Jó 24

¹ Why, seeing timesThus Job speaks in his passions, and after the judgment of the flesh: that is, that he does not see the things that are done at times, nor yet has a peculiar care over all, because he does not punish the wicked or avenge the godly.are not hidden from the Almighty, do they that know him not see hisWhen he punishes the wicked and rewards the good.days?

² Some remoue the land marks, that rob the flockes and feede thereof.

³ They leade away the asse of the fatherles: and take the widowes oxe to pledge.

⁴ They turn the needy out of the way: the poor of the earth hide themselvesAnd for cruelty and oppression dare not show their faces.together.

⁵ Behold, [as] wild asses in the desert, go they forth to their work;That is, spares diligence.rising betimes for a prey: the wildernessHe and his live by robbing and murdering.[yieldeth] food for them [and] for [their] children.

⁶ They reap [every one]Meaning the poor man's.his corn in the field: and they gather theSignifying that one wicked man will not spoil another, but for necessity.vintage of the wicked.

⁷ They cause the naked to lodge without garment, and without couering in the colde.

⁸ They are wet with the showers of the mountains,The poor are driven by the wicked into the rock and holes where they cannot lie dry for the rain.and embrace the rock for want of a shelter.

⁹ They pluck the fatherlessThat is, they so pillage and plunder the poor widow that she cannot sustain herself that she may be able to nurse her baby.from the breast, and take a pledge ofThe poor are driven by the wicked into the rocks and holes where they cannot lie dry for the rain.the poor.

¹⁰ They cause him to go naked without clothing, and take the glening from the hungrie.

¹¹ [Which] make oilIn such places which are appointed for that purpose; meaning, that those who labour for the wicked, are pined for hunger.within their walls, [and] tread [their] winepresses, and suffer thirst.

¹² MenFor the great oppression and extortion.groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded crieth out: yet GodCry out and call for vengeance.layeth not folly [to them].

¹³ They are of those that rebel against theThat is, God's word, because they are reproved by it.light; they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof.

¹⁴ The murtherer riseth earely & killeth the poore and the needie: and in the night he is as a theefe.

¹⁵ The eye also of theBy these particular vices and the licence of it, he would prove that God did not punish the wicked and reward the just.adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me: and disguiseth [his] face.

¹⁶ They digge through houses in the darke, which they marked for themselues in the daye: they knowe not the light.

¹⁷ But the morning is euen to them as the shadow of death: if one knowe them, they are in the terrours of the shadowe of death.

¹⁸ He [is] swift as theHe flees to the waters for his succour.waters; theirThey think that all the world is bent against them and dare not go by the highway.portion is cursed in the earth: he beholdeth not the way of the vineyards.

¹⁹ Drought and heat consume the snow waters: [so doth] the grave [those which]As the dry ground is never full with waters, so will they never cease sinning till they come to the grave.have sinned.

²⁰ Though God tolerates the wicked for a time, yet their end will be vile destruction, and in this point Job commits to himself and shows his confidence.The 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.

²¹ HeHe shows why the wicked will not be lamented, because he did not pity others.evil entreateth the barren [that] beareth not: and doeth not good to the widow.

²² He draweth also theHe declares that after the wicked have destroyed the weakest, they will do the same to the stranger, and therefore are justly punished by God's judgments.mighty with his power: he riseth up, and no [man] is sure of life.

²³ Though men giue him assurance to be in safetie, yet his eyes are vpon their wayes.

²⁴ They are exalted for a litle, but they are gone, and are brought lowe as all others: they are destroyed, and cut off as the toppe of an eare of corne.

²⁵ And if [it be] notThat is, contrary to your reasoning no man can give perfect reasons for God's judgments, let me be reproved.[so] now, who will make me a liar, and make my speech nothing worth?