Common English Bible CEB
New King James Version NKJV
1 Why doesn't the Almighty establish times for punishment? Why can't those who know him see his days?
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"Since times are not hidden from the Almighty, Why do those who know Him see not His days?
2 People move boundary stones, herd flocks they've stolen,
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"Some remove landmarks; They seize flocks violently and feed on them;
3 drive off an orphan's donkey, take a widow's ox as collateral,
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They drive away the donkey of the fatherless; They take the widow's ox as a pledge.
4 thrust the poor out of the way, make the land's needy hide together.
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They push the needy off the road; All the poor of the land are forced to hide.
5 They are like the wild donkeys in the desert; they go forth at dawn searching for prey; the wasteland is food for their young.
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Indeed, like wild donkeys in the desert, They go out to their work, searching for food. The wilderness yields food for them and for their children.
6 They gather their food in the field, glean in unproductive vineyards,
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They gather their fodder in the field And glean in the vineyard of the wicked.
7 spend the night naked, unclothed, in the cold without a cover,
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They spend the night naked, without clothing, And have no covering in the cold.
8 wet from mountain rains, with no refuge, huddled against a rock.
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They are wet with the showers of the mountains, And huddle around the rock for want of shelter.
9 The orphan is stolen from the breast; the infant of the poor is taken as collateral.
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"Some snatch the fatherless from the breast, And take a pledge from the poor.
10 The poor go around naked, without clothes, carry bundles of grain while hungry,
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They cause the poor to go naked, without clothing; And they take away the sheaves from the hungry.
11 crush olives between millstones, tread winepresses, but remain thirsty.
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They press out oil within their walls, And tread winepresses, yet suffer thirst.
12 From the city, the dying cry out; the throat of the mortally wounded screams, but God assigns no blame.
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The dying groan in the city, And the souls of the wounded cry out; Yet God does not charge them with wrong.
13 They rebel against light, don't acknowledge its direction, don't dwell in its paths.
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"There are those who rebel against the light; They do not know its ways Nor abide in its paths.
14 The murderer rises at twilight, kills the poor and needy; at night, they are like a thief.
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The murderer rises with the light; He kills the poor and needy; And in the night he is like a thief.
15 The adulterer's eye watches for twilight, thinking, No eye can see me, and puts a mask over his face.
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The eye of the adulterer waits for the twilight, Saying, 'No eye will see me'; And he disguises his face.
16 In the dark they break into houses; they shut themselves in by day; they don't know the light.
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In the dark they break into houses Which they marked for themselves in the daytime; They do not know the light.
17 Deep darkness is morning to them because they recognize the horror of darkness.
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For the morning is the same to them as the shadow of death; If someone recognizes them, They are in the terrors of the shadow of death.
18 They are scum on the water's surface; their portion of the land is cursed; no one walks down a path in the vineyards.
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"They should be swift on the face of the waters, Their portion should be cursed in the earth, So that no one would turn into the way of their vineyards.
19 Drought and heat steal melted snow, just as the underworld steals sinners.
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As drought and heat consume the snow waters, So the grave consumes those who have sinned.
20 The womb forgets them; the worm consumes them; they aren't remembered, and so wickedness is shattered like a tree.
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The womb should forget him, The worm should feed sweetly on him; He should be remembered no more, And wickedness should be broken like a tree.
21 They prey on the barren, the childless, do nothing good for the widow.
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For he preys on the barren who do not bear, And does no good for the widow.
22 They drag away the strong by force; they may get up but without guarantee of survival.
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"But God draws the mighty away with His power; He rises up, but no man is sure of life.
23 They make themselves secure; they are at ease. His eyes are on their ways.
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He gives them security, and they rely on it; Yet His eyes are on their ways.
24 They are exalted for a short time, but no longer. They are humbled then gathered in like everyone else; cut off like heads of grain.
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They are exalted for a little while, Then they are gone. They are brought low; They are taken out of the way like all others; They dry out like the heads of grain.
25 If this isn't so, who can prove me a liar and make my words disappear?
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"Now if it is not so, who will prove me a liar, And make my speech worth nothing?"
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.