New Living Translation NLT
Common English Bible CEB
1 “Why doesn’t the Almighty bring the wicked to judgment? Why must the godly wait for him in vain?
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Why doesn't the Almighty establish times for punishment? Why can't those who know him see his days?
2 Evil people steal land by moving the boundary markers. They steal livestock and put them in their own pastures.
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People move boundary stones, herd flocks they've stolen,
3 They take the orphan’s donkey and demand the widow’s ox as security for a loan.
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drive off an orphan's donkey, take a widow's ox as collateral,
4 The poor are pushed off the path; the needy must hide together for safety.
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thrust the poor out of the way, make the land's needy hide together.
5 Like wild donkeys in the wilderness, the poor must spend all their time looking for food, searching even in the desert for food for their children.
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They are like the wild donkeys in the desert; they go forth at dawn searching for prey; the wasteland is food for their young.
6 They harvest a field they do not own, and they glean in the vineyards of the wicked.
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They gather their food in the field, glean in unproductive vineyards,
7 All night they lie naked in the cold, without clothing or covering.
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spend the night naked, unclothed, in the cold without a cover,
8 They are soaked by mountain showers, and they huddle against the rocks for want of a home.
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wet from mountain rains, with no refuge, huddled against a rock.
9 “The wicked snatch a widow’s child from her breast, taking the baby as security for a loan.
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The orphan is stolen from the breast; the infant of the poor is taken as collateral.
10 The poor must go about naked, without any clothing. They harvest food for others while they themselves are starving.
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The poor go around naked, without clothes, carry bundles of grain while hungry,
11 They press out olive oil without being allowed to taste it, and they tread in the winepress as they suffer from thirst.
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crush olives between millstones, tread winepresses, but remain thirsty.
12 The groans of the dying rise from the city, and the wounded cry for help, yet God ignores their moaning.
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From the city, the dying cry out; the throat of the mortally wounded screams, but God assigns no blame.
13 “Wicked people rebel against the light. They refuse to acknowledge its ways or stay in its paths.
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They rebel against light, don't acknowledge its direction, don't dwell in its paths.
14 The murderer rises in the early dawn to kill the poor and needy; at night he is a thief.
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The murderer rises at twilight, kills the poor and needy; at night, they are like a thief.
15 The adulterer waits for the twilight, saying, ‘No one will see me then.’ He hides his face so no one will know him.
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The adulterer's eye watches for twilight, thinking, No eye can see me, and puts a mask over his face.
16 Thieves break into houses at night and sleep in the daytime. They are not acquainted with the light.
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In the dark they break into houses; they shut themselves in by day; they don't know the light.
17 The black night is their morning. They ally themselves with the terrors of the darkness.
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Deep darkness is morning to them because they recognize the horror of darkness.
18 “But they disappear like foam down a river. Everything they own is cursed, and they are afraid to enter their own vineyards.
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They are scum on the water's surface; their portion of the land is cursed; no one walks down a path in the vineyards.
19 The grave consumes sinners just as drought and heat consume snow.
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Drought and heat steal melted snow, just as the underworld steals sinners.
20 Their own mothers will forget them. Maggots will find them sweet to eat. No one will remember them. Wicked people are broken like a tree in the storm.
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The womb forgets them; the worm consumes them; they aren't remembered, and so wickedness is shattered like a tree.
21 They cheat the woman who has no son to help her. They refuse to help the needy widow.
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They prey on the barren, the childless, do nothing good for the widow.
22 “God, in his power, drags away the rich. They may rise high, but they have no assurance of life.
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They drag away the strong by force; they may get up but without guarantee of survival.
23 They may be allowed to live in security, but God is always watching them.
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They make themselves secure; they are at ease. His eyes are on their ways.
24 And though they are great now, in a moment they will be gone like all others, cut off like heads of grain.
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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.
25 Can anyone claim otherwise? Who can prove me wrong?”
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If this isn't so, who can prove me a liar and make my words disappear?
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible