Job Says God Seems to Ignore Wrongs
1“Why are times not stored up by the Almighty,
And why do those who know Him not see His days?
2Some remove the landmarks;
They seize and devour flocks.
3They drive away the donkeys of the orphans;
They take the widow’s ox for a pledge.
4They push the needy aside from the road;
The poor of the land are made to hide themselves altogether.
5Behold, as wild donkeys in the wilderness
They go forth seeking food in their activity,
As bread for their children in the desert.
6They harvest their fodder in the field
And glean the vineyard of the wicked.
7They spend the night naked, without clothing,
And have no covering against the cold.
8They are wet with the mountain rains
And hug the rock for want of a shelter.
9Others snatch the orphan from the breast,
And against the poor they take a pledge.
10They cause the poor to go about naked without clothing,
And they take away the sheaves from the hungry.
11Within the walls they produce oil;
They tread wine presses but thirst.
12From the city men groan,
And the souls of the wounded cry out;
Yet God does not pay attention to folly.
13“Others have been with those who rebel against the light;
They do not want to know its ways
Nor abide in its paths.
14The murderer arises at dawn;
He kills the poor and the needy,
And at night he is as a thief.
15The eye of the adulterer waits for the twilight,
Saying, ‘No eye will see me.’
And he disguises his face.
16In the dark they dig into houses,
They shut themselves up by day;
They do not know the light.
17For the morning is the same to him as thick darkness,
For he is familiar with the terrors of thick darkness.
18“They are insignificant on the surface of the water;
Their portion is cursed on the earth.
They do not turn toward the vineyards.
19Drought and heat consume the snow waters,
So does Sheol those who have sinned.
20A mother will forget him;
The worm feeds sweetly till he is no longer remembered.
And wickedness will be broken like a tree.
21He wrongs the barren woman
And does no good for the widow.
22But He drags off the valiant by His power;
He rises, but no one has assurance of life.
23He provides them with security, and they are supported;
And His eyes are on their ways.
24They are exalted a little while, then they are gone;
Moreover, they are brought low and like everything gathered up;
Even like the heads of grain they are cut off.
25Now if it is not so, who can prove me a liar,
And make my speech worthless?”