1Why does the Almighty not reserve times for judgment?a

Why do those who know him never see his days?

2The wicked displace boundary markers.

They steal a flock and provide pasture for it.

3They drive away the donkeys owned by the fatherlessa

and take the widow’s ox as collateral.

4They push the needy off the road;

the poor of the land are forced into hiding.a

5Like wild donkeys in the wilderness,

the poor go out to their task of foraging for food;

the desert provides nourishment for their children.

6They gather their fodder in the field

and glean the vineyards of the wicked.

7Without clothing, they spend the night naked,

having no covering against the cold.a

8Drenched by mountain rains,

they huddle againstA the rocks, shelterless.

9The fatherless infant is snatched from the breast;

the nursing child of the poor is seized as collateral.A

10Without clothing, they wander about naked.

They carry sheaves but go hungry.a

11They crush olives in their presses;A

they tread the winepresses, but go thirsty.

12From the city, menA groan;

the mortally wounded cry for help,

yet God pays no attention to this crime.a

13The wicked are those who rebel against the light.

They do not recognize its ways

or stay on its paths.

14The murderer rises at dawn

to kill the poor and needy,

and by night he becomes a thief.

15The adulterer’s eye watches for twilight,

thinking, “No eye will see me,”

and he covers his face.

16In the dark they breakA into houses;

by day they lock themselves in,B

never experiencing the light.

17For the morning is like darkness to them.

Surely they are familiar with the terrors of darkness!

18They floatA on the surface of the water.

Their section of the land is cursed,

so that they never go to their vineyards.

19As dry ground and heat snatch away the melted snow,

so Sheola steals those who have sinned.

20The womb forgets them;

worms feed on them;

they are remembereda no more.

So injustice is broken like a tree.

21They prey onA the childless woman who is unable to conceive,

and do not deal kindly with the widow.

22Yet God drags awayA the mighty by his power;

when he rises up, they have no assurance of life.

23He gives them a sense of security, so they can rely on it,a

but his eyesb watch over their ways.

24They are exalted for a moment, then gone;

they are brought low and shrivel up like everything else.A

They wither like heads of grain.a

25If this is not true, then who can prove me a liara

and show that my speech is worthless?