1“Why does the Almighty not reserve times for judgment?
Why may those who know Him never see His days?
1“ Why from Shaddai are the times not hidden away, and those knowing Him, they have not seen His days?
2Men move boundary stones;
they pasture stolen flocks.
2They move boundary markers; they seize a flock and pasture it.
3They drive away the donkey of the fatherless
and take the widow’s ox in pledge.
3They drive away the donkey of the fatherless; they take as a pledge the ox of the widow.
4They push the needy off the road
and force all the poor of the land into hiding.
4They push the needy off the road; together are hidden the poor of the land.
5Indeed, like wild donkeys in the desert,
the poor go to work foraging for food;
the wasteland is food for their children.
5Behold, wild donkeys in the desert, they go forth in their work of searching for food; the Arabah gives food for them and for the young.
6They gather fodder in the fields
and glean the vineyards of the wicked.
6In the field they gather his fodder, and in the vineyard of the wicked they glean.
7Without clothing, they spend the night naked;
they have no covering against the cold.
7Naked they spend the night without a garment, and with no covering in the cold.
8Drenched by mountain rains,
they huddle against the rocks for want of shelter.
8From the showers of the mountains they are wet, and from being without a shelter, they have embraced the rock.
9The fatherless infant is snatched from the breast;
the nursing child of the poor is seized for a debt.
9They snatch from the breast the fatherless, and the suckling of the poor they bind with a pledge.
10Without clothing, they wander about naked.
They carry the sheaves, but still go hungry.
10Naked They go about, without clothing, and hungry—they carry a sheaf.
11They crush olives within their walls;
they tread the winepresses, but go thirsty.
11Between their walls they press oil; they tread the winepresses and go thirsty.
12From the city, men groan,
and the souls of the wounded cry out,
yet God charges no one with wrongdoing.
12From the city men groan, and the souls of the wounded cry out; yet God does not ascribe impropriety.
13Then there are those who rebel against the light,
not knowing its ways or staying on its paths.
13They are among those rebelling against the light; they do not recognize its ways, and they do not dwell in its paths.
14When daylight is gone, the murderer rises
to kill the poor and needy;
in the night he is like a thief.
14At light the murderer arises; he kills the poor and needy, and in the night he is like a thief.
15The eye of the adulterer watches for twilight.
Thinking, ‘No eye will see me,’ he covers his face.
15And the eye of the adulterer watches for twilight, saying, ‘No eye will see me,’ and he puts a cover over his face.
16In the dark they dig through houses;
by day they shut themselves in,
never to experience the light.
16In the darkness one digs into houses, by day they seal themselves in; they do not know the light.
17For to them, deep darkness is their morning;
surely they are friends with the terrors of darkness!
17For the morning is for them together the shadow of death—for one regards the terrors of the shadow of death!
18They are but foam on the surface of the water;
their portion of the land is cursed,
so that no one turns toward their vineyards.
18He is swift on the face of the waters; cursed is their portion in the land. He does not turn to the way of the vineyards.
19As drought and heat consume the melting snow,
so Sheol steals those who have sinned.
19As drought and heat tear away the waters of snow, so Sheol does to those who have sinned.
20The womb forgets them;
the worm feeds on them;
they are remembered no more.
So injustice is broken like a tree.
20The womb forgets him, the worm feeds sweetly on him; no more is he remembered, and injustice is broken like a tree.
21They prey on the barren and childless,
and show no kindness to the widow.
21For he feeds on the barren woman who cannot give birth, and to the widow he does not do good.
22Yet by His power, God drags away the mighty;
though rising up, they have no assurance of life.
22And he draws away the mighty with his power; he rises up, and he is not sure of life.
23He gives them a sense of security,
but His eyes are on their ways.
23He gives to him security, and he is supported; and his eyes are on their ways.
24They are exalted for a moment,
then they are gone;
they are brought low and gathered up like all others;
they are cut off like heads of grain.
24They are exalted for a little while, then they are no more; and they are brought low like all and are gathered up, and like heads of grain they wither.
25If this is not so, then who can prove me a liar
and reduce my words to nothing?”
25And if not, then who will prove me a liar, and set to nought my speech?”