Job: Judgment for the Wicked

¹“Why does the Almighty not reserve times for judgment?Why may those who know Him never see His days?

²Men move boundary stones;they pasture stolen flocks.

³They drive away the donkey of the fatherlessand take the widow’s ox in pledge.

⁴They push the needy off the roadand force all the poor of the land into hiding.

⁵Indeed, like wild donkeys in the desert,the poor go to work foraging for food;the wasteland is food for their children.

⁶They gather fodder in the fieldsand glean the vineyards of the wicked.

⁷Without clothing, they spend the night naked;they have no covering against the cold.

⁸Drenched by mountain rains,they huddle against the rocks for want of shelter.

⁹The fatherless infant is snatched from the breast;the nursing child of the poor is seized for a debt.

¹⁰Without clothing, they wander about naked.They carry the sheaves, but still go hungry.

¹¹They crush olives within their walls;they tread the winepresses, but go thirsty.

¹²From the city, men groan,and the souls of the wounded cry out,yet God charges no one with wrongdoing.

¹³Then there are those who rebel against the light,not knowing its ways or staying on its paths.

¹⁴When daylight is gone, the murderer risesto kill the poor and needy;in the night he is like a thief.

¹⁵The eye of the adulterer watches for twilight.Thinking, ‘No eye will see me,’ he covers his face.

¹⁶In the dark they dig through houses;by day they shut themselves in,never to experience the light.

¹⁷For to them, deep darkness is their morning;surely they are friends with the terrors of darkness!

¹⁸They are but foam on the surface of the water;their portion of the land is cursed,so that no one turns toward their vineyards.

¹⁹As drought and heat consume the melting snow,so Sheol steals those who have sinned.

²⁰The womb forgets them;the worm feeds on them;they are remembered no more.So injustice is broken like a tree.

²¹They prey on the barren and childless,and show no kindness to the widow.

²²Yet by His power, God drags away the mighty;though rising up, they have no assurance of life.

²³He gives them a sense of security,but His eyes are on their ways.

²⁴They are exalted for a moment,then they are gone;they are brought low and gathered up like all others;they are cut off like heads of grain.

²⁵If this is not so, then who can prove me a liarand reduce my words to nothing?”

The LORD Will Not Forget His People

¹O LORD, God of vengeance,O God of vengeance, shine forth.

²Rise up, O Judge of the earth;render a reward to the proud.

³How long will the wicked, O LORD,how long will the wicked exult?

⁴They pour out arrogant words;all workers of iniquity boast.

⁵They crush Your people, O LORD;they oppress Your heritage.

⁶They kill the widow and the foreigner;they murder the fatherless.

⁷They say, “The LORD does not see;the God of Jacob pays no heed.”

⁸Take notice, O senseless among the people!O fools, when will you be wise?

⁹He who affixed the ear, can He not hear?He who formed the eye, can He not see?

¹⁰He who admonishes the nations, does He not discipline?He who teaches man, does He lack knowledge?

¹¹The LORD knows the thoughts of man,that they are futile.

¹²Blessed is the man You discipline, O LORD,and teach from Your law,

¹³to grant him relief from days of trouble,until a pit is dug for the wicked.

¹⁴For the LORD will not forsake His people;He will never abandon His heritage.

¹⁵Surely judgment will again be righteous,and all the upright in heart will follow it.

¹⁶Who will rise up for me against the wicked?Who will stand for me against the workers of iniquity?

¹⁷Unless the LORD had been my helper,I would soon have dwelt in the abode of silence.

¹⁸If I say, “My foot is slipping,”Your loving devotion, O LORD, supports me.

¹⁹When anxiety overwhelms me,Your consolation delights my soul.

²⁰Can a corrupt throne be Your ally—one devising mischief by decree?

²¹They band together against the righteousand condemn the innocent to death.

²²But the LORD has been my stronghold,and my God is my rock of refuge.

²³He will bring upon them their own iniquityand destroy them for their wickedness.The LORD our God will destroy them.

You Are My Refuge and My Fortress

¹He who dwells in the shelter of the Most Highwill abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

²I will say to the LORD, “You are my refuge and my fortress,my God, in whom I trust.”

³Surely He will deliver youfrom the snare of the fowler,and from the deadly plague.

⁴He will cover you with His feathers;under His wings you will find refuge;His faithfulness is a shield and rampart.

⁵You will not fear the terror of the night,nor the arrow that flies by day,

⁶nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,nor the calamity that destroys at noon.

⁷Though a thousand may fall at your side,and ten thousand at your right hand,no harm will come near you.

⁸You will only see it with your eyesand witness the punishment of the wicked.

⁹Because you have made the LORD your dwelling—my refuge, the Most High—

¹⁰no evil will befall you,no plague will approach your tent.

¹¹For He will command His angels concerning youto guard you in all your ways.

¹²They will lift you up in their hands,so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

¹³You will tread on the lion and cobra;you will trample the young lion and serpent.

¹⁴“Because he loves Me, I will deliver him;because he knows My name, I will protect him.

¹⁵When he calls out to Me,I will answer him;I will be with him in trouble.I will deliver him and honor him.

¹⁶With long life I will satisfy himand show him My salvation.”

The Mighty One Calls

¹The Mighty One, God the LORD,speaks and summons the earthfrom where the sun rises to where it sets.

²From Zion, perfect in beauty,God shines forth.

³Our God approaches and will not be silent!Consuming fire precedes Him,and a tempest rages around Him.

⁴He summons the heavens above,and the earth, that He may judge His people:

⁵“Gather to Me My saints,who made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.”

⁶And the heavens proclaim His righteousness,for God Himself is Judge.Selah

⁷“Hear, O My people, and I will speak,O Israel, and I will testify against you:I am God, your God.

⁸I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices,and your burnt offerings are ever before Me.

⁹I have no need for a bull from your stallor goats from your pens,

¹⁰for every beast of the forest is Mine—the cattle on a thousand hills.

¹¹I know every bird in the mountains,and the creatures of the field are Mine.

¹²If I were hungry, I would not tell you,for the world is Mine, and the fullness thereof.

¹³Do I eat the flesh of bulls,or drink the blood of goats?

¹⁴Sacrifice a thank offering to God,and fulfill your vows to the Most High.

¹⁵Call upon Me in the day of trouble;I will deliver you, and you will honor Me.”

¹⁶To the wicked, however, God says,“What right have you to recite My statutesand to bear My covenant on your lips?

¹⁷For you hate My instructionand cast My words behind you.

¹⁸When you see a thief, you befriend him,and throw in your lot with adulterers.

¹⁹You unleash your mouth for eviland harness your tongue to deceit.

²⁰You sit and malign your brother;you slander your own mother’s son.

²¹You have done these things, and I kept silent;you thought I wasjust like you.But now I rebuke youand accuse you to your face.

²²Now consider this, you who forget God,lest I tear you to pieces,with no one to rescue you:

²³He who sacrifices a thank offering honors Me,and to him who rightly orders his way,I will show the salvation of God.”