24 “Why does the Almighty not set times(A) for judgment?(B)
    Why must those who know him look in vain for such days?(C)
There are those who move boundary stones;(D)
    they pasture flocks they have stolen.(E)
They drive away the orphan’s donkey
    and take the widow’s ox in pledge.(F)
They thrust the needy(G) from the path
    and force all the poor(H) of the land into hiding.(I)
Like wild donkeys(J) in the desert,
    the poor go about their labor(K) of foraging food;
    the wasteland(L) provides food for their children.
They gather fodder(M) in the fields
    and glean in the vineyards(N) of the wicked.(O)
Lacking clothes, they spend the night naked;
    they have nothing to cover themselves in the cold.(P)
They are drenched(Q) by mountain rains
    and hug(R) the rocks for lack of shelter.(S)
The fatherless(T) child is snatched(U) from the breast;
    the infant of the poor is seized(V) for a debt.(W)
10 Lacking clothes, they go about naked;(X)
    they carry the sheaves,(Y) but still go hungry.
11 They crush olives among the terraces[a];
    they tread the winepresses,(Z) yet suffer thirst.(AA)
12 The groans of the dying rise from the city,
    and the souls of the wounded cry out for help.(AB)
    But God charges no one with wrongdoing.(AC)

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Footnotes

  1. Job 24:11 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.

Absence of justice

24 Why doesn’t the Almighty establish times for punishment?[a]
    Why can’t those who know him see his days?
People move boundary stones,
        herd flocks they’ve stolen,
    drive off an orphan’s donkey,
        take a widow’s ox as collateral,
    thrust the poor out of the way,
        make the land’s needy hide together.
They are like the wild donkeys in the desert;
    they go forth at dawn searching for prey;
        the wasteland is food for their young.
They gather their food in the field,
    glean in unproductive vineyards,
    spend the night naked, unclothed,
        in the cold without a cover,
    wet from mountain rains,
        with no refuge, huddled against a rock.
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.

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Footnotes

  1. Job 24:1 Heb lacks for punishment.
  2. Job 24:9 Reading Heb we‘ul (infant) for we‘al (against)
  3. Job 24:11 Heb uncertain