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

Job Complains of Violence on the Earth

24 “Why are times not kept by the Almighty,[a]
    and why do those who know him never see his days?(A)
The wicked[b] remove landmarks;
    they seize flocks and pasture them.(B)
They drive away the donkey of the orphan;
    they take the widow’s ox for a pledge.(C)
They thrust the needy off the road;
    the poor of the earth all hide themselves.(D)
Like wild asses in the desert
    they go out to their toil,
scavenging in the wasteland
    food for their young.(E)
They reap in a field not their own,
    and they glean in the vineyard of the wicked.
They lie all night naked, without clothing,
    and have no covering in the cold.(F)
They are wet with the rain of the mountains
    and cling to the rock for want of shelter.(G)

“There are those who snatch the orphan child from the breast
    and take as a pledge the infant of the poor.(H)
10 They go about naked, without clothing;
    though hungry, they carry the sheaves;
11 between their terraces[c] they press out oil;
    they tread the winepresses but suffer thirst.
12 From the city the dying groan,
    and the throat of the wounded cries for help;
    yet God pays no attention to their prayer.(I)

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Footnotes

  1. 24.1 Traditional rendering of Heb Shaddai
  2. 24.2 Gk: Heb they
  3. 24.11 Meaning of Heb uncertain