Job 24

¹Tymes ben not hid fro Almyyti God; sotheli thei that knowen hym, knowen not hise daies.

²Othere men turneden ouer the termes of neiyboris eritage, thei token awei flockis, and fedden tho.

³Thei driueden awei the asse of fadirlesse children, and token awei the cow of a widewe for a wed.

⁴Thei distrieden the weie of pore men, and thei oppressiden togidere the mylde men of erthe.

⁵Othere men as wielde assis in deseert goon out to her werk; and thei waken to prey, and bifor maken redy breed to her children.

⁶Thei kitten doun a feeld not hern, and thei gaderen grapis of his vyner, whom thei han oppressid bi violence.

⁷Thei leeuen men nakid, and taken awei the clothis, to whiche men is noon hiling in coold;

⁸whiche men the reynes of munteyns weeten, and thei han noon hilyng, and biclippen stoonys.

⁹Thei diden violence, and robbiden fadirles and modirles children; and thei spuyliden, `ether robbiden, the comynte of pore men.

¹⁰Thei token awey eeris of corn fro nakid men, and goynge with out cloth, and fro hungry men.

¹¹Thei weren hid in myddai among the heepis of tho men, that thirsten, whanne the presses ben trodun.

¹²Thei maden men of citees to weile, and the soulis of woundid men schulen crye; and God suffrith it not to go awei vnpunyschid.

¹³Thei weren rebel to liyt; thei knewen not the weyes therof, nether thei turneden ayen bi the pathis therof.

¹⁴A mansleere risith ful eerli, and sleeth a nedi man, and a pore man; sotheli bi nyyt he schal be as a nyyt theef.

¹⁵The iye of avouter kepith derknesse, and seith, An yye schal not se me; and he schal hile his face.

¹⁶Thei mynen housis in derknessis, as thei seiden togidere to hem silf in the dai; and thei knewen not liyt.

¹⁷If the morewtid apperith sudeynli, thei demen the schadewe of deth; and so thei goon in derknessis as in liyt.

¹⁸He is vnstablere than the face of the water; his part in erthe be cursid, and go he not bi the weie of vyneris.

¹⁹Passe he to ful greet heete fro the watris of snowis, and the synne of hym `til to hellis.

²⁰Merci foryete hym; his swetnesse be a worm; be he not in mynde, but be he al to-brokun as `a tre vnfruytful.

²¹For he fedde the bareyn, and hir that childith not, and he dide not wel to the widewe.

²²He drow doun stronge men in his strengthe; and whanne he stondith in `greet state, he schal not bileue to his lijf.

²³God yaf to hym place of penaunce, and he mysusith that in to pride; for the iyen of God ben in the weies of that man.

²⁴Thei ben reisid at a litil, and thei schulen not stonde; and thei schulen be maad low as alle thingis, and thei schulen be takun awei; and as the hyynessis of eeris of corn thei schulen be al to-brokun.

²⁵That if it is not so, who may repreue me, that Y liede, and putte my wordis bifor God?

Job 24

¹Why, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty, do they that know him not see his days?

²Some remove the landmarks; they violently take away flocks, and feed thereof.

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

⁴They turn the needy out of the way: the poor of the earth hide themselves together.

⁵Behold, as wild asses in the desert, go they forth to their work; rising betimes for a prey: the wilderness yieldeth food for them and for their children.

⁶They reap every one his corn in the field: and they gather the vintage of the wicked.

⁷They cause the naked to lodge without clothing, that they have no covering in the cold.

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

⁹They pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor.

¹⁰They cause him to go naked without clothing, and they take away the sheaf from the hungry;

¹¹Which make oil within their walls, and tread their winepresses, and suffer thirst.

¹²Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded crieth out: yet God layeth not folly to them.

¹³They are of those that rebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof.

¹⁴The murderer rising with the light killeth the poor and needy, and in the night is as a thief.

¹⁵The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me: and disguiseth his face.

¹⁶In the dark they dig through houses, which they had marked for themselves in the daytime: they know not the light.

¹⁷For the morning is to them even as the shadow of death: if one know them, they are in the terrors of the shadow of death.

¹⁸He is swift as the waters; their portion is cursed in the earth: he beholdeth not the way of the vineyards.

¹⁹Drought and heat consume the snow waters: so doth the grave those which have sinned.

²⁰The womb shall forget him; the worm shall feed sweetly on him; he shall be no more remembered; and wickedness shall be broken as a tree.

²¹He evil entreateth the barren that beareth not: and doeth not good to the widow.

²²He draweth also the mighty with his power: he riseth up, and no man is sure of life.

²³Though it be given him to be in safety, whereon he resteth; yet his eyes are upon their ways.

²⁴They are exalted for a little while, but are gone and brought low; they are taken out of the way as all other, and cut off as the tops of the ears of corn.

²⁵And if it be not so now, who will make me a liar, and make my speech nothing worth?