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24:1  Why are appointments never scheduled by the Almighty? Why do those who know him never see such days?
24:2  People move boundary stones. They steal a flock and take it to pasture.
24:3  They drive away donkeys that belong to the fatherless. They seize the widow’s ox as collateral.
24:4  They shove the poor out of the way. The oppressed people of the land hide together.
24:5  They go out to their labor, like wild donkeys in the wilderness, looking for food. The wasteland is their only source of food for themselves and their children.
24:6  They gather their straw in the open countryside. They glean leftovers in the vineyard of the wicked.
24:7  They spend the night naked, without clothing. They have no covering from the cold.
24:8  They are soaked by heavy rain from the mountains. They cling to a cliff for shelter.
24:9  The wicked tear away a fatherless child from its mother’s breast. They take a poor mother’s nursing baby as collateral.
24:10  The poor walk around naked, without clothing. They pick up sheaves but are still hungry.
24:11  They press olive oil among the terraces of olive trees. They tread winepresses, but they remain thirsty.
24:12  The dying people of the city groan, and wounded souls cry out for help, but God does not bring charges against anyone.
24:13  There are people who rebel against the light. They do not acknowledge its ways or dwell in its paths.
24:14  At the end of the daylight a murderer arises, and he kills the poor and needy. At night he acts as a thief.
24:15  The eye of an adulterer keeps watch for twilight. He says, “No eye can get a good look at me.” He wears a mask over his face.
24:16  In the dark of night he digs into houses. By day such people hide inside. They keep away from the light.
24:17  For all of them, morning is their darkness. They are familiar with the sudden terror of darkness.
24:18  They float by like foam on the surface of the water. Their portion of the land is cursed, so no one turns onto the road to their vineyards.
24:19  As drought and heat snatch away the water from the snow, the grave snatches away a sinner.
24:20  The womb forgets him. A worm finds him sweet. He will no longer be remembered. Wickedness is broken like a tree.
24:21  He feeds on the childless woman, and he does nothing good for the widow.
24:22  But God drags away the mighty by his strength. He rises up, so the wicked have no confidence in their lives.
24:23  God lets them be secure, and they prop themselves up, but God’s eyes are on their ways.
24:24  They are high and mighty for a little while, but then they are gone. They are brought low like all the rest. They are gathered together, like ears of grain that have been cut off.
24:25  So then, who can make me out to be a liar? Who can reduce my words to nothing?