| Chapter 24 |
1 |
Why are times not laid up by the Almighty? And why do not they that know him see his days? |
2 |
There are that remove the landmarks; They violently take away flocks, and feed them. |
3 |
They drive away the ass of the fatherless; They take the widow`s ox for a pledge. |
4 |
They turn the needy out of the way: The poor of the earth all hide themselves. |
5 |
Behold, as wild asses in the desert They go forth to their work, seeking diligently for food; The wilderness yieldeth them bread for their children. |
6 |
They cut their provender in the field; And they glean the vintage of the wicked. |
7 |
They lie all night naked without clothing, And have no covering in the cold. |
8 |
They are wet with the showers of the mountains, And embrace the rock for want of a shelter. |
9 |
There are that pluck the fatherless from the breast, And take a pledge of the poor; |
10 |
So that they go about naked without clothing, And being hungry they carry the sheaves. |
11 |
They make oil within the walls of these men; They tread their winepresses, and suffer thirst. |
12 |
From out of the populous city men groan, And the soul of the wounded crieth out: Yet God regardeth not the folly. |
13 |
These are of them that rebel against the light; They know not the ways thereof, Nor abide in the paths thereof. |
14 |
The murderer riseth with the light; He killeth the poor and needy; And in the night he is as a thief. |
15 |
The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, Saying, No eye shall see me: And he disguiseth his face. |
16 |
In the dark they dig through houses: They shut themselves up in the day-time; They know not the light. |
17 |
For the morning is to all of them as thick darkness; For they know the terrors of the thick darkness. |
18 |
Swiftly they pass away upon the face of the waters; Their portion is cursed in the earth: They turn not into the way of the vineyards. |
19 |
Drought and heat consume the snow waters: So doth Sheol those that have sinned. |
20 |
The womb shall forget him; The worm shall feed sweetly on him; He shall be no more remembered; And unrighteousness shall be broken as a tree. |
21 |
He devoureth the barren that beareth not, And doeth not good to the widow. |
22 |
Yet God preserveth the mighty by his power: He riseth up that hath no assurance of life. |
23 |
God giveth them to be in security, and they rest thereon; And his eyes are upon their ways. |
24 |
They are exalted; yet a little while, and they are gone; Yea, they are brought low, they are taken out of the way as all others, And are cut off as the tops of the ears of grain. |
25 |
And if it be not so now, who will prove me a liar, And make my speech nothing worth? |