1 "Why are Eccles. 9:12;Isa. 13:22;Jer. 27:7;Ezek. 22:3;30:3not times of judgment ch. 15:20kept by the Almighty,
and why do those who know him never see his Isa. 2:12;13:6,9;Joel 1:15;2:1;Amos 5:18;See ch. 18:20days?
2 Some move See Deut. 19:14landmarks;
they seize flocks and pasture them.
3 They drive away the donkey of the fatherless;
they See ch. 22:6take the widow’s ox for a pledge.
4 They Amos 2:7;5:12;Mal. 3:5thrust the poor off the road;
the poor of the earth Prov. 28:28;[ch. 30:5,6]all hide themselves.
5 Behold, like wild donkeys in the desert
the poor24:5 Hebrew theyPs. 104:23go out to their toil, Ps. 104:21seeking game;
the wasteland yields food for their children.
6 They gather their24:6 Hebrew his fodder in the field,
and they glean the vineyard of the wicked man.
7 They [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
and Lam. 4:5cling 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, they [2 Tim. 2:6;James 5:4]carry the sheaves;
11 among the olive rows of the wicked24:11 Hebrew their olive rows they make oil;
they tread the winepresses, but suffer thirst.
12 From out of the city the dying24:12 Or the men groan,
and the soul of Jer. 51:52;Ezek. 30:24the wounded cries for help;
yet God charges no one with ch. 1:22wrong.
13 "There are those who rebel John 3:19,20against 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 he [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 for Prov. 7:9the twilight,
saying, ‘No Ps. 10:11eye will see me’;
and he veils his face.
16 In the dark they Ex. 22:2;Matt. 6:20;[ch. 31:9]dig through houses;
by day they shut themselves up;
they do not know the light.
17 For See ch. 3:5deep darkness is morning to all of them;
for they are friends with the terrors of deep darkness.
18 "You say, [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 does See ch. 21:13Sheol those who have sinned.
20 The womb forgets them;
the worm finds them sweet;
they are [Prov. 10:7] no longer remembered,
so wickedness is broken like [ch. 18:16]a tree.’
21 "They wrong the barren, childless woman,
and do no good to the widow.
22 Yet God24:22 Hebrew he 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 his See Ps. 11:4;Prov. 15:3eyes are upon their ways.
24 They are exalted Ps. 37:10a little while, and then [ch. 27:19] are gone;
they are brought low and gathered up like all others;
they are ch. 14:2cut off like the heads of grain.
25 If it is [ch. 9:24]not so, who will prove me a liar
and show that there is nothing in what I say?"
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