Job 24

Job Complains of Violence on the Earth

1. “Since times are not hidden from the Almighty, Why do those who know Him see not His days?

2. “Some remove landmarks; They seize flocks violently and feed on them;

3. They drive away the donkey of the fatherless; They take the widow’s ox as a pledge.

4. They push the needy off the road; All the poor of the land are forced to hide.

5. Indeed, like wild donkeys in the desert, They go out to their work, searching for food. The wilderness yields food for them and for their children.

6. They gather their fodder in the field And glean in the vineyard of the wicked.

7. They spend the night naked, without clothing, And have no covering in the cold.

8. They are wet with the showers of the mountains, And huddle around the rock for want of shelter.

9. “Some snatch the fatherless from the breast, And take a pledge from the poor.

10. They cause the poor to go naked, without clothing; And they take away the sheaves from the hungry.

11. They press out oil within their walls, And tread winepresses, yet suffer thirst.

12. The dying groan in the city, And the souls of the wounded cry out; Yet God does not charge them with wrong.

13. “There are those who rebel against the light; They do not know its ways Nor abide in its paths.

14. The murderer rises with the light; He kills the poor and needy; And in the night he is like a thief.

15. The eye of the adulterer waits for the twilight, Saying, ‘No eye will see me’; And he disguises his face.

16. In the dark they break into houses Which they marked for themselves in the daytime; They do not know the light.

17. For the morning is the same to them as the shadow of death; If someone recognizes them, They are in the terrors of the shadow of death.

18. “They should be swift on the face of the waters, Their portion should be cursed in the earth, So that no one would turn into the way of their vineyards.

19. As drought and heat consume the snow waters, So the grave[a] consumes those who have sinned.

20. The womb should forget him, The worm should feed sweetly on him; He should be remembered no more, And wickedness should be broken like a tree.

21. For he preys on the barren who do not bear, And does no good for the widow.

22. “But God draws the mighty away with His power; He rises up, but no man is sure of life.

23. He gives them security, and they rely on it; Yet His eyes are on their ways.

24. They are exalted for a little while, Then they are gone. They are brought low; They are taken out of the way like all others; They dry out like the heads of grain.

25. “Now if it is not so, who will prove me a liar, And make my speech worth nothing?”

Footnotes:

a. Job 24:19: Or Sheol