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24 Why are times [for judgment] from Shaddai not kept, and why do those who have da’as of him not see his yamim [days [of assize])?

Some move the boundary stones; they steal edar, and pasture them.

They drive away the chamor of the yetomim, they take the ox of the almanah for a pledge.

They thrust the needy out of the derech; the poor of the eretz needs hide themselves together.

Look, as wild donkeys in the midbar go they forth to their work; foraging for teref (nourishment); the wilderness yieldeth lechem for them and for their na’arim.

They reap every one his fodder in the sadeh, and they glean the kerem of the resha’im.

They spend the night arom (naked) without levush (clothing), they have no covering in the cold.

They are wet with the rain of the harim, and embrace the tzur for want of a shelter.

They pluck the yatom from the breast, and seize the oni for debt.

10 They cause him to go arom without levush, and they take away the omer (sheaf) from the hungry;

11 Which crush olives within their walls, and tread their winepresses, yet suffer thirst.

12 Men groan from out of the Ir, and the nefesh of the chalalim (wounded ones) crieth out, yet Eloah chargeth not tiflah (folly) to them.

13 They are of those that are moredei ohr (rebelling ones against the light); they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof.

14 The rotzeach rising with the daylight killeth the oni and needy, and in the lailah is like a ganav.

15 The eye also of the no’ef is shomer, watching for the dusk’s twilight, saying, No eye shall see me, and puts something to hide his face.

16 In the choshech they dig through batim (houses); in the daytime they shut themselves in; they have no da’as of the ohr.

17 For the boker is to them even as the tzalmavet; they are friends with the terrors of tzalmavet.

18 Swiftly vanishing is he on the surface of the mayim; their chelek is cursed in ha’aretz; he turneth no more in the derech of the kramim (vineyards).

19 Drought and heat consume the snow waters; so doth Sheol those which have sinned.

20 The rechem (womb) shall forget him; the worm shall feast on him; he shall be no more remembered; and wickedness shall be broken like an etz.

21 He plundereth the barren that beareth not; and doeth not good to the almanah.

22 He drags away also the mighty with his ko’ach; he riseth up, and no man is sure of life.

23 Though it be given him to be in safety, and he be sustained, yet His eynayim are upon their ways.

24 They are exalted me’at (for a little while), then they are no more and are withered and snatched away like all others, and cut off like the tops of the ears of grain.

25 And if it be not so, who will charge me with lying, and make my milah (word) worth nothing? [T.N. Notice the question answered by Romans, Galatians, and Gn 15:6 as well as Chabakuk 2:4 is stated in Job 25:4 below; see Ephesians 2:8-9 and Ro 3:24,26, 28; 4:2; 5:1,9; Ga 2:16,17; 3:11, 24; 5:4; Ti 3:7; this the most important question raised in the Bible: it is for eternity]

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.