Job 24

1 "Why doesn't the Mighty One set a time for judging sinful people? Why do those who know him have to keep waiting for that day?

2 People move their neighbor's boundary stones. They steal their neighbor's flocks.

3 They take away the donkeys that belong to children whose fathers have died. They take a widow's ox until she has paid what she owes.

4 They push those who are needy out of their way. They force all of the poor people in the land to go into hiding.

5 The poor are like wild donkeys in the desert. They have to go around looking for food. The dry and empty land provides the only food for their children.

6 The poor go to the fields and get a little grain. They gather up what is left in the vineyards of sinners.

7 The poor don't have any clothes. So they spend the night naked. They don't have anything to cover themselves in the cold.

8 They are soaked by mountain rains. They hug the rocks because they don't have anything to keep them warm.

9 Children whose fathers have died are torn away from their mothers. A poor person's baby is taken away to pay back what is owed.

10 The poor don't have any clothes. They go around naked. They carry bundles of grain, but they still go hungry.

11 They work very hard as they crush olives. They stomp on grapes in winepresses, but they are still thirsty.

12 The groans of those who are dying are heard from the city. Those who are wounded cry out for help. But God doesn't charge anyone with doing what is wrong.

13 "Some people hate it when daylight comes. In the daytime they never walk outside.

14 When daylight is gone, murderers get up. They kill poor people and those who are in need. In the night they sneak around like robbers.

15 Those who commit adultery wait until the sun goes down. They think, 'No one will see us.' They keep their faces hidden.

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 Commentary

Chapter 24

Wickedness often unpunished. (1-12) The wicked shun the light. (13-17) Judgements for the wicked. (18-25)

Verses 1-12 Job discourses further about the prosperity of the wicked. That many live at ease who are ungodly and profane, he had showed, ch. xxi. Here he shows that many who live in open defiance of all the laws of justice, succeed in wicked practices; and we do not see them reckoned with in this world. He notices those that do wrong under pretence of law and authority; and robbers, those that do wrong by force. He says, "God layeth not folly to them;" that is, he does not at once send his judgments, nor make them examples, and so manifest their folly to all the world. But he that gets riches, and not by right, at his end shall be a fool, ( Jeremiah 17:11 ) .

Verses 13-17 See what care and pains wicked men take to compass their wicked designs; let it shame our negligence and slothfulness in doing good. See what pains those take, who make provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts of it: pains to compass, and then to hide that which will end in death and hell at last. Less pains would mortify and crucify the flesh, and be life and heaven at last. Shame came in with sin, and everlasting shame is at the end of it. See the misery of sinners; they are exposed to continual frights: yet see their folly; they are afraid of coming under the eye of men, but have no dread of God's eye, which is always upon them: they are not afraid of doing things which they are afraid of being known to do.

Verses 18-25 Sometimes how gradual is the decay, how quiet the departure of a wicked person, how is he honoured, and how soon are all his cruelties and oppressions forgotten! They are taken off with other men, as the harvestman gathers the ears of corn as they come to hand. There will often appear much to resemble the wrong view of Providence Job takes in this chapter. But we are taught by the word of inspiration, that these notions are formed in ignorance, from partial views. The providence of God, in the affairs of men, is in every thing a just and wise providence. Let us apply this whenever the Lord may try us. He cannot do wrong. The unequalled sorrows of the Son of God when on earth, unless looked at in this view, perplex the mind. But when we behold him, as the sinner's Surety, bearing the curse, we can explain why he should endure that wrath which was due to sin, that Divine justice might be satisfied, and his people saved.

Chapter Summary

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.