Job 24
1 [Ab Omnipotente non sunt abscondita tempora: qui autem noverunt eum, ignorant dies illius.
Why are not times treasured up with the Almighty? why do not they that know him see his days?
2 Alii terminos transtulerunt; diripuerunt greges, et paverunt eos.
They remove the landmarks; they violently take away the flocks and pasture them;
3 Asinum pupillorum abegerunt, et abstulerunt pro pignore bovem viduæ.
They drive away the ass of the fatherless, they take the widow's ox for a pledge;
4 Subverterunt pauperum viam, et oppresserunt pariter mansuetos terræ.
They turn the needy out of the way: the afflicted of the land all hide themselves.
5 Alii quasi onagri in deserto egrediuntur ad opus suum: vigilantes ad prædam, præparant panem liberis.
Lo, [as] wild asses in the desert, they go forth to their work, seeking early for the prey: the wilderness [yieldeth] them food for [their] children.
6 Agrum non suum demetunt, et vineam ejus, quem vi oppresserint, vindemiant.
They reap in the field the fodder thereof, and they gather the vintage of the wicked;
7 Nudos dimittunt homines, indumenta tollentes, quibus non est operimentum in frigore:
They pass the night naked without clothing, and have no covering in the cold;
8 quos imbres montium rigant, et non habentes velamen, amplexantur lapides.
They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and for want of a shelter embrace the rock...
9 Vim fecerunt deprædantes pupillos, et vulgum pauperem spoliaverunt.
They pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor:
10 Nudis et incedentibus absque vestitu, et esurientibus tulerunt spicas.
These go naked without clothing, and, hungry, they bear the sheaf;
11 Inter acervos eorum meridiati sunt, qui calcatis torcularibus sitiunt.
They press out oil within their walls, they tread their winepresses, and suffer thirst.
12 De civitatibus fecerunt viros gemere, et anima vulneratorum clamavit: et Deus inultum abire non patitur.
Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded crieth out; and God imputeth not the impiety.
13 Ipsi fuerunt rebelles lumini: nescierunt vias ejus, nec reversi sunt per semitas ejus.
There are those that rebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof.
14 Mane primo consurgit homicida; interficit egenum et pauperem: per noctem vero erit quasi fur.
The murderer riseth with the light, killeth the afflicted and needy, and in the night is as a thief.
15 Oculus adulteri observat caliginem, dicens: Non me videbit oculus: et operiet vultum suum.
And the eye of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me; and he putteth a covering on [his] face.
16 Perfodit in tenebris domos, sicut in die condixerant sibi, et ignoraverunt lucem.
In the dark they dig through houses; by day they shut themselves in; they know not the light:
17 Si subito apparuerit aurora, arbitrantur umbram mortis: et sic in tenebris quasi in luce ambulant.
For the morning is to them all [as] the shadow of death; for they are familiar with the terrors of the shadow of death.
18 Levis est super faciem aquæ: maledicta sit pars ejus in terra, nec ambulet per viam vinearum.
He is swift on the face of the waters; their portion is cursed on the earth: he turneth not unto the way of the vineyards.
Drought and heat consume snow waters; so doth Sheol those that have sinned. (Sheol h7585)
20 Obliviscatur ejus misericordia; dulcedo illius vermes: non sit in recordatione, sed conteratur quasi lignum infructuosum.
The womb forgetteth him; the worm feedeth sweetly on him: he shall be no more remembered; and unrighteousness is broken as a tree, —
21 Pavit enim sterilem quæ non parit, et viduæ bene non fecit.
He that despoileth the barren that beareth not, and doeth not good to the widow:
22 Detraxit fortes in fortitudine sua, et cum steterit, non credet vitæ suæ.
He draweth also the mighty with his power; he riseth up, and no [man] is sure of life.
23 Dedit ei Deus locum pœnitentiæ, et ille abutitur eo in superbiam: oculi autem ejus sunt in viis illius.
[God] setteth him in safety, and he resteth thereon; but his eyes are upon their ways.
24 Elevati sunt ad modicum, et non subsistent: et humiliabuntur sicut omnia, et auferentur, et sicut summitates spicarum conterentur.
They are exalted for a little, and are no more; they are laid low; like all [other] are they gathered, and are cut off as the tops of the ears of corn.
25 Quod si non est ita, quis me potest arguere esse mentitum, et ponere ante Deum verba mea?]
If it be not so now, who will make me a liar, and make my speech nothing worth?
