Job 24
1 “Why are times not set by the Almighty, and why do those who know him not see his days?
2 Some move boundary markers, steal flocks, and take them out to pasture.
3 They drive away the orphan’s donkey and take the widow’s ox as a pledge.
4 They push the needy off the road, and the poor of the land all hide together.
5 Look: like wild donkeys in the wilderness, they go out to their work, searching for food; the wasteland provides bread for their children.
6 In the field they gather their fodder and glean in the wicked man’s vineyard.
7 They spend the night naked, without clothing, with no covering against the cold.
8 They are drenched by mountain rains and cling to the rock for shelter.
9 They snatch the orphan from the breast and take a pledge from the poor.
10 They go about naked, without clothing, and carry sheaves while hungry.
11 Between their walls they press out oil; they tread the winepresses and go thirsty.
12 From the city, the dying groan, and the wounded cry for help. God takes no account of this outrage.
13 They are among those who rebel against the light: they do not know its ways and do not stay on its paths.”
14 “At dawn the murderer rises; he kills the poor and needy, and at night he acts like a thief.
15 The adulterer’s eye waits for dusk, saying, ‘No eye will see me.’ He covers his face.
16 In the dark he breaks into houses; by day they shut themselves in; they do not know the light.
17 For them the morning is the shadow of death, for they know the terrors of the shadow of death.
18 He glides over the face of the waters; his portion in the land is cursed; he does not turn toward the path of the vineyards.
19 Drought and heat steal the waters of the snow, and Sheol takes those who have sinned.
20 The womb forgets him; the worm finds him sweet. He is remembered no more, and injustice is broken like a tree.
21 He preys on the barren woman who bears no children and does not treat the widow well.
22 By his strength he drags away the mighty; he rises up, and no one is sure of life.
23 God gives them security, and they lean on it. His eyes are on their ways.
24 They rise for a little while, then are gone; they are brought low and gathered like everyone else, cut off like the tip of an ear of grain.
25 If this is not so, who can prove me wrong and reduce my words to nothing?”
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