English Standard Version ESV
The Message Bible MSG
1 "Why are not times of judgment kept by the Almighty, and why do those who know him never see his days?
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"But if Judgment Day isn't hidden from the Almighty, why are we kept in the dark?
2 Some move landmarks; they seize flocks and pasture them.
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There are people out there getting by with murder - stealing and lying and cheating.
3 They drive away the donkey of the fatherless; they take the widow's ox for a pledge.
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They rip off the poor and exploit the unfortunate,
4 They thrust the poor off the road; the poor of the earth all hide themselves.
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Push the helpless into the ditch, bully the weak so that they fear for their lives.
5 Behold, like wild donkeys in the desert the poorgo out to their toil, seeking game; the wasteland yields food for their children.
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The poor, like stray dogs and cats, scavenge for food in back alleys.
6 They gather their fodder in the field, and they glean the vineyard of the wicked man.
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They sort through the garbage of the rich, eke out survival on handouts.
7 They lie all night naked, without clothing, and have no covering in the cold.
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Homeless, they shiver through cold nights on the street; they've no place to lay their heads.
8 They are wet with the rain of the mountains and cling to the rock for lack of shelter.
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Exposed to the weather, wet and frozen, they huddle in makeshift shelters.
9 (There are those who snatch the fatherless child from the breast, and they take a pledge against the poor.)
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Nursing mothers have their babies snatched from them; the infants of the poor are kidnapped and sold.
10 They go about naked, without clothing; hungry, they carry the sheaves;
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They go about patched and threadbare; even the hard workers go hungry.
11 among the olive rows of the wicked they make oil; they tread the winepresses, but suffer thirst.
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No matter how back-breaking their labor, they can never make ends meet.
12 From out of the city the dying groan, and the soul of the wounded cries for help; yet God charges no one with wrong.
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People are dying right and left, groaning in torment. The wretched cry out for help and God does nothing, acts like nothing's wrong!
13 "There are those who rebel against the light, who are not acquainted with its ways, and do not stay in its paths.
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"Then there are those who avoid light at all costs, who scorn the light-filled path.
14 The murderer rises before it is light, that he may kill the poor and needy, and in the night he is like a thief.
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When the sun goes down, the murderer gets up - kills the poor and robs the defenseless.
15 The eye of the adulterer also waits for the twilight, saying, 'No eye will see me'; and he veils his face.
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Sexual predators can't wait for nightfall, thinking, 'No one can see us now.'
16 In the dark they dig through houses; by day they shut themselves up; they do not know the light.
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Burglars do their work at night, but keep well out of sight through the day. They want nothing to do with light.
17 For deep darkness is morning to all of them; for they are friends with the terrors of deep darkness.
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Deep darkness is morning for that bunch; they make the terrors of darkness their companions in crime.
18 "You say, 'Swift are they on the face of the waters; their portion is cursed in the land; no treader turns toward their vineyards.
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"They are scraps of wood floating on the water - useless, cursed junk, good for nothing.
19 Drought and heat snatch away the snow waters; so does Sheol those who have sinned.
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As surely as snow melts under the hot, summer sun, sinners disappear in the grave.
20 The womb forgets them; the worm finds them sweet; they are no longer remembered, so wickedness is broken like a tree.'
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The womb has forgotten them, worms have relished them - nothing that is evil lasts.
21 "They wrong the barren, childless woman, and do no good to the widow.
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Unscrupulous, they prey on those less fortunate.
22 Yet God prolongs the life of the mighty by his power; they rise up when they despair of life.
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However much they strut and flex their muscles, there's nothing to them. They're hollow.
23 He gives them security, and they are supported, and his eyes are upon their ways.
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They may have an illusion of security, but God has his eye on them.
24 They are exalted a little while, and then are gone; they are brought low and gathered up like all others; they are cut off like the heads of grain.
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They may get their brief successes, but then it's over, nothing to show for it. Like yesterday's newspaper, they're used to wrap up the garbage.
25 If it is not so, who will prove me a liar and show that there is nothing in what I say?"
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You're free to try to prove me a liar, but you won't be able to do it."
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.