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Job Complains of Violence on the Earth

24 “Why are not times of judgment kept by the Almighty,
    and why do those who know him never see his days?
Men remove landmarks;
    they seize flocks and pasture them.
They drive away the ass of the fatherless;
    they take the widow’s ox for a pledge.
They thrust the poor off the road;
    the poor of the earth all hide themselves.
Behold, like wild asses in the desert
    they go forth to their toil,
seeking prey in the wilderness
    as food[a] for their children.
They gather their[b] fodder in the field
    and they glean the vineyard of the wicked man.
They lie all night naked, without clothing,
    and have no covering in the cold.
They are wet with the rain of the mountains,
    and cling to the rock for want of shelter.
(There are those who snatch the fatherless child from the breast,
    and take in pledge the infant of the poor.)
10 They go about naked, without clothing;
    hungry, they carry the sheaves;
11 among the olive rows of the wicked[c] they make oil;
    they tread the wine presses, but suffer thirst.
12 From out of the city the dying groan,
    and the soul of the wounded cries for help;
    yet God pays no attention to their prayer.

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Footnotes

  1. Job 24:5 Heb food to him
  2. Job 24:6 Heb his
  3. Job 24:11 Heb their olive rows

24 [a]Why are times not laid up by the Almighty?
And why do not they that know him see his days?
There are that remove the landmarks;
They violently take away flocks, and feed them.
They drive away the ass of the fatherless;
They take the widow’s ox for a pledge.
They turn the needy out of the way:
The [b]poor of the earth all hide themselves.
Behold, as wild asses in the desert
They go forth to their work, seeking diligently for [c]food;
The wilderness yieldeth them bread for their children.
They cut [d]their provender in the field;
And they glean the vintage of the wicked.
They lie all night naked without clothing,
And have no covering in the cold.
They are wet with the showers of the mountains,
And embrace the rock for want of a shelter.
There are that pluck the fatherless from the breast,
And [e]take a pledge of the poor;
10 So that they go about naked without clothing,
And being hungry they carry the sheaves.
11 They make oil within the walls of these men;
They tread their winepresses, and suffer thirst.
12 From out of the [f]populous city men groan,
And the soul of the wounded crieth out:
Yet God regardeth not the folly.

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Footnotes

  1. Job 24:1 Or, Why is it, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty, That they who know him see not his days?
  2. Job 24:4 Or, meek
  3. Job 24:5 Hebrew prey.
  4. Job 24:6 Or, his
  5. Job 24:9 Or, take in pledge that which is on the poor
  6. Job 24:12 Hebrew city of men.

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.