Who Can Prove Me a Liar?
“aWhy are times not stored up by the Almighty,
And why do those who know Him not behold bHis days?
2 Some amove the boundaries;
They seize and devour flocks.
3 They drive away the donkeys of the aorphans;
They take the bwidow’s ox for a pledge.
4 They push athe needy aside from the road;
The bafflicted of the land are made to hide themselves altogether.
5 Behold, as awild donkeys in the wilderness
They bgo forth seeking food earnestly in their work,
The desert becomes for him a place of bread for his young ones.
6 They harvest their fodder in the field
And glean the vineyard of the wicked.
7 aThey spend the night naked, without clothing,
And have no covering against the cold.
8 They are wet with the mountain rains
And hug the rock for want of a shelter.
9 Others snatch the aorphan from the breast,
And against the afflicted they take a pledge.
10 Those poor ones walk about naked without clothing,
And hungry ones carry the sheaves.
11 Within the walls they produce oil;
They tread wine presses but thirst.
12 From the city men groan,
And the souls of the wounded cry out;
Yet God adoes not pay attention to such offense.
13 “Others have been with those who rebel against the light;
They do not want to recognize its ways
Nor abide in its paths.
14 The murderer aarises at dawn;
He bkills the afflicted and the needy,
And at night he is as a thief.
15 The eye of the aadulterer keeps watch for the twilight,
Saying, ‘No eye will see me.’
And he keeps his face hidden.
16 In the dark they adig into houses;
They bshut themselves up by day;
They do not know the light.
17 For the morning is the same to him as the shadow of death,
For he recognizes the aterrors of the shadow of death.
18 “They are ainsignificant on the surface of the water;
Their portion is bcursed on the earth.
They do not turn toward the cvineyards.
19 Drought and heat aseize the snow waters,
So does bSheol those who have sinned.
20 A amother will forget him;
The bworm feasts sweetly till he is cno longer remembered.
And unrighteousness will be broken dlike a tree.
21 He feeds on the barren woman who does not give birth
And does no good for athe widow.
22 But He drags off the mighty by aHis power;
He rises, but bno one believes in his life.
23 He provides them awith security, and they are supported;
And His beyes are on their ways.
24 They are exalted a alittle while, then they are gone;
Moreover, they are bbrought low and like everything gathered up;
Even like the heads of grain they are cut off.
25 Now if it is not so, awho can prove me a liar,
And make my speech worthless?”