1"Since times are not laid up by the Almighty, why do those who know Him not see His days?

2They remove the landmarks; they seize flocks and feed on them.

3They drive away the donkey of the fatherless; they take the widow's ox for a pledge.

4They turn the needy out of the way; the poor of the earth hide themselves together.

5Behold, like wild donkeys in the desert, they go forth to their work, rising early for a prey. The wilderness yields food for them and for their children.

6They reap his fodder in the field; and they glean the vineyard of the wicked.

7They lodge the naked without clothing, and they have no covering in the cold.

8They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and embrace the rock for lack of shelter.

9They pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge from the poor.

10They cause him to go naked without clothing, and they take away the sheaves from the hungry.

11They press out oil among the olive rows; and they tread their winepresses, and still suffer thirst.

12Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded cries out for help; yet God does not charge foolishness to them.

13They are of those who rebel against the light; they know not His ways, nor stay in His paths.

14The murderer rising with the dawn kills the poor and needy, and in the night he is as a thief.

15And the eye of the adulterer waits for the twilight, saying, 'No eye will see me;' and he disguises his face.

16In the dark they dig through houses, they shut themselves up in the daytime; they do not know the light.

17For the morning is to them as the shadow of death; for they know the terrors of the shadow of death.

18He is swift upon the waters; their portion is cursed in the earth; he turns not by the way of the vineyards.

19Drought and heat eat up the snow waters; so does the grave those who have sinned.

20The womb shall forget him; the worm shall feed sweetly on him; he shall be remembered no more; and wickedness shall be broken like a tree.

21He ill-treats the women who bear no children; and does not do good for the widow.

22He drags away the mighty with his power; he rises up, and no one is sure of life.

23He gives them security, and they are supported; yet His eyes are on their ways.

24They are exalted for a little while, but are gone and brought low; they are taken out of the way as all others, and are cut off like the heads of grain.

25And if it is not so, who will make me a liar, and make my speech worth nothing?"