They cause him to go naked without clothing, and they take away the sheaf from the hungry;
Parallel translations
- WEB So that they go around naked without clothing. Being hungry, they carry the sheaves.
- BSB Without clothing, they wander about naked. They carry the sheaves, but still go hungry.
- NKJV They cause the poor to go naked, without clothing; And they take away the sheaves from the hungry.
- NASB “The poor move about naked without clothing, And they carry sheaves, while going hungry.
- NLT The poor must go about naked, without any clothing. They harvest food for others while they themselves are starving.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The poor go about naked and carry harvest sheaves while themselves hungry. It matters because they produce food yet are denied it.
Overview
Job laments that the destitute labor unclothed and bear bundles of grain even as they starve. They toil in the harvest but reap none of its bounty. This injustice, where workers are denied the fruit of their labor, is condemned throughout Scripture and answered by the Lord who promises to satisfy the hungry.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Amos 2:7–8That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek: and a man and his father will go in unto the same maid, to profane my holy name:
- Amos 5:11–12Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and ye take from him burdens of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them.
- Deut 24:19When thou cuttest down thine harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow: that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hands.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.
How Job 24:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.