| Holman Christian Standard Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1Why does the Almighty not reserve times for judgment? Why do those who know Him never see His days? | 1“Why doesn’t the Almighty bring the wicked to judgment? Why must the godly wait for him in vain? |
| 2The wicked displace boundary markers. They steal a flock and provide pasture for it. | 2Evil people steal land by moving the boundary markers. They steal livestock and put them in their own pastures. |
| 3They drive away the donkeys owned by the fatherless and take the widow's ox as collateral. | 3They take the orphan’s donkey and demand the widow’s ox as security for a loan. |
| 4They push the needy off the road; the poor of the land are forced into hiding. | 4The poor are pushed off the path; the needy must hide together for safety. |
| 5Like wild donkeys in the desert, the poor go out to their task of foraging for food; the wilderness provides nourishment for their children. | 5Like 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. |
| 6They gather their fodder in the field and glean the vineyards of the wicked. | 6They harvest a field they do not own, and they glean in the vineyards of the wicked. |
| 7Without clothing, they spend the night naked, having no covering against the cold. | 7All night they lie naked in the cold, without clothing or covering. |
| 8Drenched by mountain rains, they huddle against the rocks, shelterless. | 8They are soaked by mountain showers, and they huddle against the rocks for want of a home. |
| 9The fatherless infant is snatched from the breast; the nursing child of the poor is seized as collateral. | 9“The wicked snatch a widow’s child from her breast, taking the baby as security for a loan. |
| 10Without clothing, they wander about naked. They carry sheaves but go hungry. | 10The poor must go about naked, without any clothing. They harvest food for others while they themselves are starving. |
| 11They crush olives in their presses; they tread the winepresses, but go thirsty. | 11They press out olive oil without being allowed to taste it, and they tread in the winepress as they suffer from thirst. |
| 12From the city, men groan; the mortally wounded cry for help, yet God pays no attention to this crime. | 12The groans of the dying rise from the city, and the wounded cry for help, yet God ignores their moaning. |
| 13The wicked are those who rebel against the light. They do not recognize its ways or stay on its paths. | 13“Wicked people rebel against the light. They refuse to acknowledge its ways or stay in its paths. |
| 14The murderer rises at dawn to kill the poor and needy, and by night he becomes a thief. | 14The murderer rises in the early dawn to kill the poor and needy; at night he is a thief. |
| 15The adulterer's eye watches for twilight, thinking: No eye will see me; he covers his face. | 15The adulterer waits for the twilight, saying, ‘No one will see me then.’ He hides his face so no one will know him. |
| 16In the dark they break into houses; by day they lock themselves in, never experiencing the light. | 16Thieves break into houses at night and sleep in the daytime. They are not acquainted with the light. |
| 17For the morning is like darkness to them. Surely they are familiar with the terrors of darkness! | 17The black night is their morning. They ally themselves with the terrors of the darkness. |
| 18They float on the surface of the water. Their section of the land is cursed, so that they never go to their vineyards. | 18“But they disappear like foam down a river. Everything they own is cursed, and they are afraid to enter their own vineyards. |
| 19As dry ground and heat snatch away the melted snow, so Sheol steals those who have sinned. | 19The grave consumes sinners just as drought and heat consume snow. |
| 20The womb forgets them; worms feed on them; they are remembered no more. So injustice is broken like a tree. | 20Their 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. |
| 21They prey on the childless woman who is unable to conceive, and do not deal kindly with the widow. | 21They cheat the woman who has no son to help her. They refuse to help the needy widow. |
| 22Yet God drags away the mighty by His power; when He rises up, they have no assurance of life. | 22“God, in his power, drags away the rich. They may rise high, but they have no assurance of life. |
| 23He gives them a sense of security, so they can rely on it, but His eyes watch over their ways. | 23They may be allowed to live in security, but God is always watching them. |
| 24They are exalted for a moment, then they are gone; they are brought low and shrivel up like everything else. They wither like heads of grain. | 24And though they are great now, in a moment they will be gone like all others, cut off like heads of grain. |
| 25If this is not true, then who can prove me a liar and show that my speech is worthless? | 25Can anyone claim otherwise? Who can prove me wrong?” |
| Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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