| 1 | “Why are times not kept by the Almighty, and why do those who know him never see his days? |
| 2 | The wicked remove landmarks; they seize flocks and pasture them. |
| 3 | They drive away the donkey of the orphan; they take the widow’s ox for a pledge. |
| 4 | They thrust the needy off the road; the poor of the earth all hide themselves. |
| 5 | Like wild asses in the desert they go out to their toil, scavenging in the wasteland food for their young. |
| 6 | They reap in a field not their own and they glean in the vineyard of the wicked. |
| 7 | They lie all night naked, without clothing, and have no covering in the cold. |
| 8 | They are wet with the rain of the mountains, and cling to the rock for want of shelter. |
| 9 | “There are those who snatch the orphan child from the breast, and take as a pledge the infant of the poor. |
| 10 | They go about naked, without clothing; though hungry, they carry the sheaves; |
| 11 | between their terraces they press out oil; they tread the wine presses, but suffer thirst. |
| 12 | From the city the dying groan, and the throat of the wounded cries for help; yet God pays no attention to their prayer. |
| 13 | “There are those who rebel against the light, who are not acquainted with its ways, and do not stay in its paths. |
| 14 | The murderer rises at dusk to kill the poor and needy, and in the night is like a thief. |
| 15 | The eye of the adulterer also waits for the twilight, saying, ‘No eye will see me’; and he disguises his face. |
| 16 | In the dark they dig through houses; by day they shut themselves up; they do not know the light. |
| 17 | For deep darkness is morning to all of them; for they are friends with the terrors of deep darkness. |
| 18 | “Swift are they on the face of the waters; their portion in the land is cursed; no treader turns toward their vineyards. |
| 19 | Drought and heat snatch away the snow waters; so does Sheol those who have sinned. |
| 20 | The womb forgets them; the worm finds them sweet; they are no longer remembered; so wickedness is broken like a tree. |
| 21 | “They harm the childless woman, and do no good to the widow. |
| 22 | Yet God prolongs the life of the mighty by his power; they rise up when they despair of life. |
| 23 | He gives them security, and they are supported; his eyes are upon their ways. |
| 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. |
| 25 | If it is not so, who will prove me a liar, and show that there is nothing in what I say?” |