Job: why does the Almighty keep no assizes?
1Why are the times not stored up by the Almighty? Why do those who know him never see his days? 2Men move boundary stones; they steal a flock and put it out to pasture. 3They drive off the orphan’s donkey and take the widow’s ox in pledge. 4They shove the needy off the road, and the poor of the land all go into hiding. 5Look, like wild donkeys in the wilderness they go out to their work, foraging for food; the desert plain gives them bread for their children. 6In the field they reap his fodder, and they glean the vineyard of the wicked. 7They spend the night naked, with nothing to wear, and no covering in the cold. 8They are soaked by the mountain rains and hug the rock for want of shelter. 9They snatch the orphan from the breast and take a pledge from the poor. 10Naked they go about, with nothing to wear; starving, they carry the sheaves. 11Between the rows they press out oil; they tread the winepresses, and go thirsty. 12From the city men groan, and the throats of the wounded cry for help — and Eloah lays no charge of wrongdoing.
Those who rebel against the light
13These are the ones who rebel against the light. They do not recognize its ways or stay on its paths. 14At first light the murderer gets up to kill the poor and the needy, and in the night he is a thief. 15The adulterer’s eye watches for dusk. “No eye will spot me,” he says, and he puts a covering over his face. 16In the dark they break into houses; by day they shut themselves in. They have no acquaintance with the light. 17For to all of them morning is the shadow of death: each of them knows the terrors of the shadow of death. 18He is swift on the face of the waters; their plot of land is cursed; he does not turn down the road to the vineyards.* 19Drought and heat snatch the snow water away; so Sheol takes those who have sinned. 20The womb forgets him, the worm feasts on him, he is remembered no more, and wickedness is broken like a tree. 21He preys on the barren woman who bears no child and does no good to the widow. 22He drags the mighty off by his power; he rises up, and he is not sure of life. 23He lets him rest in safety, and he leans on it, and his eyes are on their ways. 24They are lifted up a moment, and then gone; brought low, gathered in like all the rest, cut off like the tops of the grain. 25And if this is not so — who will prove me a liar and reduce my words to nothing?
Notes
- 24:18 — The Hebrew of verses 18 to 24 is damaged: the subjects go missing or change without warning, and the ancient versions differ in reconstructing them. It is translated to the letter, and the gaps are left open.
