Job 24:9-19

9 They take violently away From the breast the orphan, And on the poor they lay a pledge.

10 Naked, they have gone without clothing, And hungry -- have taken away a sheaf.

11 Between their walls they make oil, Wine-presses they have trodden, and thirst.

12 Because of enmity men do groan, And the soul of pierced ones doth cry, And God doth not give praise.

13 They have been among rebellious ones of light, They have not discerned His ways, Nor abode in His paths.

14 At the light doth the murderer rise, He doth slay the poor and needy, And in the night he is as a thief.

15 And the eye of an adulterer Hath observed the twilight, Saying, `No eye doth behold me.' And he putteth the face in secret.

16 He hath dug in the darkness -- houses; By day they shut themselves up, They have not known light.

17 When together, morning [is] to them death shade, When he discerneth the terrors of death shade.

18 Light he [is] on the face of the waters, Vilified is their portion in the earth, He turneth not the way of vineyards.

19 Drought -- also heat -- consume snow-waters, Sheol [those who] have sinned.

Job 24:9-19 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.