Job 24
Common English Bible
Absence of justice
24 Why doesn’t the Almighty establish times for punishment?[a]
Why can’t those who know him see his days?
2 People move boundary stones,
herd flocks they’ve stolen,
3 drive off an orphan’s donkey,
take a widow’s ox as collateral,
4 thrust the poor out of the way,
make the land’s needy hide together.
5 They are like the wild donkeys in the desert;
they go forth at dawn searching for prey;
the wasteland is food for their young.
6 They gather their food in the field,
glean in unproductive vineyards,
7 spend the night naked, unclothed,
in the cold without a cover,
8 wet from mountain rains,
with no refuge, huddled against a rock.
9 The orphan is stolen from the breast;
the infant[b] of the poor is taken as collateral.
10 The poor go around naked, without clothes,
carry bundles of grain while hungry,
11 crush olives between millstones,[c]
tread winepresses, but remain thirsty.
12 From the city, the dying cry out;
the throat of the mortally wounded screams, but God assigns no blame.
Sinners’ conduct
13 They rebel against light,
don’t acknowledge its direction,
don’t dwell in its paths.
14 The murderer rises at twilight,
kills the poor and needy;
at night, they are like a thief.
15 The adulterer’s eye watches for twilight,
thinking, No eye can see me,
and puts a mask over his face.
16 In the dark they break into houses;
they shut themselves in by day;
they don’t know the light.
17 Deep darkness is morning to them
because they recognize the horror of darkness.
18 They are scum on the water’s surface;
their portion of the land is cursed;
no one walks down a path in the vineyards.
19 Drought and heat steal melted snow,
just as the underworld[d] steals sinners.
20 The womb forgets them;
the worm consumes them;
they aren’t remembered,
and so wickedness is shattered like a tree.
21 They prey on the barren, the childless,
do nothing good for the widow.
22 They drag away the strong by force;
they may get up but without guarantee of survival.
23 They make themselves secure;
they are at ease.
His[e] eyes are on their ways.
24 They are exalted for a short time, but no longer.
They are humbled then gathered in like everyone else;
cut off like heads of grain.
25 If this isn’t so, who can prove me a liar
and make my words disappear?
Job 24
New King James Version
Job Complains of Violence on the Earth
2 “Some remove (C)landmarks;
They seize flocks violently and feed on them;
3 They drive away the donkey of the fatherless;
They (D)take the widow’s ox as a pledge.
4 They push the needy off the road;
All the (E)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 (F)spend the night naked, without clothing,
And have no covering in the cold.
8 They are wet with the showers of the mountains,
And (G)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 (H)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 (I)The murderer rises with the light;
He kills the poor and needy;
And in the night he is like a thief.
15 (J)The eye of the adulterer waits for the twilight,
(K)Saying, ‘No eye will see me’;
And he [a]disguises his face.
16 In the dark they break into houses
Which they marked for themselves in the daytime;
(L)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 [b]consume the snow waters,
So [c]the grave consumes those who have sinned.
20 The womb should forget him,
The worm should feed sweetly on him;
(M)He should be remembered no more,
And wickedness should be broken like a tree.
21 For he [d]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 (N)His eyes are on their ways.
24 They are exalted for a little while,
Then they are gone.
They are brought low;
They are [e]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?”
Job 24
La Palabra (Hispanoamérica)
24 Si Dios todopoderoso
se reserva tiempos de juicio,
¿por qué sus fieles no los descubren?
2 Hay personas que remueven linderos,
roban rebaños y los llevan a apacentar;
3 se llevan el asno del huérfano,
y en prenda el buey de la viuda;
4 apartan del camino a los necesitados,
los pobres de la región se esconden.
5 Hay otros que, como onagros,
viajeros de la estepa,
madrugan para iniciar su tarea,
en busca de la presa,
mientras la estepa alimenta a sus crías.
6 Espigan en el campo del inicuo,
rebuscan en la viña del malvado;
7 pasan la noche desnudos,
sin ropa alguna que ponerse,
sin abrigo, expuestos al frío.
8 La lluvia del monte los empapa;
sin refugio, se arriman a las rocas.
9 Arrancan del pecho al huérfano
y toman en prenda al hijo del pobre.
10 Andan desnudos, sin ropa;
hambrientos, acarrean gavillas.
11 Prensan aceite en el molino;
sedientos, pisan en el lagar.
12 Moribundos gimen en la ciudad,
¡gritos de auxilio de los heridos!
Pero Dios nada malo ve en ello.
13 Otros son rebeldes a la luz:
no conocen sus caminos,
no suelen andar por sus senderos.
14 El asesino madruga con el alba
para matar a pobres y necesitados;
por la noche se dedica a robar.
15 El adúltero acecha entre dos luces
y piensa que no hay quien lo vea,
pues lleva cubierto su rostro.
16 De noche asaltan casas,
de día se encierran en ellas;
ignoran lo que es la luz.
17 Para ellos la mañana es sombra,
habituados al terror de la noche.
18 Son broza que arrastra el agua,
su hacienda es maldita en la tierra,
nadie toma el sendero de su viña.
19 Sequía y bochorno derriten la nieve;
de igual modo el reino de los muertos
arrebata a los pecadores.
20 El seno materno los olvida,
son la delicia de los gusanos;
su nombre no es recordado.
¡Es tronchada como un árbol la injusticia!
21 Maltratan a la estéril sin hijos
y privan de bienes a la viuda.
22 Aunque siga el poderoso en el poder
y parezca prosperar, su vida es insegura;
23 Dios puede hacer que se sienta confiado,
pero sus ojos vigilan todos sus pasos.
24 Se encumbra un momento y ya no existe;
se abate como flor que se marchita,
se agosta lo mismo que una espiga.
25 Esto es así, ¿quién me dejará por mentiroso,
restando valor a mis argumentos?
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
La Palabra, (versión hispanoamericana) © 2010 Texto y Edición, Sociedad Bíblica de España