New Revised Standard NRS
New International Version NIV
1 "Why are times not kept by the Almighty, and why do those who know him never see his days?
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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 The wicked remove landmarks; they seize flocks and pasture them.
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There are those who move boundary stones; they pasture flocks they have stolen.
3 They drive away the donkey of the orphan; they take the widow's ox for a pledge.
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They drive away the orphan’s donkey and take the widow’s ox in pledge.
4 They thrust the needy off the road; the poor of the earth all hide themselves.
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They thrust the needy from the path and force all the poor of the land into hiding.
5 Like wild asses in the desert they go out to their toil, scavenging in the wasteland food for their young.
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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 reap in a field not their own and they glean in the vineyard of the wicked.
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They gather fodder in the fields and glean in the vineyards of the wicked.
7 They lie all night naked, without clothing, and have no covering in 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 wet with the rain of the mountains, and cling to the rock for want of shelter.
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They are drenched by mountain rains and hug the rocks for lack of shelter.
9 "There are those who snatch the orphan child from the breast, and take as a pledge the infant of the poor.
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The fatherless child is snatched from the breast; the infant of the poor is seized for a debt.
10 They go about naked, without clothing; though hungry, they carry the sheaves;
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Lacking clothes, they go about naked; they carry the sheaves, but still go hungry.
11 between their terraces they press out oil; they tread the wine presses, but suffer thirst.
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They crush olives among the terraces ; they tread the winepresses, yet suffer thirst.
12 From the city the dying groan, and the throat of the wounded cries for help; yet God pays no attention to their prayer.
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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 "There are those who rebel against the light, who are not acquainted with its ways, and do not stay in 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 The murderer rises at dusk to kill the poor and needy, and in the night is like a thief.
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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 The eye of the adulterer also waits for the twilight, saying, "No eye will see me'; and he disguises his face.
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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 dig through houses; by day they shut themselves up; they do not 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 For deep darkness is morning to all of them; for they are friends 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 "Swift are they on the face of the waters; their portion in the land is cursed; no treader turns toward 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 Drought and heat snatch away the snow waters; so does Sheol those who have sinned.
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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; the worm finds them sweet; they are no longer remembered; so wickedness is broken like a tree.
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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 "They harm the childless woman, and do no good to the widow.
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They prey on the barren and childless woman, and to the widow they show no kindness.
22 Yet God prolongs the life of the mighty by his power; they rise up when they despair of 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 He gives them security, and they are supported; his eyes are upon their ways.
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He may let them rest in a feeling of security, but his eyes are on their ways.
24 They are exalted a little while, and then are gone; they wither and fade like the mallow; they are cut off like the 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 is not so, who will prove me a liar, and show that there is nothing in what I say?"
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“If this is not so, who can prove me false and reduce my words to nothing?”
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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.