24:1 "Why are not times of judgment kept by the Almighty, and why do those who know him never see his days?
24:2 Men remove landmarks; they seize flocks and pasture them.
24:3 They drive away the ass of the fatherless; they take the widow's ox for a pledge.
24:4 They thrust the poor off the road; the poor of the earth all hide themselves.
24:5 Behold, like wild asses in the desert they go forth to their toil, seeking prey in the wilderness as food for their children.
24:6 They gather their fodder in the field and they glean the vineyard of the wicked man.
24:7 They lie all night naked, without clothing, and have no covering in the cold.
24:8 They are wet with the rain of the mountains, and cling to the rock for want of shelter.
24:9 (There are those who snatch the fatherless child from the breast, and take in pledge the infant of the poor.)
24:10 They go about naked, without clothing; hungry, they carry the sheaves;
24:11 among the olive rows of the wicked they make oil; they tread the wine presses, but suffer thirst.
24:12 From out of the city the dying groan, and the soul of the wounded cries for help; yet God pays no attention to their prayer.
24:13 "There are those who rebel against the light, who are not acquainted with its ways, and do not stay in its paths.
24:14 The murderer rises in the dark, that he may kill the poor and needy; and in the night he is as a thief.
24:15 The eye of the adulterer also waits for the twilight, saying, `No eye will see me'; and he disguises his face.
24:16 In the dark they dig through houses; by day they shut themselves up; they do not know the light.
24:17 For deep darkness is morning to all of them; for they are friends with the terrors of deep darkness.
24:18 "You say, "They are swiftly carried away upon the face of the waters; their portion is cursed in the land; no treader turns toward their vineyards.
24:19 Drought and heat snatch away the snow waters; so does Sheol those who have sinned.
24:20 The squares of the town forget them; their name is no longer remembered; so wickedness is broken like a tree.'
24:21 "They feed on the barren childless woman, and do no good to the widow.
24:22 Yet God prolongs the life of the mighty by his power; they rise up when they despair of life.
24:23 He gives them security, and they are supported; and his eyes are upon their ways.
24:24 They are exalted a little while, and then are gone; they wither and fade like the mallow; they are cut off like the heads of grain.
24:25 If it is not so, who will prove me a liar, and show that there is nothing in what I say?"
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