Job

Why, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty, do they that know him not see his days?

1Why does the Almighty not set times to judge? Why do the people who know him never see him act?

2Some remove the landmarks; they violently take away flocks, and feed thereof.

2Some people move the stones that mark the edge of a field. They steal flocks and put them out to graze.

3They drive away the ass of the fatherless, they take the widow’s ox for a pledge.

3They drive off the donkey that belongs to children with no father. They take a widow's ox to hold against a debt.

NoteTaking something "for a pledge" means holding a person's property until a debt is paid. Taking a widow's only ox left her unable to work her field.

4They turn the needy out of the way: the poor of the earth hide themselves together.

4They shove needy people off the road. All the poor of the land are forced into hiding.

5Behold, as wild asses in the desert, go they forth to their work; rising betimes for a prey: the wilderness yieldeth food for them and for their children.

5Like wild donkeys in the desert, the poor go out to hunt for food. The empty land must feed their children.

6They reap every one his corn in the field: and they gather the vintage of the wicked.

6They gather leftover grain in fields that are not theirs. They pick over the vineyards of wicked men.

NoteIn the KJV, "corn" means grain of any kind, such as wheat or barley. It is not corn on the cob.

7They cause the naked to lodge without clothing, that they have no covering in the cold.

7They spend the night with no clothes on. They have nothing to cover them in the cold.

8They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and embrace the rock for want of a shelter.

8Mountain rain soaks them through. They press against the rocks because they have no shelter.

9They pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor.

9Babies whose fathers have died are pulled away from the breast. A poor man's child is seized to pay a debt.

10They cause him to go naked without clothing, and they take away the sheaf from the hungry;

10They go about naked, with nothing to wear. They carry in the cut grain, and still they go hungry.

11Which make oil within their walls, and tread their winepresses, and suffer thirst.

11They press olives for oil inside rich men's walls. They stamp grapes in the winepress, and still they go thirsty.

12Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded crieth out: yet God layeth not folly to them.

12People groan inside the city. The wounded cry out. Yet God charges no one with doing wrong.

Note"God layeth not folly to them" means God does not charge anyone with doing wrong. Job is saying the wrongdoing seems to go unanswered.

13They are of those that rebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof.

13There are others who fight against the light. They do not know its ways or stay on its paths.

14The murderer rising with the light killeth the poor and needy, and in the night is as a thief.

14When the daylight is gone, the murderer gets up and kills the poor and needy. At night he acts like a thief.

15The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me: and disguiseth his face.

15The man who sleeps with another man's wife waits for dusk. He thinks, "No one will see me," and covers his face.

16In the dark they dig through houses, which they had marked for themselves in the daytime: they know not the light.

16In the dark, thieves break through the walls of houses. By day they shut themselves in. They want nothing to do with light.

17For the morning is to them even as the shadow of death: if one know them, they are in the terrors of the shadow of death.

17For them, thick darkness is like morning. They are at home with the terrors of the dark.

18He is swift as the waters; their portion is cursed in the earth: he beholdeth not the way of the vineyards.

18Such men are swept off fast, like foam on water. Their piece of land is cursed, so no one goes near their vineyards.

19Drought and heat consume the snow waters: so doth the grave those which have sinned.

19Dry heat swallows up water from melting snow. In the same way, the grave takes away those who have sinned.

20The womb shall forget him; the worm shall feed sweetly on him; he shall be no more remembered; and wickedness shall be broken as a tree.

20The mother who bore him forgets him. Worms feed on him. No one remembers him. Wickedness snaps like a tree.

21He evil entreateth the barren that beareth not: and doeth not good to the widow.

21He treats badly the woman who has no children. He does nothing good for the widow.

22He draweth also the mighty with his power: he riseth up, and no man is sure of life.

22Yet God drags away the powerful by his own strength. When such a man stands up, he cannot count on staying alive.

23Though it be given him to be in safety, whereon he resteth; yet his eyes are upon their ways.

23God may let him feel safe and settle down there. But God's eyes are still on everything he does.

24They are exalted for a little while, but are gone and brought low; they are taken out of the way as all other, and cut off as the tops of the ears of corn.

24They are raised high for a short time, and then they are gone. They are brought low and gathered up like everyone else. They are cut off like the tops of grain stalks.

25And if it be not so now, who will make me a liar, and make my speech nothing worth?

25If this is not true, who can prove me a liar? Who can show my words are worth nothing?