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24 Why are appointments never scheduled by the Almighty?
Why do those who know him never see such days?
People move boundary stones.
They steal a flock and take it to pasture.
They drive away donkeys that belong to the fatherless.
They seize the widow’s ox as collateral.
They shove the poor out of the way.
The oppressed people of the land hide together.
They go out to their labor, like wild donkeys in the wilderness,
    looking for food.
The wasteland is their only source of food for themselves
    and their children.
They gather their straw in the open countryside.
They glean leftovers in the vineyard of the wicked.
They spend the night naked, without clothing.
They have no covering from the cold.
They are soaked by heavy rain from the mountains.
They cling to a cliff for shelter.

The wicked tear away a fatherless child from its mother’s breast.
They take a poor mother’s nursing baby as collateral.

10 The poor walk around naked, without clothing.
They pick up sheaves but are still hungry.
11 They press olive oil among the terraces of olive trees.
They tread winepresses, but they remain thirsty.
12 The dying people[a] of the city groan,
and wounded souls cry out for help,
but God does not bring charges against anyone.

13 There are people who rebel against the light.
They do not acknowledge its ways or dwell in its paths.
14 At the end of the daylight[b] a murderer arises,
and he kills the poor and needy.
At night he acts as a thief.
15 The eye of an adulterer keeps watch for twilight.
He says, “No eye can get a good look at me.”
He wears a mask over his face.
16 In the dark of night he digs into houses.
By day such people hide inside.
They keep away from the light.
17 For all of them, morning is their darkness.[c]
They are familiar with the sudden terror of darkness.
18 They float by like foam on the surface of the water.
Their portion of the land is cursed,
so no one turns onto the road to their vineyards.
19 As drought and heat snatch away the water from the snow,
the grave snatches away a sinner.
20 The womb forgets him.
A worm finds him sweet.
He will no longer be remembered.
Wickedness is broken like a tree.

21 He feeds on[d] the childless woman,
and he does nothing good for the widow.

22 But God drags away the mighty by his strength.
He rises up, so the wicked have no confidence in their lives.
23 God lets them be secure, and they prop themselves up,
but God’s eyes are on their ways.
24 They are high and mighty for a little while,
but then they are gone.
They are brought low like all the rest.
They are gathered together, like ears of grain that have been cut off.

25 So then, who can make me out to be a liar?
Who can reduce my words to nothing?

Footnotes

  1. Job 24:12 Variant the people
  2. Job 24:14 The Hebrew reads at the light. The parallelisms in the following verses suggest that this refers to dusk rather than to dawn.
  3. Job 24:17 This is the same Hebrew word often translated shadow of death. Here it seems to be the similar word that means darkness.
  4. Job 24:21 Or preys on

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.