Passage: Job 23, 24 (RSV)


Job 23


1Then Job answered:
2"Today also my complaint is bitter, his hand is heavy in spite of my groaning.
3Oh, that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even to his seat!
4I would lay my case before him and fill my mouth with arguments.
5I would learn what he would answer me, and understand what he would say to me.
6Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power? No; he would give heed to me.
7There an upright man could reason with him, and I should be acquitted for ever by my judge.
8"Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him;
9on the left hand I seek him, but I cannot behold him; I turn to the right hand, but I cannot see him.
10But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.
11My foot has held fast to his steps; I have kept his way and have not turned aside.
12I have not departed from the commandment of his lips; I have treasured in my bosom the words of his mouth.
13But he is unchangeable and who can turn him? What he desires, that he does.
14For he will complete what he appoints for me; and many such things are in his mind.
15Therefore I am terrified at his presence; when I consider, I am in dread of him.
16God has made my heart faint; the Almighty has terrified me;
17for I am hemmed in by darkness, and thick darkness covers my face.

Job 24


1"Why are not times of judgment kept by the Almighty, and why do those who know him never see his days?
2Men remove landmarks; they seize flocks and pasture them.
3They drive away the ass of the fatherless; they take the widow's ox for a pledge.
4They thrust the poor off the road; the poor of the earth all hide themselves.
5Behold, like wild asses in the desert they go forth to their toil, seeking prey in the wilderness as food for their children.
6They gather their fodder in the field and they glean the vineyard of the wicked man.
7They lie all night naked, without clothing, and have no covering in the cold.
8They are wet with the rain of the mountains, and cling to the rock for want of shelter.
9(There are those who snatch the fatherless child from the breast, and take in pledge the infant of the poor.)
10They go about naked, without clothing; hungry, they carry the sheaves;
11among the olive rows of the wicked they make oil; they tread the wine presses, but suffer thirst.
12From out of the city the dying groan, and the soul of the wounded cries for help; yet God pays no attention to their prayer.
13"There are those who rebel against the light, who are not acquainted with its ways, and do not stay in its paths.
14The murderer rises in the dark, that he may kill the poor and needy; and in the night he is as a thief.
15The eye of the adulterer also waits for the twilight, saying, `No eye will see me'; and he disguises his face.
16In the dark they dig through houses; by day they shut themselves up; they do not know the light.
17For deep darkness is morning to all of them; for they are friends with the terrors of deep darkness.
18"You say, "They are swiftly carried away upon the face of the waters; their portion is cursed in the land; no treader turns toward their vineyards.
19Drought and heat snatch away the snow waters; so does Sheol those who have sinned.
20The squares of the town forget them; their name is no longer remembered; so wickedness is broken like a tree.'
21"They feed on the barren childless woman, and do no good to the widow.
22Yet God prolongs the life of the mighty by his power; they rise up when they despair of life.
23He gives them security, and they are supported; and his eyes are upon their ways.
24They are exalted a little while, and then are gone; they wither and fade like the mallow; they are cut off like the heads of grain.
25If it is not so, who will prove me a liar, and show that there is nothing in what I say?"



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