GOD'S WORD Translation GW
New International Version NIV
1 "Why doesn't the Almighty set aside times [for punishment]? Why don't those who are close to him see his days [of judgment]?
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“Why does the Almighty not set times for judgment? Why must those who know him look in vain for such days?
2 "[People] move boundary markers. They steal flocks and tend them as shepherds.
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There are those who move boundary stones; they pasture flocks they have stolen.
3 They drive away the orphan's donkey. They take the widow's ox as security for a loan.
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They drive away the orphan’s donkey and take the widow’s ox in pledge.
4 They force needy people off the road. All the poor people of the country go into hiding.
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They thrust the needy from the path and force all the poor of the land into hiding.
5 Like wild donkeys in the desert, poor people go out to do their work, looking for food. The plains provide food for their children.
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Like wild donkeys in the desert, the poor go about their labor of foraging food; the wasteland provides food for their children.
6 They harvest animal food in the field [to feed themselves]. They pick the leftover grapes in the wicked person's vineyard.
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They gather fodder in the fields and glean in the vineyards of the wicked.
7 All night they lie naked without a covering from the cold.
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Lacking clothes, they spend the night naked; they have nothing to cover themselves in the cold.
8 They are drenched by the rainstorms in the mountains. They hug the rocks because they can't find shelter.
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They are drenched by mountain rains and hug the rocks for lack of shelter.
9 "[People] snatch the [nursing] orphan from a breast and take a poor woman's baby as security for a loan.
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The fatherless child is snatched from the breast; the infant of the poor is seized for a debt.
10 [That is why] the poor go around naked. They are hungry, yet they carry bundles of grain.
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Lacking clothes, they go about naked; they carry the sheaves, but still go hungry.
11 They press out olive oil between rows [of olive trees]. They stomp on grapes in wine vats, yet they are thirsty.
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They crush olives among the terraces ; they tread the winepresses, yet suffer thirst.
12 Those dying in the city groan. Wounded people cry for help, but God pays no attention to their prayers.
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The groans of the dying rise from the city, and the souls of the wounded cry out for help. But God charges no one with wrongdoing.
13 "Such people are among those who rebel against the light. They are not acquainted with its ways. They do not stay on its paths.
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“There are those who rebel against the light, who do not know its ways or stay in its paths.
14 At dawn murderers rise; they kill the poor and needy. At night they become thieves.
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When daylight is gone, the murderer rises up, kills the poor and needy, and in the night steals forth like a thief.
15 Adulterers watch for twilight. They say, 'No one is watching us,' as they cover their faces.
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The eye of the adulterer watches for dusk; he thinks, ‘No eye will see me,’ and he keeps his face concealed.
16 In the dark, they break into houses, [but] by day they lock themselves in. They do not [even] know the light,
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In the dark, thieves break into houses, but by day they shut themselves in; they want nothing to do with the light.
17 because morning and deep darkness are the same to them, because they are familiar with the terrors of deep darkness.
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For all of them, midnight is their morning; they make friends with the terrors of darkness.
18 Such people are like scum on the surface of the water. Their property is cursed in the land. People do not travel the road that goes to their vineyards.
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“Yet they are foam on the surface of the water; their portion of the land is cursed, so that no one goes to the vineyards.
19 [Just as] drought and heat steal water from snow, so the grave steals people who sin.
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As heat and drought snatch away the melted snow, so the grave snatches away those who have sinned.
20 The womb forgets them. Worms feast on them. No one remembers them anymore, and wickedness is snapped like a twig.
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The womb forgets them, the worm feasts on them; the wicked are no longer remembered but are broken like a tree.
21 These men take advantage of childless women. These men show no kindness to widows.
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They prey on the barren and childless woman, and to the widow they show no kindness.
22 [God] will drag away [these] mighty men by his power. These people may prosper, but they will never feel secure about life.
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But God drags away the mighty by his power; though they become established, they have no assurance of life.
23 [God] may let them feel confident and self-reliant, but his eyes are on their ways.
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He may let them rest in a feeling of security, but his eyes are on their ways.
24 [Such people] may be prosperous for a little while, but then they're gone. They are brought down low and disappear like everything else. They wither like heads of grain.
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For a little while they are exalted, and then they are gone; they are brought low and gathered up like all others; they are cut off like heads of grain.
25 "If it isn't so, who can prove I'm a liar and show that my words are worthless?"
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“If this is not so, who can prove me false and reduce my words to nothing?”
GOD'S WORD® is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations. Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.