[1] Why are times not laid up by the Almighty? And why do not they that know him see his days?
[2] There are that remove the landmarks; They violently take away flocks, and feed them.
[3] They drive away the ass of the fatherless; They take the widow’s ox for a pledge.
[4] They turn the needy out of the way: The poor of the earth all hide themselves.
[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.
[6] They cut their provender in the field; And they glean the vintage of the wicked.
[7] They lie all night naked without clothing, And have no covering in the cold.
[8] They are wet with the showers of the mountains, And embrace the rock for want of a shelter.
[9] There are that pluck the fatherless from the breast, And take a pledge of the poor;
[10] So that they go about naked without clothing, And being hungry they carry the sheaves.
[11] They make oil within the walls of these men; They tread their winepresses, and suffer thirst.
[12] From out of the populous city men groan, And the soul of the wounded crieth out: Yet God regardeth not the folly.
[13] These are of them that rebel against the light; They know not the ways thereof, Nor abide in the paths thereof.
[14] The murderer riseth with the light; He killeth the poor and needy; And in the night he is as a thief.
[15] The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, Saying, No eye shall see me: And he disguiseth his face.
[16] In the dark they dig through houses: They shut themselves up in the day-time; They know not the light.
[17] For the morning is to all of them as thick darkness; For they know the terrors of the thick darkness.
[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.
[19] Drought and heat consume the snow waters: So doth Sheol those that have sinned.
[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.
[21] He devoureth the barren that beareth not, And doeth not good to the widow.
[22] Yet God preserveth the mighty by his power: He riseth up that hath no assurance of life.
[23] God giveth them to be in security, and they rest thereon; And his eyes are upon their ways.
[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.
[25] And if it be not so now, who will prove me a liar, And make my speech nothing worth?