17FOR NOT I HAVE BEEN DESTROYED FROM BEFORE DARKNESS AND FROM BEFORE ME IT COVERS GLOOM 17Yet I am not silenced by the darkness, by the thick darkness that covers my face. [’’]
1WHY? FROM [THE] ALMIGHTY NOT HAVE THEY BEEN STORED UP TIMES AND [THOSE WHO] KNOW HIM NOT HAVE THEY SEEN? DAYS HIS Job: Judgment for the Wicked 1“Why does the Almighty not reserve times for judgment? Why may those who know Him never see His days?
2BOUNDARIES PEOPLE REACH FLOCK[S] THEY SEIZE AND THEY HAVE PASTURED [THEM] 2Men move boundary stones; they pasture stolen flocks.
3[THE] DONKEY OF FATHERLESS ONES THEY DRIVE AWAY THEY TAKE AS PLEDGE [THE] OX OF A WIDOW 3They drive away the donkey of the fatherless and take the widow’s ox in pledge.
4THEY THRUST ASIDE NEEDY [PEOPLE] FROM [THE] PATH TOGETHER THEY ARE MADE TO HIDE THEMSELVES [THE] POOR [PEOPLE] OF [THE] EARTH 4They push the needy off the road and force all the poor of the land into hiding.
5THERE! WILD DONKEYS IN THE WILDERNESS THEY GO FORTH IN WORK THEIR SEEKING FOR <THE> FOOD A DESERT PLAIN TO IT FOOD FOR THE CHILDREN 5Indeed, like wild donkeys in the desert, the poor go to work foraging for food; the wasteland is food for their children.
6IN THE FIELD FODDER ITS THEY HARVEST AND [THE] VINEYARD OF [THE] WICKED THEY GLEAN 6They gather fodder in the fields and glean the vineyards of the wicked.
7NAKED THEY SPEND [THE] NIGHT BECAUSE NOT CLOTHING AND THERE NOT [IS] COVERING IN THE COLDNESS 7Without clothing, they spend the night naked; they have no covering against the cold.
8FROM [THE] RAIN OF [THE] MOUNTAINS THEY ARE WET AND BECAUSE NOT SHELTER THEY EMBRACE [THE] ROCK 8Drenched by mountain rains, they huddle against the rocks for want of shelter.
9PEOPLE TEAR AWAY FROM [THE] BREAST A FATHERLESS ONE AND ON [THE] POOR THEY TAKE PLEDGES 9The fatherless infant is snatched from the breast; the nursing child of the poor is seized for a debt.
10NAKED THEY GO ABOUT NOT CLOTHING AND HUNGRY THEY CARRY A SHEAF 10Without clothing, they wander about naked. They carry the sheaves, but still go hungry.
11BETWEEN ROWS THEIR THEY PRESS OUT OIL WINE-PRESSES THEY TREAD AND THEY WERE THIRSTY 11They crush olives within their walls; they tread the winepresses, but go thirsty.
12FROM [THE] CITY MEN THEY GROAN AND [THE] THROAT OF [THOSE] FATALLY WOUNDED IT CRIES FOR HELP AND GOD NOT HE PUTS OFFENSIVENESS 12From the city, men groan, and the souls of the wounded cry out, yet God charges no one with wrongdoing.
13THEY THEY ARE AMONG [THOSE WHO] REBEL AGAINST <OF> [THE] LIGHT NOT THEY PAY REGARD TO WAYS ITS AND NOT THEY DWELL IN PATHS ITS 13Then there are those who rebel against the light, not knowing its ways or staying on its paths.
14TO THE LIGHT HE RISES A MURDERER HE KILLS [THE] POOR AND [THE] NEEDY AND IN THE NIGHT HE IS LIKE <THE> THIEF 14When daylight is gone, the murderer rises to kill the poor and needy; in the night he is like a thief.
15AND [THE] EYE OF AN ADULTERER IT WATCHES FOR TWILIGHT <TO> SAYING NOT IT WILL OBSERVE ME AN EYE AND COVERING OF FACE HE PUTS 15The eye of the adulterer watches for twilight. Thinking, ‘No eye will see me,’ he covers his face.
16HE DIGS INTO IN <THE> DARKNESS HOUSES BY DAY THEY SEAL UP FOR THEMSELVES NOT THEY KNOW LIGHT 16In the dark they dig through houses; by day they shut themselves in never to experience the light.
17FOR TOGETHER [IS] MORNING FOR THEM DEEP DARKNESS FOR HE IS ACQUAINTED WITH [THE] TERRORS OF DEEP DARKNESS 17For to them, deep darkness is their morning; surely they are friends with the terrors of darkness!
18[IS] SWIFT HE ON [THE] SURFACE OF [THE] WATERS IT IS CURSED PORTION THEIR IN THE LAND NOT ANYONE TURNS [THE] DIRECTION OF VINEYARDS 18They are but foam on the surface of the water; their portion of the land is cursed, so that no one turns toward their vineyards.
19DROUGHT ALSO HEAT THEY SNATCH AWAY [THE] WATERS OF SNOW SHEOL [THOSE WHO] THEY HAVE SINNED 19As drought and heat consume the melting snow, so Sheol steals those who have sinned.
20IT FORGETS HIM [THE] WOMB IT SUCKS ON HIM MAGGOT[S] AGAIN NOT HE IS REMEMBERED AND IT WAS BROKEN LIKE <THE> TREE INJUSTICE 20The womb forgets them; the worm feeds on them; they are remembered no more. So injustice is broken like a tree.
21[HE] FEEDS ON A BARREN [WOMAN] [WHO] NOT SHE GIVES BIRTH AND A WIDOW NOT HE DOES GOOD TO 21They prey on the barren and childless, and show no kindness to the widow.
22AND HE DRAGS OFF MIGHTY [ONES] BY POWER HIS HE RISES AND NOT ANYONE TRUSTS IN <THE> LIFE 22Yet by His power, God drags away the mighty; though rising up, they have no assurance of life.
23HE GIVES TO HIM TO SECURITY SO HE MAY SUPPORT HIMSELF AND EYES HIS [ARE] ON WAYS THEIR 23He gives them a sense of security, but His eyes are on their ways.
24THEY ARE EXALTED A LITTLE AND THERE NOT [IS] HE AND THEY ARE BROUGHT LOW LIKE <THE> EVERYONE THEY ARE CONTRACTED! AND LIKE A HEAD OF GRAIN THEY WITHER 24They are exalted for a moment, then they are gone; they are brought low and gathered up like all others; they are cut off like heads of grain.
25AND IF NOT THEN WHO? WILL HE PROVE A LIAR ME AND WILL HE MAKE? INTO NOTHING SPEECH MY 25If this is not so, then who can prove me a liar and reduce my words to nothing?”