Job 24
1 Ab Omnipotente non sunt abscondita tempora: qui autem noverunt eum, ignorant dies illius.
Why are times for judging wicked people not set by the Almighty? Why do not those who are faithful to God see his days of judgment come?
2 Alii terminos transtulerunt; diripuerunt greges, et paverunt eos.
There are wicked people who remove boundary markers; there are wicked people who take away flocks by force and put them in their own pastures.
3 Asinum pupillorum abegerunt, et abstulerunt pro pignore bovem viduæ.
They drive away the donkey of those without fathers; they take the widow's ox as security.
4 Subverterunt pauperum viam, et oppresserunt pariter mansuetos terræ.
They force needy people out of their path; poor people of the earth all hide themselves from them.
5 Alii quasi onagri in deserto egrediuntur ad opus suum: vigilantes ad prædam, præparant panem liberis.
See, these poor people go out to their work like wild donkeys in the wilderness, looking carefully for food; perhaps the Arabah will provide them food for their children.
6 Agrum non suum demetunt, et vineam ejus, quem vi oppresserint, vindemiant.
Poor people reap in the night in other people's fields; they glean grapes from the harvest of those wicked people.
7 Nudos dimittunt homines, indumenta tollentes, quibus non est operimentum in frigore:
They lie naked all night without clothing; they 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; they lie next to large rocks because they have no shelter.
9 Vim fecerunt deprædantes pupillos, et vulgum pauperem spoliaverunt.
There are wicked people who pluck orphans from their mothers' breast, and wicked people who take children as security from poor people.
10 Nudis et incedentibus absque vestitu, et esurientibus tulerunt spicas.
But the poor people go about naked without clothing; although they go hungry, they carry bundles of grain belonging to other people.
11 Inter acervos eorum meridiati sunt, qui calcatis torcularibus sitiunt.
The poor people make oil within the walls of those wicked men; they tread the wicked men's winepresses, but they themselves suffer thirst.
12 De civitatibus fecerunt viros gemere, et anima vulneratorum clamavit: et Deus inultum abire non patitur.
From out of the city the dying groan, and the throat of the wounded cries out for help. But God does not ascribe blame
13 Ipsi fuerunt rebelles lumini: nescierunt vias ejus, nec reversi sunt per semitas ejus.
Some of these wicked people rebel against the light; they know not its ways, nor do they stay in its paths.
14 Mane primo consurgit homicida; interficit egenum et pauperem: per noctem vero erit quasi fur.
Before daylight the murderer rises and he kills poor and needy people; in the night he is like a thief.
15 Oculus adulteri observat caliginem, dicens: Non me videbit oculus: et operiet vultum suum.
Also, the eye of the adulterer waits for the twilight; he says, 'No eye will see me.' He disguises his face.
16 Perfodit in tenebris domos, sicut in die condixerant sibi, et ignoraverunt lucem.
In the darkness wicked people dig into houses; but they shut themselves up in the daytime; they do not care for the light.
17 Si subito apparuerit aurora, arbitrantur umbram mortis: et sic in tenebris quasi in luce ambulant.
For all of them, thick darkness is like the morning; for they are friends with the terrors of thick darkness.
18 Levis est super faciem aquæ: maledicta sit pars ejus in terra, nec ambulet per viam vinearum.
Swiftly they pass away, however, like foam on the surface of the waters; their portion of the land is cursed; no one goes to work in their vineyards.
As drought and heat melt away the snow into waters, so Sheol takes away those who have sinned. (Sheol h7585)
20 Obliviscatur ejus misericordia; dulcedo illius vermes: non sit in recordatione, sed conteratur quasi lignum infructuosum.
The womb that bore him will forget him; the worm will feed sweetly on him; he will be remembered no more; in this way, wickedness will be broken like a tree.
21 Pavit enim sterilem quæ non parit, et viduæ bene non fecit.
The wicked one devours the barren women who have not borne children; he does no good to the widow.
22 Detraxit fortes in fortitudine sua, et cum steterit, non credet vitæ suæ.
Yet God drags away the mighty people by his power; he rises up and does not strengthen them in life.
23 Dedit ei Deus locum pœnitentiæ, et ille abutitur eo in superbiam: oculi autem ejus sunt in viis illius.
God allows them to think they are secure, and they are happy about that, but his eyes are on their ways.
24 Elevati sunt ad modicum, et non subsistent: et humiliabuntur sicut omnia, et auferentur, et sicut summitates spicarum conterentur.
These people are exalted; still, in only a little while, they will be gone; indeed, they will be brought low; they will be gathered up like all the others; they will be cut off like the tops of ears of grain.
25 Quod si non est ita, quis me potest arguere esse mentitum, et ponere ante Deum verba mea?
If it is not so, who can prove me to be a liar; who can make my speech worth nothing?”
