24:1 Why are times not laid up by the Almighty? And why do not they that know him see his days?

24:2 There are that remove the landmarks; They violently take away flocks, and feed them.

24:3 They drive away the ass of the fatherless; They take the widow's ox for a pledge.

24:4 They turn the needy out of the way: The poor of the earth all hide themselves.

24:5 Behold, as wild asses in the desert They go forth to their work, seeking diligently for food; The wilderness [yieldeth] them bread for their children.

24:6 They cut their provender in the field; And they glean the vintage of the wicked.

24:7 They lie all night naked without clothing, And have no covering in the cold.

24:8 They are wet with the showers of the mountains, And embrace the rock for want of a shelter.

24:9 There are that pluck the fatherless from the breast, And take a pledge of the poor;

24:10 [So that] they go about naked without clothing, And being hungry they carry the sheaves.

24:11 They make oil within the walls of these men; They tread [their] winepresses, and suffer thirst.

24:12 From out of the populous city men groan, And the soul of the wounded crieth out: Yet God regardeth not the folly.

24:13 These are of them that rebel against the light; They know not the ways thereof, Nor abide in the paths thereof.

24:14 The murderer riseth with the light; He killeth the poor and needy; And in the night he is as a thief.

24:15 The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, Saying, No eye shall see me: And he disguiseth his face.

24:16 In the dark they dig through houses: They shut themselves up in the day-time; They know not the light.

24:17 For the morning is to all of them as thick darkness; For they know the terrors of the thick darkness.

24:18 Swiftly they [pass away] upon the face of the waters; Their portion is cursed in the earth: They turn not into the way of the vineyards.

24:19 Drought and heat consume the snow waters: [So doth] Sheol [those that] have sinned.

24:20 The womb shall forget him; The worm shall feed sweetly on him; He shall be no more remembered; And unrighteousness shall be broken as a tree.

24:21 He devoureth the barren that beareth not, And doeth not good to the widow.

24:22 Yet [God] preserveth the mighty by his power: He riseth up that hath no assurance of life.

24:23 [God] giveth them to be in security, and they rest thereon; And his eyes are upon their ways.

24:24 They are exalted; yet a little while, and they are gone; Yea, they are brought low, they are taken out of the way as all others, And are cut off as the tops of the ears of grain.

24:25 And if it be not so now, who will prove me a liar, And make my speech nothing worth?