New Century Version NCV
The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
1 "I wish the Almighty would set a time for judging. Those who know God do not see such a day.
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"Why are times not kept by Shaddai? Why do those who know him not see his days?
2 Wicked people take other people's land; they steal flocks and take them to new pastures.
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There are those who move boundary markers; they carry off flocks and pasture them;
3 They chase away the orphan's donkey and take the widow's ox when she has no money.
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they drive away the orphan's donkey; as collateral, they seize the widow's ox.
4 They push needy people off the path; all the poor of the land hide from them.
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They push the needy out of the way -the poor of the land are forced into hiding;
5 The poor become like wild donkeys in the desert who go about their job of finding food. The desert gives them food for their children.
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like wild donkeys in the wilderness, they have to go out and scavenge food, [hoping that] the desert will provide food for their children.
6 They gather hay and straw in the fields and pick up leftover grapes from the vineyard of the wicked.
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They must reap in fields that are not their own and gather late grapes in the vineyards of the wicked.
7 They spend the night naked, because they have no clothes, nothing to cover themselves in the cold.
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They pass the night without clothing, naked, uncovered in the cold,
8 They are soaked from mountain rains and stay near the large rocks because they have no shelter.
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wet with mountain rain, and hugging the rock for lack of shelter.
9 The fatherless child is grabbed from its mother's breast; they take a poor mother's baby to pay for what she owes.
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"There are those who pluck orphans from the breast and [those who] take [the clothes of] the poor in pledge,
10 So the poor go around naked without any clothes; they carry bundles of grain but still go hungry;
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so that they go about stripped, unclothed; they go hungry, as they carry sheaves [of grain];
11 they crush olives to get oil and grapes to get wine, but they still go thirsty.
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between these men's rows [of olives], they make oil; treading their winepresses, they suffer thirst.
12 Dying people groan in the city, and the injured cry out for help, but God accuses no one of doing wrong.
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Men are groaning in the city, the mortally wounded are crying for help, yet God finds nothing amiss!
13 "Those who fight against the light do not know God's ways or stay in his paths.
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"There are those who rebel against the light -they don't know its ways or stay in its paths.
14 When the day is over, the murderers get up to kill the poor and needy. At night they go about like thieves.
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The murderer rises with the light to kill the poor and needy; while at night he is like a thief.
15 Those who are guilty of adultery watch for the night, thinking, 'No one will see us,' and they keep their faces covered.
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The eye of the adulterer too waits for twilight; he thinks, 'No eye will see me'; but [to be sure], he covers his face.
16 In the dark, evil people break into houses. In the daytime they shut themselves up in their own houses, because they want nothing to do with the light.
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When it's dark, they break into houses; in the daytime, they stay out of sight. [None of them] know the light.
17 Darkness is like morning to all these evil people who make friends with the terrors of darkness.
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For to all of them deep darkness is like morning, for the terrors of deep darkness are familiar to them.
18 "They are like foam floating on the water. Their part of the land is cursed; no one uses the road that goes by their vineyards.
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"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,
19 As heat and dryness quickly melt the snow, so the grave quickly takes away the sinners.
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may drought and heat steal away their snow water and Sh'ol those who have sinned.
20 Their mothers forget them, and worms will eat their bodies. They will not be remembered, so wickedness is broken in pieces like a stick.
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May the womb forget them, may worms find them sweet, may they no longer be remembered -thus may iniquity be snapped like a stick.
21 These evil people abuse women who cannot have children and show no kindness to widows.
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They devour childless women and give no help to widows.
22 But God drags away the strong by his power. Even though they seem strong, they do not know how long they will live.
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"Yet God keeps pulling the mighty along -they get up, even when not trusting their own lives.
23 God may let these evil people feel safe, but he is watching their ways.
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However, even if God lets them rest in safety, his eyes are on their ways.
24 For a little while they are important, and then they die; they are laid low and buried like everyone else; they are cut off like the heads of grain.
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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.
25 If this is not true, who can prove I am wrong? Who can show that my words are worth nothing?"
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"And even if it isn't so now, still no one can prove me a liar and show that my words are worthless."
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.