Urban Word Bible
Job 24
Read Job 24 in clear, relatable modern language.
The Wicked Seem to Get Away with It
1 “Why does not the Almighty set times for judgment, Why do not those who know Him see His days,
2 People move boundary lines, snatch flocks, and feed them.
3 They take orphans’ donkeys, grab widows’ oxen as collateral.
4 They push the poor off the road; the needy hide together.
5 The poor wander like wild donkeys in the desert, hunting for food; they work the wastelands just to feed their kids.
6 They gather scraps in the fields, picking up grapes left behind in the wicked man’s vineyard.
7 They spend the night naked, no clothes, shivering in the cold without covering.
8 Soaked by mountain rain, they hug the rocks just to find shelter.
Oppression of the Weak
9 The fatherless are snatched from their moms; babies are taken as collateral for debt.
10 The poor go about naked, no clothes; they carry bundles of grain but stay hungry.
11 They press oil within the walls of the wicked; they tread winepresses, but thirst still burns them.
12 From the city, the dying groan, the wounded cry for help, but God does not charge the oppressors.
The Ways of the Wicked
13 There are those who rebel against the light; they do not know its ways or stay on its paths.
14 The murderer rises with the dawn, kills the poor and needy, and at night acts like a thief.
15 The adulterer waits for dusk, saying, ‘No one’s watching me,’ and he masks his face.
16 In the dark, they dig through houses; by day, they shut themselves in. They do not want anything to do with the light.
17 Morning is like death’s shadow to them; they are familiar with the terrors of darkness.
The Fate of the Wicked
18 They are swift on the water’s surface; their land is cursed, no farmer turns into their vineyard.
19 As drought and heat suck away snow water, so Sheol eats up sinners.
20 The womb forgets them, worms feast on them; they are no longer remembered. Wickedness snaps like a tree.
21 They prey on the childless woman, do no good for the widow.
22 Yet God drags away the mighty with His power; they rise up but have no assurance of life.
23 He lets them rest secure, but His eyes are on their ways.
24 They are exalted for a little while, then gone. Brought low, gathered up like all others; cut off like heads of grain.
25 If it is not so, who can prove me wrong and make my words nothing but lies?”