1 Why arelEccles. 9:12; Isa. 13:22; Jer. 27:7; Ezek. 22:3; 30:3 not times of judgmentmch. 15:20 kept by the Almighty,
and why do those who know him never see hisnIsa. 2:12; 13:6, 9; Joel 1:15; 2:1; Amos 5:18; See ch. 18:20 days?
2 Some moveoSee Deut. 19:14 landmarks;
they seize flocks and pasture them.
3 They drive away the donkey of the fatherless;
theypSee ch. 22:6 take the widow's ox for a pledge.
4 TheyqAmos 2:7; 5:12; Mal. 3:5 thrust the poor off the road;
the poor of the earthrProv. 28:28; [ch. 30:5, 6] all hide themselves.
5 Behold, like wild donkeys in the desert
the poorsPs. 104:23 go out to their toil,tPs. 104:21 seeking game;
the wasteland yields food for their children.
6 They gather their fodder in the field,
and they glean the vineyard of the wicked man.
7 Theyu[Ex. 22:26, 27; Deut. 24:12, 13] lie all night naked, without clothing,
and have no covering in the cold.
8 They are wet with the rain of the mountains
andvLam. 4:5 cling to the rock for lack of shelter.
9 (There are those who snatch the fatherless child from the breast,
and they take a pledge against the poor.)
10 They go about naked, without clothing;
hungry, theyw[2 Tim. 2:6; James 5:4] carry the sheaves;
11 among the olive rows of the wicked they make oil;
they tread the winepresses, but suffer thirst.
12 From out of the city the dying groan,
and the soul ofxJer. 51:52; Ezek. 30:24 the wounded cries for help;
yet God charges no one withych. 1:22 wrong.
13 There are those who rebelzJohn 3:19, 20 against the light,
who are not acquainted with its ways,
and do not stay in its paths.
14 The murderer rises before it is light,
that hea[Ps. 10:8] may kill the poor and needy,
and in the night he is like a thief.
15 The eye of the adulterer also waits forbProv. 7:9 the twilight,
saying, ‘NocPs. 10:11 eye will see me ’;
and he veils his face.
16 In the dark theydEx. 22:2; Matt. 6:20; [ch. 31:9] dig through houses;
by day they shut themselves up;
they do not know the light.
17 ForeSee ch. 3:5 deep darkness is morning to all of them;
for they are friends with the terrors of deep darkness.
18 You say,f[ch. 9:26; Hos. 10:7] ‘Swift are they on the face of the waters;
their portion is cursed in the land;
no treader turns toward their vineyards.
19 Drought and heat snatch away the snow waters;
so doesgSee ch. 21:13 Sheol those who have sinned.
20 The womb forgets them;
the worm finds them sweet;
they areh[Prov. 10:7] no longer remembered,
so wickedness is broken likei[ch. 18:16] a tree. ’
21 They wrong the barren 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,
and hisjSee Ps. 11:4; Prov. 15:3 eyes are upon their ways.
24 They are exaltedkPs. 37:10 a little while, and thenl[ch. 27:19] are gone;
they are brought low and gathered up like all others;
they aremch. 14:2 cut off like the heads of grain.
25 If it isn[ch. 9:24] not so, who will prove me a liar
and show that there is nothing in what I say? ”