1 Why doesn't the Almighty set a definite time to punish the wicked?* Why don't those who follow him never see him act in judgment? 2 The wicked move boundary stones;† they seize other people's flocks and move them to their own pastures. 3 They steal the orphan's donkey; they take the widow's ox as security for a debt. 4 They push the poor out of their way; the destitute are forced to hide from them. 5 Like wild donkeys in the desert, the poor have to scavenge for their food, looking for anything to feed their children in the wasteland. 6 They are forced to find what they can in other people's fields, to glean among the vineyards of the wicked. 7 They spend the night naked because they have no clothes; they have nothing to cover themselves against the cold. 8 They are soaked by the cold mountain storms, and huddle beside the rocks for shelter. 9 Fatherless children are snatched from their mother's breasts, taking the babies of the poor as security for a debt. 10 Because they have no clothes to wear they have to go naked, harvesting sheaves of grain while they themselves are hungry. 11 In the olive groves they work to produce oil, but do not taste it; they tread the winepress, but are thirsty. 12 In the city the dying groan, and the wounded cry for help, but God ignores their prayers.‡

13 These are people who rebel against the light. They do not want to know its ways, or to stay on its paths. 14 The murderer gets up at dawn to kill the poor and needy, and when night falls he becomes a thief. 15 The adulterer waits for dusk, saying to himself, ‘No one will see me now,’ and he covers his face. 16 Thieves break into houses during the night and they sleep during the day. They don't even know what the light is like! 17 Total darkness is like light to them, for they are familiar with the night.

18 Like bubbles§ on the surface of a river they are quickly carried away. The land they own is cursed by God. They don't enter their own vineyards. 19 Just as heat and drought dry up snowmelt, so Sheol takes away those who have sinned. 20 Even their mothers forget them, maggots feast on them, they are no longer remembered, and their wickedness becomes like a tree that is broken into pieces. 21 They mistreat childless women and are mean to widows. 22 God prolongs the life of the wicked by his power; but when they arise, they have no assurance of life.* 23 He supports them and gives them security, but he is always watching what they're doing. 24 Though they may be illustrious for a while, soon they are gone. They are brought down like all others, cut off like the heads of grain. 25 If this isn't so, who can prove I'm a liar and there's nothing to what I say?”