Job 24
Legacy Standard Bible
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?
2 [b]Some (C)move the boundaries;
They seize and [c]devour flocks.
3 They drive away the donkeys of the (D)orphans;
They take the (E)widow’s ox for a pledge.
4 They push (F)the needy aside from the road;
The (G)afflicted of the land are made to hide themselves altogether.
5 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.
6 They harvest their fodder in the field
And glean the vineyard of the wicked.
7 (J)They spend the night naked, without clothing,
And have no covering against the cold.
8 They are wet with the mountain rains
And hug the rock for want of a shelter.
9 [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.
13 “[f]Others have been with those who rebel against the light;
They do not want to recognize its ways
Nor abide in its paths.
14 The murderer (M)arises at dawn;
He (N)kills the afflicted and the needy,
And at night he is as a thief.
15 The eye of the (O)adulterer keeps watch for the twilight,
Saying, ‘No eye will see me.’
And he [g]keeps his face hidden.
16 In the dark they (P)dig into houses;
They (Q)shut themselves up by day;
They do not know the light.
17 For the morning is the same to him as the shadow of death,
For he recognizes the (R)terrors of the shadow of death.
18 “[h]They are [i](S)insignificant on the surface of the water;
Their portion is (T)cursed on the earth.
They do not turn [j]toward the (U)vineyards.
19 Drought and heat (V)seize the snow waters,
So does (W)Sheol those who have sinned.
20 A [k](X)mother will forget him;
The (Y)worm feasts sweetly till he is (Z)no longer remembered.
And unrighteousness will be broken (AA)like a tree.
21 He feeds on the barren woman who does not give birth
And does no good for (AB)the widow.
22 But He drags off the mighty by (AC)His power;
He rises, but (AD)no one believes in his life.
23 He provides them (AE)with security, and they are supported;
And His (AF)eyes are on their ways.
24 They are exalted a (AG)little while, then they are gone;
Moreover, they are (AH)brought low and like everything gathered up;
Even like the heads of grain they are cut off.
25 Now if it is not so, (AI)who can prove me a liar,
And make my speech worthless?”
Job 24
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 24
The Injustice Crying Out in the World[a]
1 “The actual day of judgment is known by the Almighty;
why does he not reveal it to his faithful?[b]
2 Those who are wicked move boundary stones;
they seize flocks and pasture them.
3 They drive off the donkey belonging to the orphan;
they take away the widow’s ox as security.
4 They push aside the needy off the road;
those who are destitute are forced into hiding.
5 “Like wild donkeys of the wilderness
the poor go forth at dawn
searching the wasteland for food
with which to feed their children.
6 In the fields they reap what is not theirs
and steal from the vineyards of the wicked.
7 Without clothing, they spend the night naked,
lacking anything to shelter them from the cold.
8 They are soaked by the mountain rain
and cling to the rocks as a source of shelter.
9 “The fatherless child is snatched from the breast
and carried off as a pledge of security.
10 They go about their work naked, without clothing;
despite their hunger they carry the sheaves.
11 Along the pathways they press out the oil;
they tread the winepresses but themselves suffer thirst.
12 From the town the groans of the dying are heard,
and those who are wounded cry out for help,
yet God remains deaf to their prayer.
13 “There also are those who rebel against the light;
they are ignorant of its ways
and refuse to frequent its paths.
14 When nightfall descends, the murderer arises
to slay the poor and the needy;
during the night he steals forth like a thief.
15 “The eye of the adulterer also waits eagerly for twilight,
thinking, ‘No eye will see me.’
16 In the darkness men break into houses,
but during the day they shut themselves in,
for they are strangers to daylight.
17 Deep darkness is morning to them;
they only feel comfortable amid the terrors of the night.
God Carefully Monitors the Conduct of the Mighty[c]
18 “Such men are debris on the surface of the water;
their portion in the land is accursed,
and no laborer will toil in their vineyards.
19 As drought and heat melt the snow,
so does the netherworld cause sinners to disappear.
20 The womb that shaped them remembers them no more,
and the worm sucks them dry.
21 “They maltreat the barren and childless woman
and show no kindness to the widow.
22 God may sustain the mighty through his strength,
but he carefully monitors their conduct.
23 He grants them a sense of security,
but his eyes are fixed on their ways.
24 They are exalted for a while,
and then they are gone;
they wither and fade like a flower,
shriveling up like ears of grain.
25 “If all this is not true, who will prove me wrong
and show that my words are sheer nonsense?”
Footnotes
- Job 24:1 Here, as in places elsewhere, the translations differ widely (but without any of them achieving a clear meaning) in an effort to correct an unintelligible original.
- Job 24:1 Job is eagerly, but vainly, looking for the moment when God will intervene as on the “day of the Lord,” or day of judgment, foretold by the Prophets (see Am 5:18).
- Job 24:18 This passage unduly breaks into the speech. Some critics prefer to think that it was displaced when the texts were being transcribed and that it should be put after Job 27:23, which is likewise anomalous. The two passages, which fit together rather well, would then make up Zophar’s third speech.
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