Why do those who know him never see his days?
2The wicked displace boundary markers.
They steal a flock and provide pasture for it.
and take the widow’s ox as collateral.
4They push the needy off the road;
5Like wild donkeys in the wilderness,
the poor go out to their task of foraging for food;
the desert provides nourishment for their children.
6They gather their fodder in the field
and glean the vineyards of the wicked.
7Without clothing, they spend the night naked,
having no covering against the cold.24:7 Ex 22:26–27; Dt 24:12–13; Jb 22:6
8Drenched by mountain rains,
they huddle against24:8 Lit they embrace the rocks, shelterless.
9The fatherless infant is snatched from the breast;
the nursing child of the poor is seized as collateral.24:9 Text emended; MT reads breast; they seize collateral against the poor
10Without clothing, they wander about naked.
11They crush olives in their presses;24:11 Lit olives between their rows
they tread the winepresses, but go thirsty.
12From the city, men24:12 One Hb ms, Syr read the dying groan;
the mortally wounded cry for help,
13The wicked are those who rebel against the light.
They do not recognize its ways
or stay on its paths.
14The murderer rises at dawn
to kill the poor and needy,
and by night he becomes a thief.
15The adulterer’s eye watches for twilight,
thinking, “No eye will see me,”
and he covers his face.
16In the dark they break24:16 Lit dig into houses;
by day they lock themselves in,24:16 Lit they seal for themselves
never experiencing the light.
17For the morning is like darkness to them.
Surely they are familiar with the terrors of darkness!
18They float24:18 Lit are insignificant on the surface of the water.
Their section of the land is cursed,
so that they never go to their vineyards.
19As dry ground and heat snatch away the melted snow,
20The womb forgets them;
worms feed on them;
So injustice is broken like a tree.
21They prey on24:21 LXX, Tg read They harm the childless woman who is unable to conceive,
and do not deal kindly with the widow.
22Yet God drags away24:22 Or God prolongs the life of the mighty by his power;
when he rises up, they have no assurance of life.
24They are exalted for a moment, then gone;
they are brought low and shrivel up like everything else.24:24 LXX reads like a mallow plant in the heat
and show that my speech is worthless?
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