They cause the poor to go naked, without clothing; And they take away the sheaves from the hungry.
Parallel translations
- WEB So that they go around naked without clothing. Being hungry, they carry the sheaves.
- KJV They cause him to go naked without clothing, and they take away the sheaf from the hungry;
- BSB Without clothing, they wander about naked. They carry the sheaves, but still go 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 2:7–8They trample on the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and deny justice to the oppressed; and a man and his father use the same maiden, to profane my holy name;
- Amos 5:11–12Therefore, because you trample on the poor, and take taxes from him of wheat: You have built houses of cut stone, but you will not dwell in them. You have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink their wine.
- Deut 24:19When you reap your harvest in your field, and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you shall not go again to get it. It shall be for the foreigner, for the fatherless, and for the widow; that Yahweh your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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.