Job Says God Seems to Ignore Wrongs

24 (A)Why are [a]times not stored up by the Almighty,
And why do those who know Him not see (B)His [b]days?
People (C)remove landmarks;
They seize and [c]devour flocks.
They drive away the donkeys of (D)orphans;
They seize the (E)widow’s ox as a pledge.
They push (F)the needy aside from the road;
The (G)poor of the land have to hide themselves together.
Behold, like (H)wild donkeys in the wilderness
They (I)go out scavenging for food in their activity,
As [d]bread for their children in the desert.
They harvest their feed in the field
And glean the vineyard of the wicked.
(J)They spend the night naked, without clothing,
And have no covering against the cold.
They are wet from the mountain rains,
And they hug the rock for lack of a shelter.
Others snatch an (K)orphan from the breast,
And they seize it as a pledge against the poor.
10 The poor move about naked without clothing,
And they carry sheaves, while going hungry.
11 Within the walls they produce oil;
They tread wine presses but go thirsty.
12 From the city people groan,
And the souls of the wounded cry for help;
Yet God (L)does not pay attention to the offensiveness.

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Footnotes

  1. Job 24:1 I.e., of judgment for the wicked
  2. Job 24:1 I.e., of judgment for the wicked
  3. Job 24:2 Or pasture
  4. Job 24:5 Lit his bread

24 Why does the Almighty not reserve times for judgment?(A)
Why do those who know Him never see His days?
The wicked displace boundary markers.
They steal a flock and provide pasture for it.
They drive away the donkeys owned by the fatherless(B)
and take the widow’s ox as collateral.
They push the needy off the road;
the poor of the land are forced into hiding.(C)
Like wild donkeys in the desert,
the poor go out to their task of foraging for food;
the wilderness provides nourishment for their children.
They gather their fodder in the field
and glean the vineyards of the wicked.
Without clothing, they spend the night naked,
having no covering against the cold.(D)
Drenched by mountain rains,
they huddle against[a] the rocks, shelterless.
The fatherless infant is snatched from the breast;
the nursing child of the poor is seized as collateral.[b]
10 Without clothing, they wander about naked.
They carry sheaves but go hungry.(E)
11 They crush olives in their presses;[c]
they tread the winepresses, but go thirsty.
12 From the city, men[d] groan;
the mortally wounded cry for help,
yet God pays no attention to this crime.(F)

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Footnotes

  1. Job 24:8 Lit they embrace
  2. Job 24:9 Text emended; MT reads breast; they seize collateral against the poor
  3. Job 24:11 Lit olives between their rows
  4. Job 24:12 One Hb ms, Syr read the dying