RSV Job 24 Chapter
24:1
'Why are not times of judgment kept by the Almighty, and why do those who know him never see his days?
24:2
Men remove landmarks;they seize flocks and pasture them.
24:3
They drive away the ass of the fatherless;they take the widow's ox for a pledge.
24:4
They thrust the poor off the road;the poor of the earth all hide themselves.
24:5
Behold, like wild asses in the desert they go forth to their toil, seeking prey in the wilderness as food for their children.
24:6
They gather their fodder in the field and they glean the vineyard of the wicked man.
24:7
They lie all night naked, without clothing, and have no covering in the cold.
24:8
They are wet with the rain of the mountains, and cling to the rock for want of shelter.
24:9
(There are those who snatch the fatherless child from the breast, and take in pledge the infant of the poor.)
24:10
They go about naked, without clothing;hungry, they carry the sheaves;
24:11
among the olive rows of the wicked they make oil;they tread the wine presses, but suffer thirst.
24:12
From out of the city the dying groan, and the soul of the wounded cries for help;yet God pays no attention to their prayer.
24:13
'There are those who rebel against the light, who are not acquainted with its ways, and do not stay in its paths.
24:14
The murderer rises in the dark, that he may kill the poor and needy;and in the night he is as a thief.
24:15
The eye of the adulterer also waits for the twilight, saying, No eye will see me';and he disguises his face.
24:16
In the dark they dig through houses;by day they shut themselves up;they do not know the light.
24:17
For deep darkness is morning to all of them;for they are friends with the terrors of deep darkness.
24:18
'You say, 'They are swiftly carried away upon the face of the waters;their portion is cursed in the land;no treader turns toward their vineyards.
24:19
Drought and heat snatch away the snow waters;so does Sheol those who have sinned.
24:20
The squares of the town forget them;their name is no longer remembered;so wickedness is broken like a tree.'
24:21
'They feed on the barren childless woman, and do no good to the widow.
24:22
Yet God prolongs the life of the mighty by his power;they rise up when they despair of life.
24:23
He gives them security, and they are supported;and his eyes are upon their ways.
24:24
They are exalted a little while, and then are gone;they wither and fade like the mallow;they are cut off like the heads of grain.
24:25
If it is not so, who will prove me a liar, and show that there is nothing in what I say?'