Job chapter 24

Job asks why the wicked are not punished. They rebel against the light of God, and they get away with wicked deeds.

 


 

JOB ASKS WHY THE WICKED ARE NOT PUNISHED

 

VERSE 1. “Why aren’t times laid up by the Almighty? Why don’t those who know him see his days?

those who know him. That is, members of the believing community who are wicked.

Why don’t those who know him see his days. Concerning those members of the believing community who are wicked, why don’t they see the light of God and reform their wicked ways?

 

VERSE 2. There are people who remove the landmarks. They violently take away flocks, and feed them.

remove the landmarks. Wicked people get away with this crime.

 

VERSE 3. They drive away the donkey of the fatherless, and they take the widow’s ox for a pledge.

they take the widow’s ox. Some people are extremely self-centered. Extremely selfish. They have no sense of shame. They seize property from widows.

 

VERSE 4. They turn the needy out of the way. The poor of the earth all hide themselves.

They turn the needy out of the way. Wicked people ignore the people who are in need.

The poor of the earth all hide themselves. These wicked people are so cruel that poor people need to hide.

 

VERSE 5. Behold, as wild donkeys in the desert, they go out to their work, seeking diligently for food. The wilderness yields them bread for their children.

 

VERSE 6. They cut their food in the field. They glean the vineyard of the wicked.

 

VERSE 7. They lie all night naked without clothing, and have no covering in the cold.

A debtor could offer their outer garment as collateral. However, the lender had to return the garment at night. Failing to return such a garment was a sin. Read more »

 

VERSE 8. They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and embrace the rock for lack of a shelter.

 

VERSE 9. There are those who pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor,

take a pledge of the poor. Some people are extremely self-centered. Extremely selfish. They have no sense of shame. They seize property from poor people.

 

VERSE 10. So that they go around naked without clothing. Being hungry, they carry the sheaves.

 

VERSE 11. They make oil within the walls of these men. They tread wine presses, and suffer thirst.

 

VERSE 12. From out of the populous city, men groan. The soul of the wounded cries out, yet God doesn’t regard the folly.

 

VERSE 13. “These are of those who rebel against the light. They don’t know its ways, nor stay in its paths.

rebel against the light. This could mean the light of God. Or it might mean the light of their own conscience.

 

VERSE 14. The murderer rises with the light. He kills the poor and needy. In the night he is like a thief.

 

VERSE 15. The eye also of the adulterer waits for the twilight, saying, ‘No eye shall see me.’ He disguises his face.

 

VERSE 16. In the dark they dig through houses. They shut themselves up in the daytime. They don’t know the light.

 

VERSE 17. For the morning is to all of them like thick darkness, for they know the terrors of the thick darkness.

 

VERSE 18. “They are foam on the surface of the waters. Their portion is cursed in the earth. They don’t turn into the way of the vineyards.

 

VERSE 19. Drought and heat consume the snow waters, so does Sheol those who have sinned.

 

VERSE 20. The womb shall forget him. The worm shall feed sweetly on him. He shall be no more remembered. Unrighteousness shall be broken as a tree.

 

VERSE 21. He devours the barren who don’t bear. He shows no kindness to the widow.

 

VERSE 22. Yet God preserves the mighty by his power. He rises up who has no assurance of life.

 

VERSE 23. God gives them security, and they rest in it. His eyes are on their ways.

 

VERSE 24. They are exalted; yet a little while, and they are gone. Yes, they are brought low, they are taken out of the way as all others, and are cut off as the tops of the ears of grain.

 

VERSE 25. If it isn’t so now, who will prove me a liar, and make my speech worth nothing?”

 


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JOB

CHAPTERS: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 0708, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 1819, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42

RESOURCES: Summary, Outline, MemorizeJob’s Dark Night

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