1
Why does the Almighty not reserve times for judgment?(A)
Why do those who know Him never see His days?
2 Why do those who know Him never see His days?
The wicked displace boundary markers.
They steal a flock and provide pasture for it.
3
4
5 They steal a flock and provide pasture for it.
Like wild donkeys in the desert,
the poor go out to their task of foraging for food;
the wilderness provides nourishment for their children.
6 the poor go out to their task of foraging for food;
the wilderness provides nourishment for their children.
They gather their fodder in the field
and glean the vineyards of the wicked.
7
8
9 and glean the vineyards of the wicked.
The fatherless infant is snatched from the breast;
the nursing child of the poor is seized as collateral.(b)
10
11
12 the nursing child of the poor is seized as collateral.(b)
From the city, men(d) groan;
the mortally wounded cry for help,
yet God pays no attention to this crime.(F)
the mortally wounded cry for help,
yet God pays no attention to this crime.(F)
13
The wicked are those who rebel against the light.
They do not recognize its ways
or stay on its paths.
14 They do not recognize its ways
or stay on its paths.
The murderer rises at dawn
to kill the poor and needy,
and by night he becomes a thief.
15 to kill the poor and needy,
and by night he becomes a thief.
The adulterer’s eye watches for twilight,
thinking: No eye will see me;
he covers his face.
16
17 thinking: No eye will see me;
he covers his face.
For the morning is like darkness to them.
Surely they are familiar with the terrors of darkness!
Surely they are familiar with the terrors of darkness!
18
They float(g) on the surface of the water.
Their section of the land is cursed,
so that they never go to their vineyards.
19
20 Their section of the land is cursed,
so that they never go to their vineyards.
The womb forgets them;
worms feed on them;
they are remembered(H) no more.
So injustice is broken like a tree.
21 worms feed on them;
they are remembered(H) no more.
So injustice is broken like a tree.
They prey on(h) the childless woman who is unable to conceive,
and do not deal kindly with the widow.
22
23
24 and do not deal kindly with the widow.
They 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)
they are brought low and shrivel up like everything else.(j)
They wither like heads of grain.(K)
Footnotes:
a.
Job 24:8: Lit they embrace
b.
Job 24:9: Text emended; MT reads breast; they seize collateral against the poor
c.
Job 24:11: Lit olives between their rows
d.
Job 24:12: One Hb ms, Syr read the dying
e.
Job 24:16: Lit dig
f.
Job 24:16: Lit they seal for themselves
g.
Job 24:18: Lit are insignificant
h.
Job 24:21: LXX, Tg read They harm
i.
Job 24:22: Or God prolongs [the life of]
j.
Job 24:24: LXX reads like a mallow plant in the heat