24:1 “Why doesn’t Shadday set aside times for punishment? Why don’t those who are close to him see his days of judgment?
24:2 “People move boundary markers. They steal flocks and tend them as shepherds.
24:3 They drive away the orphan’s donkey. They take the widow’s ox as security for a loan.
24:4 They force needy people off the road. All the poor people of the country go into hiding.
24:5 Like wild donkeys in the desert, poor people go out to do their work, looking for food. The plains provide food for their children.
24:6 They harvest animal food in the field to feed themselves. They pick the leftover grapes in the wicked person’s vineyard.
24:7 All night they lie naked without a covering from the cold.
24:8 They are drenched by the rainstorms in the mountains. They hug the rocks because they can’t find shelter.
24:9 “People snatch the nursing orphan from a breast and take a poor woman’s baby as security for a loan.
24:10 That is why the poor go around naked. They are hungry, yet they carry bundles of grain.
24:11 They press out olive oil between rows of olive trees. They stomp on grapes in wine vats, yet they are thirsty.
24:12 Those dying in the city groan. Wounded people cry for help, but Eloah pays no attention to their prayers.
24:13 “Such people are among those who rebel against the light. They are not acquainted with its ways. They do not stay on its paths.
24:14 At dawn murderers rise; they kill the poor and needy. At night they become thieves.
24:15 Adulterers watch for twilight. They say, ‘No one is watching us,’ as they cover their faces.
24:16 In the dark, they break into houses, but by day they lock themselves in. They do not even know the light,
24:17 because morning and deep darkness are the same to them, because they are familiar with the terrors of deep darkness.
24:18 Such people are like scum on the surface of the water. Their property is cursed in the land. People do not travel the road that goes to their vineyards.
24:19 Just as drought and heat steal water from snow, so the grave steals people who sin.
24:20 The womb forgets them. Worms feast on them. No one remembers them anymore, and wickedness is snapped like a twig.
24:21 These men take advantage of childless women. These men show no kindness to widows.
24:22 God will drag away these mighty men by his power. These people may prosper, but they will never feel secure about life.
24:23 God may let them feel confident and self-reliant, but his eyes are on their ways.
24:24 Such people may be prosperous for a little while, but then they’re gone. They are brought down low and disappear like everything else. They wither like heads of grain.
24:25 “If it isn’t so, who can prove I’m a liar and show that my words are worthless?”
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