| NET Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1"Why are times not appointed by the Almighty? Why do those who know him not see his days? | 1“Why doesn’t the Almighty bring the wicked to judgment? Why must the godly wait for him in vain? |
| 2Men move boundary stones; they seize the flock and pasture them. | 2Evil people steal land by moving the boundary markers. They steal livestock and put them in their own pastures. |
| 3They drive away the orphan's donkey; they take the widow's ox as a pledge. | 3They take the orphan’s donkey and demand the widow’s ox as security for a loan. |
| 4They turn the needy from the pathway, and the poor of the land hide themselves together. | 4The poor are pushed off the path; the needy must hide together for safety. |
| 5Like wild donkeys in the desert they go out to their labor, seeking diligently for food; the wasteland provides food for them and for their children. | 5Like wild donkeys in the wilderness, the poor must spend all their time looking for food, searching even in the desert for food for their children. |
| 6They reap fodder in the field, and glean in the vineyard of the wicked. | 6They harvest a field they do not own, and they glean in the vineyards of the wicked. |
| 7They spend the night naked because they lack clothing; they have no covering against the cold. | 7All night they lie naked in the cold, without clothing or covering. |
| 8They are soaked by mountain rains and huddle in the rocks because they lack shelter. | 8They are soaked by mountain showers, and they huddle against the rocks for want of a home. |
| 9The fatherless child is snatched from the breast, the infant of the poor is taken as a pledge. | 9“The wicked snatch a widow’s child from her breast, taking the baby as security for a loan. |
| 10They go about naked, without clothing, and go hungry while they carry the sheaves. | 10The poor must go about naked, without any clothing. They harvest food for others while they themselves are starving. |
| 11They press out the olive oil between the rows of olive trees; they tread the winepresses while they are thirsty. | 11They press out olive oil without being allowed to taste it, and they tread in the winepress as they suffer from thirst. |
| 12From the city the dying groan, and the wounded cry out for help, but God charges no one with wrongdoing. | 12The groans of the dying rise from the city, and the wounded cry for help, yet God ignores their moaning. |
| 13There are those who rebel against the light; they do not know its ways and they do not stay on its paths. | 13“Wicked people rebel against the light. They refuse to acknowledge its ways or stay in its paths. |
| 14Before daybreak the murderer rises up; he kills the poor and the needy; in the night he is like a thief. | 14The murderer rises in the early dawn to kill the poor and needy; at night he is a thief. |
| 15And the eye of the adulterer watches for the twilight, thinking, 'No eye can see me,' and covers his face with a mask. | 15The adulterer waits for the twilight, saying, ‘No one will see me then.’ He hides his face so no one will know him. |
| 16In the dark the robber breaks into houses, but by day they shut themselves in; they do not know the light. | 16Thieves break into houses at night and sleep in the daytime. They are not acquainted with the light. |
| 17For all of them, the morning is to them like deep darkness; they are friends with the terrors of darkness. | 17The black night is their morning. They ally themselves with the terrors of the darkness. |
| 18"You say, 'He is foam on the face of the waters; their portion of the land is cursed so that no one goes to their vineyard. | 18“But they disappear like foam down a river. Everything they own is cursed, and they are afraid to enter their own vineyards. |
| 19The drought as well as the heat carry away the melted snow; so the grave takes away those who have sinned. | 19The grave consumes sinners just as drought and heat consume snow. |
| 20The womb forgets him, the worm feasts on him, no longer will he be remembered. Like a tree, wickedness will be broken down. | 20Their own mothers will forget them. Maggots will find them sweet to eat. No one will remember them. Wicked people are broken like a tree in the storm. |
| 21He preys on the barren and childless woman, and does not treat the widow well. | 21They cheat the woman who has no son to help her. They refuse to help the needy widow. |
| 22But God drags off the mighty by his power; when God rises up against him, he has no faith in his life. | 22“God, in his power, drags away the rich. They may rise high, but they have no assurance of life. |
| 23God may let them rest in a feeling of security, but he is constantly watching all their ways. | 23They may be allowed to live in security, but God is always watching them. |
| 24They are exalted for a little while, and then they are gone, they are brought low like all others, and gathered in, and like a head of grain they are cut off.' | 24And though they are great now, in a moment they will be gone like all others, cut off like heads of grain. |
| 25"If this is not so, who can prove me a liar and reduce my words to nothing?" | 25Can anyone claim otherwise? Who can prove me wrong?” |
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