The Bible in Basic English BBE
Good News Translation GNT
1 Why are times not stored up by the Ruler of all, and why do those who have knowledge of him not see his days?
1
Why doesn't God set a time for judging, a day of justice for those who serve him?
2 The landmarks are changed by evil men, they violently take away flocks, together with their keepers.
2
People move property lines to get more land; they steal sheep and put them with their own flocks.
3 They send away the ass of him who has no father, they take the widow's ox for debt.
3
They take donkeys that belong to orphans, and keep a widow's ox till she pays her debts.
4 The crushed are turned out of the way; all the poor of the earth go into a secret place together.
4
They prevent the poor from getting their rights and force the needy to run and hide.
5 Like asses in the waste land they go out to their work, looking for food with care; from the waste land they get bread for their children.
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So the poor, like wild donkeys, search for food in the dry wilderness; nowhere else can they find food for their children.
6 They get mixed grain from the field, and they take away the late fruit from the vines of those who have wealth.
6
They have to harvest fields they don't own, and gather grapes in vineyards of the wicked.
7 They take their rest at night without clothing, and have no cover in the cold.
7
At night they sleep with nothing to cover them, nothing to keep them from the cold.
8 They are wet with the rain of the mountains, and get into the cracks of the rock for cover.
8
They are drenched by the rain that falls on the mountains, and they huddle beside the rocks for shelter.
9 The child without a father is forced from its mother's breast, and they take the young children of the poor for debt.
9
Evil people make slaves of fatherless infants and take the children of the poor in payment for debts.
10 Others go about without clothing, and though they have no food, they get in the grain from the fields.
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But the poor must go out with no clothes to protect them; they must go hungry while harvesting wheat.
11 Between the lines of olive-trees they make oil; though they have no drink, they are crushing out the grapes.
11
They press olives for oil, and grapes for wine, but they themselves are thirsty.
12 From the town come sounds of pain from those who are near death, and the soul of the wounded is crying out for help; but God does not take note of their prayer.
12
In the cities the wounded and dying cry out, but God ignores their prayers.
13 Then there are those who are haters of the light, who have no knowledge of its ways, and do not go in them.
13
There are those who reject the light; they don't understand it or go where it leads.
14 He who is purposing death gets up before day, so that he may put to death the poor and those in need.
14
At dawn the murderer gets up and goes out to kill the poor, and at night he steals.
15 And the man whose desire is for the wife of another is waiting for the evening, saying, No eye will see me; and he puts a cover on his face. And in the night the thief goes about;
15
The adulterer waits for twilight to come; he covers his face so that no one can see him.
16 In the dark he makes holes in the walls of houses: in the daytime they are shutting themselves up, they have no knowledge of the light.
16
At night thieves break into houses, but by day they hide and avoid the light.
17 For the middle of the night is as morning to them, they are not troubled by the fear of the dark.
17
They fear the light of day, but darkness holds no terror for them.
18 They go quickly on the face of the waters; their heritage is cursed in the earth; the steps of the crusher of grapes are not turned to their vine-garden.
18
The wicked are swept away by floods, and the land they own is under God's curse; they no longer go to work in their vineyards.
19 Snow waters become dry with the heat: so do sinners go down into the underworld.
19
As snow vanishes in heat and drought, so sinners vanish from the land of the living.
20 The public place of his town has no more knowledge of him, and his name has gone from the memory of men: he is rooted up like a dead tree.
20
Not even their mothers remember them now; they are eaten by worms and destroyed like fallen trees.
21 He is not kind to the widow, and he has no pity for her child.
21
That happens because they mistreated widows and showed no kindness to childless women.
22 But God by his power gives long life to the strong; he gets up again, though he has no hope of life.
22
God, in his strength, destroys the mighty; God acts - and the wicked die.
23 He takes away his fear of danger and gives him support; and his eyes are on his ways.
23
God may let them live secure, but keeps an eye on them all the time.
24 For a short time they are lifted up; then they are gone; they are made low, they are pulled off like fruit, and like the heads of grain they are cut off.
24
For a while the wicked prosper, but then they wither like weeds, like stalks of grain that have been cut down.
25 And if it is not so, now, who will make it clear that my words are false, and that what I say is of no value?
25
Can anyone deny that this is so? Can anyone prove that my words are not true?
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.