1“Why are times for judgment not kept by the Almighty; and why do they who know Him never see His days (of judgment of the wicked)? 2Some men remove the landmarks; they violently seize flocks, and feed off them. 3They drive away the donkey of orphans, they take the widow's ox for a pledge. 4They push the needy out of the way; the poor of the earth must hide themselves together.

5“The poor must go out scavenging for food in the wilderness like wild donkeys; they must spend all their time searching for food for their children. 6They gather every grain in the field; and glean the vineyards of the wicked. 7The wicked cause the naked to sleep without clothing, that they have no covering in the cold. 8They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and hug the rock for lack of a shelter. 9They snatch the orphan from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor. 10They cause him to go naked without clothing, and they take the sheaf away from the hungry; 11Within their walls they make oil, and tread their winepresses, and suffer thirst. 12Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded cries out; yet God lays not folly to them.

13“They are of those that rebel against the light; they know not its ways, nor abide in its paths. 14The murderer rises at dawn and kills the poor and needy, and at night he is a thief. 15The eye of the adulterer also waits for twilight, saying, ‘No eye shall see me’; and disguises his face. 16In the dark they dig through walls of houses, which they had marked for themselves in the daytime; they avoid the light. 17For them, midnight is their morning; if anyone identifies them, they are in danger of the shadow of death.

18“They are like foam on the waters that disappears; their portion is cursed in the earth; and fear to enter their own vineyards. 19Drought and heat consume the snow waters; as the grave consumes those who have sinned. 20Their own mothers shall forget them; the worm shall feed sweetly on them until they are no more remembered; and wickedness shall be broken like a tree. 21They prey upon the childless woman; and show no kindness to the widow. 22But God drags away the mighty by His power; though they may become established, they have no assurance of life. 23He may let them rest in a feeling of safety, but His eyes are upon their ways. 24They are exalted for a little while, but are brought low and gathered up as all others, and cut off as the tops of the ears of grain. 25And if this is not so, who will prove me a liar, and reduce my words to nothing?”