Job 24-27

English Standard Version

24 “Why are ^(A)not times of judgment ^(B)kept by the Almighty,
    and why do those who know him never see his ^(C)days?
² Some move ^(D)landmarks;
    they seize flocks and pasture them.
³ They drive away the donkey of the fatherless;
    they ^(E)take the widow's ox for a pledge.
⁴ They ^(F)thrust the poor off the road;
    the poor of the earth ^(G)all hide themselves.
⁵ Behold, like wild donkeys in the desert
    the poor^{[a] (H)}go out to their toil, ^(I)seeking game;
    the wasteland yields food for their children.
⁶ They gather their^[b] fodder in the field,
    and they glean the vineyard of the wicked man.
⁷ They ^(J)lie all night naked, without clothing,
    and have no covering in the cold.
⁸ They are wet with the rain of the mountains
    and ^(K)cling to the rock for lack of shelter.
⁹ (There are those who snatch the fatherless child from the breast,
    and they take a pledge against the poor.)
¹⁰ They go about naked, without clothing;
    hungry, they ^(L)carry the sheaves;
¹¹ among the olive rows of the wicked^[c] they make oil;
    they tread the winepresses, but suffer thirst.
¹² From out of the city the dying^[d] groan,
    and the soul of ^(M)the wounded cries for help;
    yet God charges no one with ^(N)wrong.

¹³ “There are those who rebel ^(O)against the light,
    who are not acquainted with its ways,
    and do not stay in its paths.
¹⁴ The murderer rises before it is light,
    that he ^(P)may kill the poor and needy,
    and in the night he is like a thief.
¹⁵ The eye of the adulterer also waits for ^(Q)the twilight,
    saying, ‘No ^(R)eye will see me’;
    and he veils his face.
¹⁶ In the dark they ^(S)dig through houses;
    by day they shut themselves up;
    they do not know the light.
¹⁷ For ^(T)deep darkness is morning to all of them;
    for they are friends with the terrors of deep darkness.

¹⁸ “You say, ^(U)‘Swift are they on the face of the waters;
    their portion is cursed in the land;
    no treader turns toward their vineyards.
¹⁹ Drought and heat snatch away the snow waters;
    so does ^(V)Sheol those who have sinned.
²⁰ The womb forgets them;
    the worm finds them sweet;
they are ^(W)no longer remembered,
    so wickedness is broken like ^(X)a tree.’

²¹ “They wrong the barren, childless woman,
    and do no good to the widow.
²² Yet God^[e] prolongs the life of the mighty by his power;
    they rise up when they despair of life.
²³ He gives them security, and they are supported,
    and his ^(Y)eyes are upon their ways.
²⁴ They are exalted ^(Z)a little while, and then ^(AA)are gone;
    they are brought low and gathered up like all others;
    they are ^(AB)cut off like the heads of grain.
²⁵ If it is ^(AC)not so, who will prove me a liar
    and show that there is nothing in what I say?”

² “Dominion and fear are with God;^[f]
    he makes peace in his high heaven.
³ Is there any number to his ^(AE)armies?
    Upon whom does his ^(AF)light not arise?
⁴ How then can man be ^(AG)in the right before God?
    How can he who is ^(AH)born of woman be ^(AI)pure?
⁵ Behold, even the moon is not bright,
    and the stars are not pure in his eyes;
^6 (AJ)how much less man, who is ^(AK)a maggot,
    and ^(AL)the son of man, who is a worm!”

² “How you have ^(AM)helped him who has no power!
    How you have saved ^(AN)the arm that has no strength!
³ How you have ^(AO)counseled him who has no wisdom,
    and plentifully declared sound knowledge!
⁴ With whose help have you uttered words,
    and whose breath ^(AP)has come out from you?
⁵ The ^(AQ)dead tremble
    under the waters and their inhabitants.
⁶ Sheol is ^(AR)naked before God,^[g]
    and ^(AS)Abaddon has no covering.
⁷ He ^(AT)stretches out the north over ^(AU)the void
    and hangs the earth on nothing.
⁸ He ^(AV)binds up the waters in his thick clouds,
    and the cloud is not split open under them.
⁹ He covers the face of the full moon^[h]
    and ^(AW)spreads over it his cloud.
¹⁰ He has inscribed ^(AX)a circle on the face of the waters
    at the boundary between light and darkness.
^11 (AY)The pillars of heaven tremble
    and are astounded at his ^(AZ)rebuke.
¹² By his power he ^(BA)stilled the sea;
    by his understanding he shattered ^(BB)Rahab.
^13 (BC)By his wind the heavens were made fair;
    his hand pierced ^(BD)the fleeing serpent.
¹⁴ Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ^(BE)ways,
    and how small ^(BF)a whisper do we hear of him!
    But the thunder of his power who can understand?”

² “As God lives, who has ^(BH)taken away my right,
    and the Almighty, who has ^(BI)made my soul bitter,
³ as long as my breath is in me,
    and ^(BJ)the spirit of God is in my nostrils,
⁴ my lips will not speak ^(BK)falsehood,
    and my tongue will not utter ^(BL)deceit.
⁵ Far be it from me to say that you are right;
    till I die I will not put away my ^(BM)integrity from me.
⁶ I ^(BN)hold fast my righteousness and will not let it go;
    my heart does not ^(BO)reproach me for any of my days.

⁷ “Let my enemy be as the wicked,
    and let him who rises up against me be as the unrighteous.
^8 (BP)For what is the hope of the godless ^(BQ)when God cuts him off,
    when God takes away his life?
^9 (BR)Will God hear his cry
    when distress comes upon him?
¹⁰ Will he ^(BS)take delight in the Almighty?
    Will he call upon God at all times?
¹¹ I will teach you concerning the hand of God;
    ^(BT)what is with the Almighty I will not conceal.
¹² Behold, all of you have seen it yourselves;
    why then have you become altogether vain?

^13 (BU)“This is the portion of a wicked man with God,
    and the heritage that ^(BV)oppressors receive from the Almighty:
¹⁴ If his ^(BW)children are multiplied, it is for ^(BX)the sword,
    and his descendants have not enough bread.
¹⁵ Those who survive him the pestilence buries,
    and his ^(BY)widows do not weep.
¹⁶ Though he ^(BZ)heap up silver like dust,
    and pile up clothing like clay,
¹⁷ he may pile it up, but the righteous will wear it,
    and ^(CA)the innocent will divide the silver.
¹⁸ He builds his ^(CB)house like a moth's,
    like ^(CC)a booth that ^(CD)a watchman makes.
¹⁹ He goes to bed rich, but will ^(CE)do so no more;
    he opens his eyes, and ^(CF)his wealth is gone.
^20 (CG)Terrors overtake him like ^(CH)a flood;
    in the night a whirlwind ^(CI)carries him off.
^21 (CJ)The east wind lifts him up and he is gone;
    it ^(CK)sweeps him out of his place.
²² It^[i] hurls at him ^(CL)without pity;
    he flees from its^[j] power in headlong flight.
²³ It ^(CM)claps its hands at him
    and ^(CN)hisses at him from its place.