderness

They bgo forth seeking food in their activity,

As 1bread for their children in the desert.

6 “They harvest their fodder in the field

And glean the vineyard of the wicked.

7 “aThey spend the night naked, without clothing,

And have no covering against the cold.

8 “They are wet with the mountain rains

And hug the rock for want of a shelter.

9 “1Others snatch the aorphan from the breast,

And against the poor they take a pledge.

10 “They cause the poor to go about naked without clothing,

And they take away the sheaves from the hungry.

11 “Within the walls they produce oil;

They tread wine presses but thirst.

12 “From the city men groan,

And the souls of the wounded cry out;

Yet God adoes not pay attention to folly.

13 “1Others have been with those who rebel against the light;

They do not want to know its ways

Nor abide in its paths.

14 “The murderer aarises at dawn;

He bkills the poor and the needy,

And at night he is as a thief.

15 “The eye of the aadulterer waits for the twilight,

Saying, ‘No eye will see me.’

And he 1disguises his face.

16 “In the dark they adig into houses,

They bshut themselves up by day;

They do not know the light.

17 “For the morning is the same to him as thick darkness,

For he is familiar with the aterrors of thick darkness.

18 “They are 1ainsignificant on the surface of the water;

Their portion is bcursed on the earth.

They do not turn 2toward the cvineyards.

19 “Drought and heat 1aconsume the snow waters,

So does 2bSheol those who have sinned.

20 “A 1amother will forget him;

The bworm feeds sweetly till he is cno longer remembered.

And wickedness will be broken dlike a tree.

21 “He wrongs the 1barren woman

And does no good for athe widow.

22 “But He drags off the valiant by aHis power;

He rises, but bno one has assurance of life.

23 “He provides them awith security, and they are supported;

And His beyes are on their ways.

24 “They are exalted a alittle while, then they are gone;

Moreover, they are bbrought low and like everything gathered up;

Even like the heads of grain they are cut off.

25 “Now if it is not so, awho can prove me a liar,

And make my speech worthless?”