Holman Christian Standard Bible CSB
New International Version NIV
1 Why does the Almighty not reserve times for judgment? Why do those who know Him never 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 The wicked displace boundary markers. They steal a flock and provide pasture for [it].
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There are those who move boundary stones; they pasture flocks they have stolen.
3 They drive away the donkeys [owned] by the fatherless and take the 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 They push the needy off the road; the poor of the land are forced into hiding.
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They thrust the needy from the path and force all the poor of the land into hiding.
5 Like wild donkeys in the desert, the poor go out to their task of foraging for food; the wilderness provides nourishment for their children.
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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 fodder in the field and glean the vineyards of the wicked.
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They gather fodder in the fields and glean in the vineyards of the wicked.
7 Without clothing, they spend the night naked, having no covering against the cold.
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Lacking clothes, they spend the night naked; they have nothing to cover themselves in the cold.
8 Drenched by mountain rains, they huddle against the rocks, shelterless.
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They are drenched by mountain rains and hug the rocks for lack of shelter.
9 The fatherless infant is snatched from the breast; the nursing child of the poor is seized 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 Without clothing, they wander about naked. They carry sheaves but go hungry.
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Lacking clothes, they go about naked; they carry the sheaves, but still go hungry.
11 They crush olives in their presses; they tread the winepresses, but go thirsty.
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They crush olives among the terraces ; they tread the winepresses, yet suffer thirst.
12 From the city, men groan; the mortally wounded cry for help, yet God pays no attention to this crime.
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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 The wicked are those who rebel against the light. They do not recognize its ways or stay on 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 dawn to kill the poor and needy, and by night he becomes 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 will see me, he covers [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; by day they lock themselves in, never experiencing 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 For the morning is like death's shadow to them. Surely they are familiar with the terrors of death's shadow!
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For all of them, midnight is their morning; they make friends with the terrors of darkness.
18 They float on the surface of the water. Their section of the land is cursed, so that they never go to [their] 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 As dry ground and heat snatch away the melted snow, so Sheol [steals] those who have sinned.
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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; worms feed on them; they are remembered no more. So injustice is broken 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, childless woman and do not deal kindly with the widow.
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They prey on the barren and childless woman, and to the widow they show no kindness.
22 Yet God drags away the mighty by His power; when He rises up, they have no assurance of life.
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But God drags away the mighty by his power; though they become established, they have no assurance of life.
23 He gives them a sense of security, so they can rely [on it], but His eyes [watch] over 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 moment, then they are gone; they are brought low and shrivel up like everything else. They wither 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 is not true, then who can prove me a liar and show that my speech is worthless?
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“If this is not so, who can prove me false and reduce my words to nothing?”
Holman Christian Standard Bible ® Copyright © 2003, 2002, 2000, 1999 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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.