Job 24:1-12

The Apparent Indifference of God

24:1 “Why are times not appointed by the Almighty?

Why do those who know him not see his days?

24:2 Men move boundary stones;

they seize the flock and pasture them.

24:3 They drive away the orphan’s donkey;

they take the widow’s ox as a pledge.

24:4 They turn the needy from the pathway,

and the poor of the land hide themselves together.

24:5 Like wild donkeys in the desert

they go out to their labor,

seeking diligently for food;

the wasteland provides food for them

and for their children.

24:6 They reap fodder in the field,

and glean in the vineyard of the wicked.

24:7 They spend the night naked because they lack clothing;

they have no covering against the cold.

24:8 They are soaked by mountain rains

and huddle in the rocks because they lack shelter.

24:9 The fatherless child is snatched from the breast,

the infant of the poor is taken as a pledge.

24:10 They go about naked, without clothing,

and go hungry while they carry the sheaves.

24:11 They press out the olive oil between the rows of olive trees;

they tread the winepresses while they are thirsty.

24:12 From the city the dying groan,

and the wounded cry out for help,

but God charges no one with wrongdoing.