Job 24:18-25

18 They are but foam on the surface of the water; their portion of the land is cursed, so that no one turns toward their vineyards.

19 As drought and heat consume the melting snow, so Sheol steals those who have sinned.

20 The womb forgets them; the worm feeds on them; they are remembered no more. So injustice is broken like a tree.

21 They prey on the barren and childless, and show no kindness to the widow.

22 Yet by His power, God drags away the mighty; though rising up, they have no assurance of life.

23 He gives them a sense of security, but His eyes are on their ways.

24 They are exalted for a moment, 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 is not so, then who can prove me a liar and reduce my words to nothing?”

Job 24:18-25 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.