| New King James Version | New International Version |
| 1“Since times are not hidden from the Almighty, Why do those who know Him see not His days? | 1"Why does the Almighty not set times for judgment? Why must those who know him look in vain for such days? |
| 2“Some remove landmarks; They seize flocks violently and feed on them; | 2There are those who move boundary stones; they pasture flocks they have stolen. |
| 3They drive away the donkey of the fatherless; They take the widow’s ox as a pledge. | 3They drive away the orphan's donkey and take the widow's ox in pledge. |
| 4They push the needy off the road; All the poor of the land are forced to hide. | 4They thrust the needy from the path and force all the poor of the land into hiding. |
| 5Indeed, like wild donkeys in the desert, They go out to their work, searching for food. The wilderness yields food for them and for their children. | 5Like wild donkeys in the desert, the poor go about their labor of foraging food; the wasteland provides food for their children. |
| 6They gather their fodder in the field And glean in the vineyard of the wicked. | 6They gather fodder in the fields and glean in the vineyards of the wicked. |
| 7They spend the night naked, without clothing, And have no covering in the cold. | 7Lacking clothes, they spend the night naked; they have nothing to cover themselves in the cold. |
| 8They are wet with the showers of the mountains, And huddle around the rock for want of shelter. | 8They are drenched by mountain rains and hug the rocks for lack of shelter. |
| 9“Some snatch the fatherless from the breast, And take a pledge from the poor. | 9The fatherless child is snatched from the breast; the infant of the poor is seized for a debt. |
| 10They cause the poor to go naked, without clothing; And they take away the sheaves from the hungry. | 10Lacking clothes, they go about naked; they carry the sheaves, but still go hungry. |
| 11They press out oil within their walls, And tread winepresses, yet suffer thirst. | 11They crush olives among the terraces; they tread the winepresses, yet suffer thirst. |
| 12The dying groan in the city, And the souls of the wounded cry out; Yet God does not charge them with wrong. | 12The groans of the dying rise from the city, and the souls of the wounded cry out for help. But God charges no one with wrongdoing. |
| 13“There are those who rebel against the light; They do not know its ways Nor abide in its paths. | 13"There are those who rebel against the light, who do not know its ways or stay in its paths. |
| 14The murderer rises with the light; He kills the poor and needy; And in the night he is like a thief. | 14When daylight is gone, the murderer rises up, kills the poor and needy, and in the night steals forth like a thief. |
| 15The eye of the adulterer waits for the twilight, Saying, ‘No eye will see me’; And he disguises his face. | 15The eye of the adulterer watches for dusk; he thinks, 'No eye will see me,' and he keeps his face concealed. |
| 16In the dark they break into houses Which they marked for themselves in the daytime; They do not know the light. | 16In the dark, thieves break into houses, but by day they shut themselves in; they want nothing to do with the light. |
| 17For the morning is the same to them as the shadow of death; If someone recognizes them, They are in the terrors of the shadow of death. | 17For all of them, midnight is their morning; they make friends with the terrors of darkness. |
| 18“They should be swift on the face of the waters, Their portion should be cursed in the earth, So that no one would turn into the way of their vineyards. | 18"Yet they are foam on the surface of the water; their portion of the land is cursed, so that no one goes to the vineyards. |
| 19As drought and heat consume the snow waters, So the grave consumes those who have sinned. | 19As heat and drought snatch away the melted snow, so the grave snatches away those who have sinned. |
| 20The womb should forget him, The worm should feed sweetly on him; He should be remembered no more, And wickedness should be broken like a tree. | 20The womb forgets them, the worm feasts on them; the wicked are no longer remembered but are broken like a tree. |
| 21For he preys on the barren who do not bear, And does no good for the widow. | 21They prey on the barren and childless woman, and to the widow they show no kindness. |
| 22“But God draws the mighty away with His power; He rises up, but no man is sure of life. | 22But God drags away the mighty by his power; though they become established, they have no assurance of life. |
| 23He gives them security, and they rely on it; Yet His eyes are on their ways. | 23He may let them rest in a feeling of security, but his eyes are on their ways. |
| 24They are exalted for a little while, Then they are gone. They are brought low; They are taken out of the way like all others; They dry out like the heads of grain. | 24For a little while they are exalted, and then they are gone; they are brought low and gathered up like all others; they are cut off like heads of grain. |
| 25“Now if it is not so, who will prove me a liar, And make my speech worth nothing?” | 25"If this is not so, who can prove me false and reduce my words to nothing?" |
| The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. | New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. |
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