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Who Can Prove Me a Liar?

24 (A)Why are [a]times not stored up by the Almighty,
And why do those who know Him not behold (B)His days?
[b]Some (C)move the boundaries;
They seize and [c]devour flocks.
They drive away the donkeys of the (D)orphans;
They take the (E)widow’s ox for a pledge.
They push (F)the needy aside from the road;
The (G)afflicted of the land are made to hide themselves altogether.
Behold, as (H)wild donkeys in the wilderness
They (I)go forth seeking food earnestly in their work,
The desert becomes [d]for him a place of bread for his young ones.
They harvest their fodder in the field
And glean the vineyard of the wicked.
(J)They spend the night naked, without clothing,
And have no covering against the cold.
They are wet with the mountain rains
And hug the rock for want of a shelter.
[e]Others snatch the (K)orphan from the breast,
And against the afflicted they take a pledge.
10 Those poor ones walk about naked without clothing,
And hungry ones carry the sheaves.
11 Within the walls they produce oil;
They tread wine presses but thirst.
12 From the city men groan,
And the souls of the wounded cry out;
Yet God (L)does not pay attention to such offense.

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Footnotes

  1. Job 24:1 Times of judgment
  2. Job 24:2 Lit They
  3. Job 24:2 Or pasture
  4. Job 24:5 Lit his bread
  5. Job 24:9 Lit They

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)

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Footnotes

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