| New King James Version | New Living Translation |
| 1“Since times are not hidden from the Almighty, Why do those who know Him see not His days? | 1“Why doesn’t the Almighty bring the wicked to judgment? Why must the godly wait for him in vain? |
| 2“Some remove landmarks; They seize flocks violently and feed on them; | 2Evil people steal land by moving the boundary markers. They steal livestock and put them in their own pastures. |
| 3They drive away the donkey of the fatherless; 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 push the needy off the road; All the poor of the land are forced to hide. | 4The poor are pushed off the path; the needy must hide together for safety. |
| 5Indeed, like wild donkeys in the desert, They go out to their work, searching for food. The wilderness yields 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 gather their 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, without clothing, And have no covering in the cold. | 7All night they lie naked in the cold, without clothing or covering. |
| 8They are wet with the showers of the mountains, And huddle around the rock for want of shelter. | 8They are soaked by mountain showers, and they huddle against the rocks for want of a home. |
| 9“Some snatch the fatherless from the breast, And take a pledge from the poor. | 9“The wicked snatch a widow’s child from her breast, taking the baby as security for a loan. |
| 10They cause the poor to go naked, without clothing; And they take away the sheaves from the hungry. | 10The poor must go about naked, without any clothing. They harvest food for others while they themselves are starving. |
| 11They press out oil within their walls, And tread winepresses, yet suffer thirst. | 11They press out olive oil without being allowed to taste it, and they tread in the winepress as they suffer from thirst. |
| 12The dying groan in the city, And the souls of the wounded cry out; Yet God does not charge them with wrong. | 12The groans of the dying rise from the city, and the wounded cry for help, yet God ignores their moaning. |
| 13“There are those who rebel against the light; They do not know its ways Nor abide in its paths. | 13“Wicked people rebel against the light. They refuse to acknowledge its ways or stay in its paths. |
| 14The murderer rises with the light; He kills the poor and needy; And 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. |
| 15The eye of the adulterer waits for the twilight, Saying, ‘No eye will see me’; And he disguises his face. | 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 they break into houses Which they marked for themselves in the daytime; 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 the morning is the same to them as the shadow of death; If someone recognizes them, They are in the terrors of the shadow of death. | 17The black night is their morning. They ally themselves with the terrors of the darkness. |
| 18“They should be swift on the face of the waters, Their portion should be cursed in the earth, So that no one would turn into the way of their vineyards. | 18“But they disappear like foam down a river. Everything they own is cursed, and they are afraid to enter their own vineyards. |
| 19As drought and heat consume the snow waters, So the grave consumes those who have sinned. | 19The grave consumes sinners just as drought and heat consume snow. |
| 20The womb should forget him, The worm should feed sweetly on him; He should be remembered no more, And wickedness should be broken like a tree. | 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. |
| 21For he preys on the barren who do not bear, And does no good for the widow. | 21They cheat the woman who has no son to help her. They refuse to help the needy widow. |
| 22“But God draws the mighty away with His power; He rises up, but no man is sure of life. | 22“God, in his power, drags away the rich. They may rise high, but they have no assurance of life. |
| 23He gives them security, and they rely on it; Yet His eyes are on their ways. | 23They may be allowed to live in security, but God is always watching them. |
| 24They are exalted for a little while, Then they are gone. They are brought low; They are taken out of the way like all others; They dry out like the heads of grain. | 24And though they are great now, in a moment they will be gone like all others, cut off like heads of grain. |
| 25“Now if it is not so, who will prove me a liar, And make my speech worth nothing?” | 25Can anyone claim otherwise? Who can prove me wrong?” |
| The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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