FALSE SECURITY
Key verse: 23
NIV
24 “Why does the Almighty not set times(A) for judgment?(B)
Why must those who know him look in vain for such days?(C)
2 There are those who move boundary stones;(D)
they pasture flocks they have stolen.(E)
3 They drive away the orphan’s donkey
and take the widow’s ox in pledge.(F)
4 They thrust the needy(G) from the path
and force all the poor(H) of the land into hiding.(I)
5 Like wild donkeys(J) in the desert,
the poor go about their labor(K) of foraging food;
the wasteland(L) provides food for their children.
6 They gather fodder(M) in the fields
and glean in the vineyards(N) of the wicked.(O)
7 Lacking clothes, they spend the night naked;
they have nothing to cover themselves in the cold.(P)
8 They are drenched(Q) by mountain rains
and hug(R) the rocks for lack of shelter.(S)
9 The fatherless(T) child is snatched(U) from the breast;
the infant of the poor is seized(V) for a debt.(W)
10 Lacking clothes, they go about naked;(X)
they carry the sheaves,(Y) but still go hungry.
11 They crush olives among the terraces[a];
they tread the winepresses,(Z) yet suffer thirst.(AA)
12 The groans of the dying rise from the city,
and the souls of the wounded cry out for help.(AB)
But God charges no one with wrongdoing.(AC)
13 “There are those who rebel against the light,(AD)
who do not know its ways
or stay in its paths.(AE)
14 When daylight is gone, the murderer rises up,
kills(AF) the poor and needy,(AG)
and in the night steals forth like a thief.(AH)
15 The eye of the adulterer(AI) watches for dusk;(AJ)
he thinks, ‘No eye will see me,’(AK)
and he keeps his face concealed.
16 In the dark, thieves break into houses,(AL)
but by day they shut themselves in;
they want nothing to do with the light.(AM)
17 For all of them, midnight is their morning;
they make friends with the terrors(AN) of darkness.(AO)
18 “Yet they are foam(AP) on the surface of the water;(AQ)
their portion of the land is cursed,(AR)
so that no one goes to the vineyards.(AS)
19 As heat and drought snatch away the melted snow,(AT)
so the grave(AU) snatches away those who have sinned.
20 The womb forgets them,
the worm(AV) feasts on them;(AW)
the wicked are no longer remembered(AX)
but are broken like a tree.(AY)
21 They prey on the barren and childless woman,
and to the widow they show no kindness.(AZ)
22 But God drags away the mighty by his power;(BA)
though they become established,(BB) they have no assurance of life.(BC)
23 He may let them rest in a feeling of security,(BD)
but his eyes(BE) are on their ways.(BF)
24 For a little while they are exalted, and then they are gone;(BG)
they are brought low and gathered up like all others;(BH)
they are cut off like heads of grain.(BI)
25 “If this is not so, who can prove me false
and reduce my words to nothing?”(BJ)
Footnotes
- Job 24:11 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
Cross references
- Job 24:1 : S Job 14:5
- Job 24:1 : S Job 9:23; 2Pe 3:7
- Job 24:1 : S Job 15:20; Ac 1:7
- Job 24:2 : S Dt 19:14
- Job 24:2 : Ex 20:15; Dt 28:31
- Job 24:3 : S Job 6:27; S 22:9
- Job 24:4 : Job 29:16; 31:19
- Job 24:4 : Job 29:12; 30:25; Ps 12:5; 41:1; 82:3, 4; Isa 11:4
- Job 24:4 : S Job 20:19; S Pr 28:12
- Job 24:5 : S Ge 16:12
- Job 24:5 : Ps 104:23
- Job 24:5 : Job 30:3
- Job 24:6 : S Job 6:5
- Job 24:6 : ver 18
- Job 24:6 : Ru 2:22; S 1Ki 21:19
- Job 24:7 : S Ex 22:27
- Job 24:8 : Da 4:25, 33
- Job 24:8 : La 4:5
- Job 24:8 : S Jdg 6:2
- Job 24:9 : S Dt 24:17
- Job 24:9 : Job 29:17
- Job 24:9 : Ps 14:4; Pr 30:14; Isa 3:14; 10:1-2; Eze 18:12
- Job 24:9 : S Lev 25:47; S 2Ki 4:1
- Job 24:10 : Dt 24:12-13
- Job 24:10 : S Lev 19:9
- Job 24:11 : Isa 5:2; 16:10; Hag 2:16
- Job 24:11 : Mic 6:15
- Job 24:12 : S Job 12:19; 30:28; Ps 5:2; 22:24; 39:12; 119:147; Isa 30:19; Jer 50:46; 51:52, 54; Eze 26:15; Rev 6:10
- Job 24:12 : S Job 9:23
- Job 24:13 : ver 16; Job 38:15; Jn 3:19-20; 1Th 5:4-5
- Job 24:13 : Job 17:12; 38:20; Ps 18:28; Isa 5:20; Eph 5:8-14
- Job 24:14 : Isa 3:15; Mic 3:3
- Job 24:14 : S Job 20:19; Ps 37:32
- Job 24:14 : Ps 10:9
- Job 24:15 : Job 31:9, 27; Pr 1:10
- Job 24:15 : Pr 7:8-9
- Job 24:15 : Ps 10:11
- Job 24:16 : S Ex 22:2; Mt 6:19
- Job 24:16 : S ver 13
- Job 24:17 : S Job 18:11
- Job 24:17 : S Job 15:22; S 18:5
- Job 24:18 : S Job 9:26; Jude 1:13
- Job 24:18 : Job 22:16; Isa 57:20
- Job 24:18 : S Job 5:3
- Job 24:18 : ver 6
- Job 24:19 : Job 6:17
- Job 24:19 : S Job 21:13
- Job 24:20 : S Job 7:5
- Job 24:20 : S Job 21:26
- Job 24:20 : S Job 18:17
- Job 24:20 : S Job 14:7; Ps 31:12; Da 4:14
- Job 24:21 : S Job 22:9
- Job 24:22 : S Job 9:4
- Job 24:22 : S Job 12:19
- Job 24:22 : Dt 28:66; Mt 6:27; Jas 4:14
- Job 24:23 : S Job 9:24; Am 6:1
- Job 24:23 : S 2Ch 16:9
- Job 24:23 : S Job 10:4
- Job 24:24 : S 2Ki 19:35; S Job 4:20; Ps 37:10; 83:13; Isa 5:24; 17:13; 40:24; 41:2, 15
- Job 24:24 : S Job 3:19
- Job 24:24 : Isa 17:5
- Job 24:25 : S Job 6:28; S 16:17
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Source: BibleGateway
ESV
24 “Why are (A)not times of judgment (B)kept by the Almighty,
and why do those who know him never see his (C)days?
2 Some move (D)landmarks;
they seize flocks and pasture them.
3 They drive away the donkey of the fatherless;
they (E)take the widow's ox for a pledge.
4 They (F)thrust the poor off the road;
the poor of the earth (G)all hide themselves.
5 Behold, like wild donkeys in the desert
the poor[a] (H)go out to their toil, (I)seeking game;
the wasteland yields food for their children.
6 They gather their[b] fodder in the field,
and they glean the vineyard of the wicked man.
7 They (J)lie all night naked, without clothing,
and have no covering in the cold.
8 They are wet with the rain of the mountains
and (K)cling to the rock for lack of shelter.
9 (There are those who snatch the fatherless child from the breast,
and they take a pledge against the poor.)
10 They go about naked, without clothing;
hungry, they (L)carry the sheaves;
11 among the olive rows of the wicked[c] they make oil;
they tread the winepresses, but suffer thirst.
12 From out of the city the dying[d] groan,
and the soul of (M)the wounded cries for help;
yet God charges no one with (N)wrong.
13 “There are those who rebel (O)against the light,
who are not acquainted with its ways,
and do not stay in its paths.
14 The murderer rises before it is light,
that he (P)may kill the poor and needy,
and in the night he is like a thief.
15 The eye of the adulterer also waits for (Q)the twilight,
saying, ‘No (R)eye will see me’;
and he veils his face.
16 In the dark they (S)dig through houses;
by day they shut themselves up;
they do not know the light.
17 For (T)deep darkness is morning to all of them;
for they are friends with the terrors of deep darkness.
18 “You say, (U)‘Swift are they on the face of the waters;
their portion is cursed in the land;
no treader turns toward their vineyards.
19 Drought and heat snatch away the snow waters;
so does (V)Sheol those who have sinned.
20 The womb forgets them;
the worm finds them sweet;
they are (W)no longer remembered,
so wickedness is broken like (X)a tree.’
21 “They wrong the barren, childless woman,
and do no good to the widow.
22 Yet God[e] prolongs the life of the mighty by his power;
they rise up when they despair of life.
23 He gives them security, and they are supported,
and his (Y)eyes are upon their ways.
24 They are exalted (Z)a little while, and then (AA)are gone;
they are brought low and gathered up like all others;
they are (AB)cut off like the heads of grain.
25 If it is (AC)not so, who will prove me a liar
and show that there is nothing in what I say?”
Footnotes
Cross references
- Job 24:1 : Eccles. 9:12; Isa. 13:22; Jer. 27:7; Ezek. 22:3; 30:3
- Job 24:1 : ch. 15:20
- Job 24:1 : Isa. 2:12; 13:6, 9; Joel 1:15; 2:1; Amos 5:18; See ch. 18:20
- Job 24:2 : See Deut. 19:14
- Job 24:3 : See ch. 22:6
- Job 24:4 : Amos 2:7; 5:12; Mal. 3:5
- Job 24:4 : Prov. 28:28; [ch. 30:5, 6]
- Job 24:5 : Ps. 104:23
- Job 24:5 : Ps. 104:21
- Job 24:7 : [Ex. 22:26, 27; Deut. 24:12, 13]
- Job 24:8 : Lam. 4:5
- Job 24:10 : [2 Tim. 2:6; James 5:4]
- Job 24:12 : Jer. 51:52; Ezek. 30:24
- Job 24:12 : ch. 1:22
- Job 24:13 : John 3:19, 20
- Job 24:14 : [Ps. 10:8]
- Job 24:15 : Prov. 7:9
- Job 24:15 : Ps. 10:11
- Job 24:16 : Ex. 22:2; Matt. 6:20; [ch. 31:9]
- Job 24:17 : See ch. 3:5
- Job 24:18 : [ch. 9:26; Hos. 10:7]
- Job 24:19 : See ch. 21:13
- Job 24:20 : [Prov. 10:7]
- Job 24:20 : [ch. 18:16]
- Job 24:23 : See Ps. 11:4; Prov. 15:3
- Job 24:24 : Ps. 37:10
- Job 24:24 : [ch. 27:19]
- Job 24:24 : ch. 14:2
- Job 24:25 : [ch. 9:24]
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Source: BibleGateway
1. Does God charge no one with wrongdoing? (1-12)
Contrary to the theory of Eliphaz, there is much injustice in the world which seems to go unnoticed and unpunished by God. Job's suffering has enabled him to empathize with the plight of the poor, and he longs for God's righteous judgment just as they do.
2. Those who rebel against the light (13-25)
Job goes on to think about the people who rebel against the light. They do not come to the light because their deeds are evil (Jn 3:19-21). These include murderers and adulterers, and those who prey on helpless people when they think no one is watching. They seem to get away with what they do, but Job knows that God sees. God may let them rest in a feeling of security for a time, but the time of judgment will surely come.
Prayer: Lord, help me to understand the suffering of people. Help me to trust your justice and wait prayerfully and patiently on your just judgments.
One Word: God knows everything; God is just