Job 24:16-25

16 In the dark, people break into houses. But by day they shut themselves in. They don't want anything to do with the light.

17 The deepest darkness is like morning to them. The terrors of darkness are their friends.

18 "But sinners are like bubbles on the surface of water. Their share of the land is under God's curse. So no one goes to their vineyards.

19 Melted snow disappears when the air is hot and dry. And sinners disappear when they go down into their graves.

20 Even their mothers forget them. The worms in their graves eat them up. No one remembers sinful people anymore. They are cut down like trees.

21 They mistreat women who aren't able to have children. They aren't kind to widows.

22 But God is powerful. He even drags away people who are strong. When he rises up against them, they can never be sure they are safe.

23 God might let them rest and feel secure. But his eyes see how they live.

24 For a little while they are honored. Then they are gone. They are brought low. And they die like everyone else. They are cut off like heads of grain.

25 "Who can prove that what I'm saying is wrong? Who can prove that my words aren't true?"

Job 24:16-25 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JOB 24

This chapter contains the second part of Job's answer to the last discourse of Eliphaz, in which he shows that wicked men, those of the worst characters, prosper in the world, and go through it with impunity; he lays down this as a certain truth, that though no time is hid from God, yet they that are most familiar with him, and know most of him, do not see, and cannot observe, any days of his for judging and punishing wicked men in, this life, Job 24:1; and instances in men guilty of injustice, violence, oppression, cruelty, and inhumanity, to their neighbours, and yet God lays not folly to them, or charges them with sin, and punishes them for it, Job 24:2-12; and in persons that commit the most atrocious crimes in secret, such as murderers, adulterers, and thieves, Job 24:13-17; he allows that there is a curse upon their portion, and that the grave shall consume them, and they shall be remembered no more, Job 24:18-20; and because of their ill treatment of others, though they may be in safety and prosperity, and be exalted for a while, they shall be brought low and cut off by death, but generally speaking are not punished in this life, Job 24:21-24; and concludes with the greatest assurance of being in the right, and having truth on his side, Job 24:25.