Who Can Prove Me a Liar?

1“Why are [†]times not stored up by the Almighty,

And why do those who know Him not behold His days?

2[†]Some move the boundaries;

They seize and [†]devour flocks.

3They drive away the donkeys of the orphans;

They take the widow’s ox for a pledge.

4They push the needy aside from the road;

The afflicted of the land are made to hide themselves altogether.

5Behold, as wild donkeys in the wilderness

They go forth seeking food earnestly in their work,

The desert becomes [†]for him a place of bread for his young ones.

6They harvest their fodder in the field

And glean the vineyard of the wicked.

7They spend the night naked, without clothing,

And have no covering against the cold.

8They are wet with the mountain rains

And hug the rock for want of a shelter.

9[†]Others snatch the orphan from the breast,

And against the afflicted they take a pledge.

10Those poor ones walk about naked without clothing,

And hungry ones carry the sheaves.

11Within the walls they produce oil;

They tread wine presses but thirst.

12From the city men groan,

And the souls of the wounded cry out;

Yet God does not pay attention to such offense.

13“[†]Others have been with those who rebel against the light;

They do not want to recognize its ways

Nor abide in its paths.

14The murderer arises at dawn;

He kills the afflicted and the needy,

And at night he is as a thief.

15The eye of the adulterer keeps watch for the twilight,

Saying, ‘No eye will see me.’

And he [†]keeps his face hidden.

16In the dark they dig into houses;

They shut themselves up by day;

They do not know the light.

17For the morning is the same to him as the shadow of death,

For he recognizes the terrors of the shadow of death.

18“[†]They are [†]insignificant on the surface of the water;

Their portion is cursed on the earth.

They do not turn [†]toward the vineyards.

19Drought and heat seize the snow waters,

So does Sheol those who have sinned.

20A [†]mother will forget him;

The worm feasts sweetly till he is no longer remembered.

And unrighteousness will be broken like a tree.

21He feeds on the barren woman who does not give birth

And does no good for the widow.

22But He drags off the mighty by His power;

He rises, but no one believes in his life.

23He provides them with security, and they are supported;

And His eyes are on their ways.

24They are exalted a little while, then they are gone;

Moreover, they are brought low and like everything gathered up;

Even like the heads of grain they are cut off.

25Now if it is not so, who can prove me a liar,

And make my speech worthless?”