[1] Why doesn’t the Almighty establish times for punishment? Why can’t those who know him see his days? [2] People move boundary stones, herd flocks they’ve stolen, [3] drive off an orphan’s donkey, take a widow’s ox as collateral, [4] thrust the poor out of the way, make the land’s needy hide together. [5] They are like the wild donkeys in the desert; they go forth at dawn searching for prey; the wasteland is food for their young. [6] They gather their food in the field, glean in unproductive vineyards, [7] spend the night naked, unclothed, in the cold without a cover, [8] wet from mountain rains, with no refuge, huddled against a rock. [9] The orphan is stolen from the breast; the infant of the poor is taken as collateral. [10] The poor go around naked, without clothes, carry bundles of grain while hungry, [11] crush olives between millstones, tread winepresses, but remain thirsty. [12] From the city, the dying cry out; the throat of the mortally wounded screams, but God assigns no blame. [13] They rebel against light, don’t acknowledge its direction, don’t dwell in its paths. [14] The murderer rises at twilight, kills the poor and needy; at night, they are like a thief. [15] The adulterer’s eye watches for twilight, thinking, No eye can see me, and puts a mask over his face. [16] In the dark they break into houses; they shut themselves in by day; they don’t know the light. [17] Deep darkness is morning to them because they recognize the horror of darkness. [18] They are scum on the water’s surface; their portion of the land is cursed; no one walks down a path in the vineyards. [19] Drought and heat steal melted snow, just as the underworld steals sinners. [20] The womb forgets them; the worm consumes them; they aren’t remembered, and so wickedness is shattered like a tree. [21] They prey on the barren, the childless, do nothing good for the widow. [22] They drag away the strong by force; they may get up but without guarantee of survival. [23] They make themselves secure; they are at ease. His eyes are on their ways. [24] They are exalted for a short time, but no longer. They are humbled then gathered in like everyone else; cut off like heads of grain. [25] If this isn’t so, who can prove me a liar and make my words disappear?
