Common English Bible CEB
New International Version NIV
1 Why doesn't the Almighty establish times for punishment? Why can't those who know him 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 People move boundary stones, herd flocks they've stolen,
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There are those who move boundary stones; they pasture flocks they have stolen.
3 drive off an orphan's donkey, take a widow's ox as collateral,
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They drive away the orphan’s donkey and take the widow’s ox in pledge.
4 thrust the poor out of the way, make the land's needy hide together.
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They thrust the needy from the path and force all the poor of the land into hiding.
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.
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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 gather their food in the field, glean in unproductive vineyards,
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They gather fodder in the fields and glean in the vineyards of the wicked.
7 spend the night naked, unclothed, in the cold without a cover,
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Lacking clothes, they spend the night naked; they have nothing to cover themselves in the cold.
8 wet from mountain rains, with no refuge, huddled against a rock.
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They are drenched by mountain rains and hug the rocks for lack of shelter.
9 The orphan is stolen from the breast; the infant of the poor is taken as collateral.
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The fatherless child is snatched from the breast; the infant of the poor is seized for a debt.
10 The poor go around naked, without clothes, carry bundles of grain while hungry,
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Lacking clothes, they go about naked; they carry the sheaves, but still go hungry.
11 crush olives between millstones, tread winepresses, but remain thirsty.
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They crush olives among the terraces ; they tread the winepresses, yet suffer thirst.
12 From the city, the dying cry out; the throat of the mortally wounded screams, but God assigns no blame.
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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 They rebel against light, don't acknowledge its direction, don't dwell 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 twilight, kills the poor and needy; at night, they are 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 adulterer's eye watches for twilight, thinking, No eye can see me, and puts a mask over 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 break into houses; they shut themselves in by day; they don't 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 Deep darkness is morning to them because they recognize the horror of darkness.
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For all of them, midnight is their morning; they make friends with the terrors 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.
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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 steal melted snow, just as the underworld steals sinners.
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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 consumes them; they aren't remembered, and so wickedness is shattered 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 prey on the barren, the childless, do nothing good for the widow.
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They prey on the barren and childless woman, and to the widow they show no kindness.
22 They drag away the strong by force; they may get up but without guarantee of survival.
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But God drags away the mighty by his power; though they become established, they have no assurance of life.
23 They make themselves secure; they are at ease. 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 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.
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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 this isn't so, who can prove me a liar and make my words disappear?
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“If this is not so, who can prove me false and reduce my words to nothing?”
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible
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.