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24 Times are not hid from the Almighty: but they that know him, know not his days.

Some have removed landmarks, have taken away flocks by force, and fed them.

They have driven away the ass of the fatherless, and have taken away the widow's ox for a pledge.

They have overturned the way of the poor, and have oppressed together the meek of the earth.

Others like wild asses in the desert go forth to their work: by watching for a prey they get bread for their children.

They reap the field that is not their own, and gather the vintage of his vineyard whom by violence they have oppressed.

They send men away naked, taking away their clothes who have no covering in the cold:

Who are wet, with the showers of the mountains, and having no covering embrace the stones.

They have violently robbed the fatherless, and stripped the poor common people.

10 From the naked and them that go without clothing, and from the hungry they have taken away the ears of corn.

11 They have taken their rest at noon among the stores of them, who after having trodden the winepresses suffer thirst.

12 Out of the cities they have made men to groan, and the soul of the wounded hath cried out, and God doth not suffer it to pass unrevenged.

13 They have been rebellious to the light, they have not known his ways, neither have they returned by his paths.

14 The murderer riseth at the very break of day, he killeth the needy, and the poor man: but in the night he will be as a thief.

15 The eye of the adulterer observeth darkness, saying: No eye shall see me: and he will cover his face.

16 He diggeth through houses in the dark, as in the day they had appointed for themselves, and they have not known the light.

17 If the morning suddenly appear, it is to them the shadow of death: and they walk in darkness as if it were in light.

18 He is light upon the face of the water: cursed be his portion on the earth, let him not walk by the way of the vineyards.

19 Let him pass from the snow waters to excessive heat, and his sin even to hell.

20 Let mercy forget him: may worms be his sweetness: let him be remembered no more, but be broken in pieces as an unfruitful tree.

21 For he hath fed the barren that beareth not, and to the widow he hath done no good.

22 He hath pulled down the strong by his might: and when he standeth up, he shall not trust to his life.

23 God hath given him place for penance, and he abuseth it unto pride: but his eyes are upon his ways.

24 They are lifted up for a little while and shall not stand, and shall be brought down as all things, and shall be taken away, and as the tops of the ears of corn they shall be broken.

25 And if it be not so, who can convince me that I have lied, and set my words before God?

24 “Why does the Almighty not set times(A) for judgment?(B)
    Why must those who know him look in vain for such days?(C)
There are those who move boundary stones;(D)
    they pasture flocks they have stolen.(E)
They drive away the orphan’s donkey
    and take the widow’s ox in pledge.(F)
They thrust the needy(G) from the path
    and force all the poor(H) of the land into hiding.(I)
Like wild donkeys(J) in the desert,
    the poor go about their labor(K) of foraging food;
    the wasteland(L) provides food for their children.
They gather fodder(M) in the fields
    and glean in the vineyards(N) of the wicked.(O)
Lacking clothes, they spend the night naked;
    they have nothing to cover themselves in the cold.(P)
They are drenched(Q) by mountain rains
    and hug(R) the rocks for lack of shelter.(S)
The fatherless(T) child is snatched(U) from the breast;
    the infant of the poor is seized(V) for a debt.(W)
10 Lacking clothes, they go about naked;(X)
    they carry the sheaves,(Y) but still go hungry.
11 They crush olives among the terraces[a];
    they tread the winepresses,(Z) yet suffer thirst.(AA)
12 The groans of the dying rise from the city,
    and the souls of the wounded cry out for help.(AB)
    But God charges no one with wrongdoing.(AC)

13 “There are those who rebel against the light,(AD)
    who do not know its ways
    or stay in its paths.(AE)
14 When daylight is gone, the murderer rises up,
    kills(AF) the poor and needy,(AG)
    and in the night steals forth like a thief.(AH)
15 The eye of the adulterer(AI) watches for dusk;(AJ)
    he thinks, ‘No eye will see me,’(AK)
    and he keeps his face concealed.
16 In the dark, thieves break into houses,(AL)
    but by day they shut themselves in;
    they want nothing to do with the light.(AM)
17 For all of them, midnight is their morning;
    they make friends with the terrors(AN) of darkness.(AO)

18 “Yet they are foam(AP) on the surface of the water;(AQ)
    their portion of the land is cursed,(AR)
    so that no one goes to the vineyards.(AS)
19 As heat and drought snatch away the melted snow,(AT)
    so the grave(AU) snatches away those who have sinned.
20 The womb forgets them,
    the worm(AV) feasts on them;(AW)
the wicked are no longer remembered(AX)
    but are broken like a tree.(AY)
21 They prey on the barren and childless woman,
    and to the widow they show no kindness.(AZ)
22 But God drags away the mighty by his power;(BA)
    though they become established,(BB) they have no assurance of life.(BC)
23 He may let them rest in a feeling of security,(BD)
    but his eyes(BE) are on their ways.(BF)
24 For a little while they are exalted, and then they are gone;(BG)
    they are brought low and gathered up like all others;(BH)
    they are cut off like heads of grain.(BI)

25 “If this is not so, who can prove me false
    and reduce my words to nothing?”(BJ)

Footnotes

  1. Job 24:11 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.