The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 "Why are times not kept by Shaddai? Why do those who know him not see his days?
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Why are times not stored up by the Ruler of all, and why do those who have knowledge of him not see his days?
2 There are those who move boundary markers; they carry off flocks and pasture them;
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The landmarks are changed by evil men, they violently take away flocks, together with their keepers.
3 they drive away the orphan's donkey; as collateral, they seize the widow's ox.
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They send away the ass of him who has no father, they take the widow's ox for debt.
4 They push the needy out of the way -the poor of the land are forced into hiding;
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The crushed are turned out of the way; all the poor of the earth go into a secret place together.
5 like wild donkeys in the wilderness, they have to go out and scavenge food, [hoping that] the desert will provide food for their children.
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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.
6 They must reap in fields that are not their own and gather late grapes in the vineyards of the wicked.
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They get mixed grain from the field, and they take away the late fruit from the vines of those who have wealth.
7 They pass the night without clothing, naked, uncovered in the cold,
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They take their rest at night without clothing, and have no cover in the cold.
8 wet with mountain rain, and hugging the rock for lack of shelter.
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They are wet with the rain of the mountains, and get into the cracks of the rock for cover.
9 "There are those who pluck orphans from the breast and [those who] take [the clothes of] the poor in pledge,
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The child without a father is forced from its mother's breast, and they take the young children of the poor for debt.
10 so that they go about stripped, unclothed; they go hungry, as they carry sheaves [of grain];
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Others go about without clothing, and though they have no food, they get in the grain from the fields.
11 between these men's rows [of olives], they make oil; treading their winepresses, they suffer thirst.
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Between the lines of olive-trees they make oil; though they have no drink, they are crushing out the grapes.
12 Men are groaning in the city, the mortally wounded are crying for help, yet God finds nothing amiss!
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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.
13 "There are those who rebel against the light -they don't know its ways or stay in its paths.
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Then there are those who are haters of the light, who have no knowledge of its ways, and do not go in them.
14 The murderer rises with the light to kill the poor and needy; while at night he is like a thief.
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He who is purposing death gets up before day, so that he may put to death the poor and those in need.
15 The eye of the adulterer too waits for twilight; he thinks, 'No eye will see me'; but [to be sure], he covers his face.
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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;
16 When it's dark, they break into houses; in the daytime, they stay out of sight. [None of them] know the light.
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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.
17 For to all of them deep darkness is like morning, for the terrors of deep darkness are familiar to them.
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For the middle of the night is as morning to them, they are not troubled by the fear of the dark.
18 "May they be scum on the surface of the water, may their share of land be cursed, may no one turn on the way of their vineyards,
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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.
19 may drought and heat steal away their snow water and Sh'ol those who have sinned.
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Snow waters become dry with the heat: so do sinners go down into the underworld.
20 May the womb forget them, may worms find them sweet, may they no longer be remembered -thus may iniquity be snapped like a stick.
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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.
21 They devour childless women and give no help to widows.
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He is not kind to the widow, and he has no pity for her child.
22 "Yet God keeps pulling the mighty along -they get up, even when not trusting their own lives.
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But God by his power gives long life to the strong; he gets up again, though he has no hope of life.
23 However, even if God lets them rest in safety, his eyes are on their ways.
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He takes away his fear of danger and gives him support; and his eyes are on his ways.
24 They are exalted for a little while; and then they are gone, brought low, gathered in like all others, shriveled up like ears of grain.
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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.
25 "And even if it isn't so now, still no one can prove me a liar and show that my words are worthless."
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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?
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.