Job 24

Tree of Life Version

24 “Why are times not stored up by Shaddai?
And why do those who know Him not see His days?
² Some remove the boundary-stones;
    they steal flocks and pasture them.
³ They drive away the orphan’s donkey
    and take the widow’s ox as a pledge.
⁴ They turn the needy off the path;
    they force the poor of the land into hiding.
⁵ Behold, like wild donkeys in the desert, they go about their work,
foraging prey in the desert as food for their children.
⁶ They reap their fodder in the field
    and glean in the vineyard of the wicked.
⁷ Without clothing they spend the night naked,
    without covering against the cold.
⁸ They are drenched by mountain rains,
    and hug the rock for lack of shelter.
⁹ The orphan is snatched from the breast;
    the infant of the poor is taken as a pledge.
¹⁰ They wander about naked, without clothing
    and go hungry while they carry sheaves.
¹¹ They press oil between the terraces;
    they tread winepresses, but are thirsty.
¹² From the city men groan,
    and the souls of the wounded cry out;
    yet God charges no one with folly.
¹³ These are those who rebel against the light,
    who do not recognize its ways or stay in its paths.
¹⁴ The murderer rises with the light, kills the poor and needy,
    and in the night becomes a thief.
¹⁵ The eye of the adulterer waits for twilight,
thinking, ‘No eye will see me,’ and he disguises his face.
¹⁶ When it is dark, they break into houses,
    but by day, they shut themselves in;
    they do not know the light.
¹⁷ For to all of them, morning is as thick darkness;
they are familiar with the terrors of thick darkness.
¹⁸ “He is foam on the surface of water;
    their portion of the land is cursed;
    no one turns toward their vineyards.
¹⁹ As heat and drought snatch away the melted snow,
    so Sheol, takes away those who have sinned.
²⁰ The womb forgets him,
    the worm feasts on him,
no longer will he be remembered.
    But like a tree, wickedness is broken.
²¹ He feeds on the barren and childless woman,
    and shows no kindness to the widow.
²² But He drags off the mighty by His power;
He raises up, yet no one has assurance of life.
²³ He allows him to rest in a sense of security,
    but His eyes are on their ways.
²⁴ They are exalted for a little while
    and then they are gone;
they are brought low
    and gathered up like all others,
they are like heads of grain they wither.
²⁵ Now if it is not so, who can prove me a liar,
    and reduce my speech to nothing?”