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
Living Bible
24 “Why doesn’t God open the court and listen to my case? Why must the godly wait for him in vain? 2 For a crime wave has engulfed us—landmarks are moved, flocks of sheep are stolen, 3 and even the donkeys of the poor and fatherless are taken. Poor widows must surrender the little they have as a pledge to get a loan. 4 The needy are kicked aside; they must get out of the way. 5 Like the wild donkeys in the desert, the poor must spend all their time just getting barely enough to keep soul and body together. They are sent into the desert to search for food for their children. 6 They eat what they find that grows wild and must even glean the vineyards of the wicked. 7 All night they lie naked in the cold, without clothing or covering. 8 They are wet with the showers of the mountains and live in caves for want of a home.
9 “The wicked snatch fatherless children from their mother’s breasts, and take a poor man’s baby as a pledge before they will loan him any money or grain. 10 That is why they must go about naked, without clothing, and are forced to carry food while they are starving. 11 They are forced to press out the olive oil without tasting it and to tread out the grape juice as they suffer from thirst. 12 The bones of the dying cry from the city; the wounded cry for help; yet God does not respond to their moaning.
13 “The wicked rebel against the light and are not acquainted with the right and the good. 14-15 They are murderers who rise in the early dawn to kill the poor and needy; at night they are thieves and adulterers, waiting for the twilight ‘when no one will see me,’ they say. They mask their faces so no one will know them. 16 They break into houses at night and sleep in the daytime—they are not acquainted with the light. 17 The black night is their morning; they ally themselves with the terrors of the darkness.
18 “But how quickly they disappear from the face of the earth. Everything they own is cursed. They leave no property for their children. 19 Death consumes sinners as drought and heat consume snow. 20 Even the sinner’s own mother shall forget him. Worms shall feed sweetly on him. No one will remember him anymore. For wicked men are broken like a tree in the storm. 21 For they have taken advantage of the childless who have no protecting sons. They refuse to help the needy widows.
22-23 “Yet sometimes[a] it seems as though God preserves the rich by his power and restores them to life when anyone else would die. God gives them confidence and strength, and helps them in many ways. 24 But though they are very great now, yet in a moment they shall be gone like all others, cut off like heads of grain. 25 Can anyone claim otherwise? Who can prove me a liar and claim that I am wrong?”
Footnotes
- Job 24:22 Yet sometimes, implied.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.