Job 24:5

Easy-to-Read Version

"The poor are like wild donkeys that go out to the desert to find food. From morning to night they work to gather food for their children.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Like wild donkeys in the wilderness,the poor go out to their task of foraging for food;the desert provides nourishment for their children.

Hebrew Names Version
Behold, as wild donkeys in the desert, They go forth to their work, seeking diligently for food; The wilderness yields them bread for their children.

King James Version
Behold, as wild asses in the desert, go they forth to their work; rising betimes for a prey: the wilderness yieldeth food for them and for their children.

English Standard Version
Behold, like wild donkeys in the desert the poor go out to their toil, seeking game; the wasteland yields food for their children.

New Century Version
The poor become like wild donkeys in the desert who go about their job of finding food. The desert gives them food for their children.

New English Translation
Like wild donkeys in the desert they go out to their labor, seeking diligently for food; the wasteland provides food for them and for their children.

Amplified Bible
"Behold, as wild donkeys in the desert, The poor go to their work, diligently seeking food; As bread for their children in the desert.

New American Standard Bible
"Behold, like wild donkeys in the wilderness They go out scavenging for food in their activity, As bread for their children in the desert.

World English Bible
Behold, as wild donkeys in the desert, They go forth to their work, seeking diligently for food; The wilderness yields them bread for their children.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Behold, others as wilde asses in the wildernesse, goe forth to their businesse, and rise early for a praye: the wildernesse giueth him and his children foode.

Legacy Standard Bible
Behold, as wild donkeys in the wildernessThey go forth seeking food earnestly in their work,The desert becomes for him a place of bread for his young ones.

Berean Standard Bible
Indeed, like wild donkeys in the desert, the poor go to work foraging for food; the wasteland is food for their children.

Contemporary English Version
in the desert, where they and their children must live like wild donkeys and search for food.

Complete Jewish Bible
like wild donkeys in the wilderness, they have to go out and scavenge food, [hoping that] the desert will provide food for their children.

Darby Translation
Lo, [as] wild asses in the desert, they go forth to their work, seeking early for the prey: the wilderness [yieldeth] them food for [their] children.

George Lamsa Translation
Behold, like wild asses in the desert, they go forth early seeking food for their young ones.

Good News Translation
So the poor, like wild donkeys, search for food in the dry wilderness; nowhere else can they find food for their children.

Lexham English Bible
"Look, like wild donkeys in the desert they go out to their labor as searchers for the prey; the wilderness is their food for the young.

Literal Translation
Behold, like wild asses in the desert, they go out in their work, seeking early for prey; the desert yields food for him for their young.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Beholde, the wilde asses in ye deserte go by tymes (as their maner is) to spoyle: Yee the very wildernesse ministreth foode for their children.

American Standard Version
Behold, as wild asses in the desert They go forth to their work, seeking diligently for food; The wilderness yieldeth them bread for their children.

Bible in Basic English
Like asses in the waste land they go out to their work, looking for food with care; from the waste land they get bread for their children.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Behold, as wild asses in the wilderness they go forth to their work, seeking diligently for food;

King James Version (1611)
Behold, as wilde asses in the desart, goe they foorth to their worke, rising betimes for a pray: the wildernes yeeldeth food for them, and for their children.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Beholde, as wilde asses in the desert go they foorth to their worke, & ryse betimes to spoyle: Yea the very wildernesse ministreth foode for them & their children.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And they have departed like asses in the field, having gone forth on my account according to their own order: his bread is sweet to his little ones.

English Revised Version
Behold, as wild asses in the desert they go forth to their work, seeking diligently for meat; the wilderness yieldeth them food for their children.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Othere men as wielde assis in deseert goon out to her werk; and thei waken to prey, and bifor maken redy breed to her children.

Update Bible Version
Look, as wild donkeys in the desert, they go forth to their work, seeking diligently for food; The wilderness [yields] them bread for their children.

Webster's Bible Translation
Behold, [as] wild asses in the desert, they go forth to their work; rising betimes for a prey: the wilderness [yieldeth] food for them [and] for [their] children.

New King James Version
Indeed, 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.

New Living Translation
Like 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.

New Life Bible
See, they go out like wild donkeys in the desert to look for food for their children.

New Revised Standard
Like wild asses in the desert they go out to their toil, scavenging in the wasteland food for their young.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Lo! as wild asses in the wilderness, they go forth with their work, eager seekers for prey, the waste plain, yieldeth them food for their young;

Douay-Rheims Bible
Others like wild asses in the desert go forth to their work: by watching for a prey they get bread for their children.

Revised Standard Version
Behold, like wild asses in the desert they go forth to their toil, seeking prey in the wilderness as food for their children.

Young's Literal Translation
Lo, wild asses in a wilderness, They have gone out about their work, Seeking early for prey, A mixture for himself -- food for young ones.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Behold, as wild donkeys in the wilderness They go forth seeking food in their activity, As bread for their children in the desert.

Contextual Overview

¹ "Why doesn't God All-Powerful set times for judgment? And why can't his followers know when those times will be? ² "People move property markers to get more of their neighbor's land. People steal flocks and lead them to other grasslands. ³ They steal a donkey that belongs to an orphan. They take a widow's cow until she pays what she owes them. They take a nursing baby from its mother. They take a poor person's child to guarantee a loan. ⁴ They force the poor to move out of their way and to get off the road. ⁵ "The poor are like wild donkeys that go out to the desert to find food. From morning to night they work to gather food for their children. ⁶ They have to work in the fields, harvesting grain. They work for the rich, gathering grapes in their vineyards. ⁷ They must sleep all night without clothes. They have no covers to protect them from the cold. ⁸ They are soaked with rain in the mountains. They stay close to the large rocks for shelter. They have no clothes, so they work naked. They carry piles of grain for others, but they go hungry. They press out olive oil and walk on grapes in the winepress, but they have nothing to drink. In the city you can hear the sad sounds of dying people. Those who are hurt cry out for help, but God does not listen. "Some people rebel against the light. They don't know what God wants. They don't live the way he wants. A murderer gets up at dawn and kills poor, helpless people. And at night he becomes a thief. A man who commits adultery waits for the night to come. He thinks, ‘No one will see me,' but still, he covers his face. When it is dark, evil people go out and break into houses. But during the day they lock themselves in their homes to avoid the light. The darkest night is their morning. They are friends with the terrors of darkness. " You say, ‘Evil people are taken away like things carried away in a flood. The land they own is cursed, so no one goes to work in their vineyards. As hot, dry weather melts away the winter snows, so the grave takes away those who have sinned. Their own mothers will forget them. Only the worms will want them. No one will remember them. They will be broken like a rotten stick! These evil people hurt women who have no children to protect them, and they refuse to help widows. By his power God removes the powerful. Even if they have a high position, they cannot be sure of their lives. They might feel safe and secure, but God is watching how they live. They might be successful for a while, but then they will be gone. Like everyone else, they will be cut down like grain.' "I swear these things are true! Who can prove that I lied? Who can show that I am wrong?" ⁹ They take a nursing baby from its mother. They take a poor person's child to guarantee a loan. They force the poor to move out of their way and to get off the road. "The poor are like wild donkeys that go out to the desert to find food. From morning to night they work to gather food for their children. They have to work in the fields, harvesting grain. They work for the rich, gathering grapes in their vineyards. They must sleep all night without clothes. They have no covers to protect them from the cold. They are soaked with rain in the mountains. They stay close to the large rocks for shelter. ¹⁰ They have no clothes, so they work naked. They carry piles of grain for others, but they go hungry.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

wild asses: Job 39:5-7, Jeremiah 2:24, Hosea 8:9

rising: Job 24:14, Proverbs 4:16, Hosea 7:6, Micah 2:1, Zephaniah 3:3, John 18:28, Acts 23:12

the wilderness: Job 5:5, Job 12:6, Genesis 16:12, Genesis 27:40

Reciprocal: Job 30:3 - fleeing into Proverbs 4:17 - General

Cross-References

Genesis 24:58
They called her and asked her, "Do you want to go with this man now?" Rebekah said, "Yes, I will go."

Exodus 9:2
If you continue to hold them and refuse to let them go,

Exodus 20:7
"You must not use the name of the Lord your God to make empty promises. If you do, the Lord will not let you go unpunished.

Proverbs 13:16
Wise people always think before they do anything, but fools show how stupid they are by what they do.

Jeremiah 4:2
If you do these things, you will be able to use my name to make a promise. You will be able to say, ‘As the Lord lives.' You will be able to use these words in a truthful, honest, and right way. If you do these things, the nations will be blessed by the Lord. They will brag about what the Lord has done."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Behold, [as] wild asses in the desert,.... The word "as" is a supplement, and may be omitted, and the words be interpreted literally of wild asses, as they are by Sephorno, whose proper place is in the wilderness, to which they are used, and where their food is provided for them, and which they diligently seek for, for them and their young; and so the words may be descriptive of the place where the poor hide themselves, and of the company they are obliged to keep; but the Targum supplies the note of similitude as we do; and others i observe it to be wanting, and so it may respect wicked men before described, who may be compared to the wild asses of the wilderness for their folly and stupidity, man being born like a wild ass's colt, Job 11:12; and for their lust and wantonness, and for their rebellion against God and his laws, and their unteachableness. Perhaps some regard may be had to the wild Arabs that were in Job's neighbourhood, the descendants of Ishmael, called the wild man, as he is in Genesis 16:12; who lived by plunder and robbery, as these here:

they go forth to their work: of thieving and stealing, robbing and plundering, as their trade, and business, and occupation of life, and as naturally and constantly as men go to their lawful employment, and as if it was one:

rising betimes for a prey; getting up early in a morning to meet the industrious traveller on the road, and make a prey of him, rob him of what he has about him; for they cannot sleep unless they do mischief:

the wilderness [yieldeth] food for them, [and] for [their] children; though they are lurking in a wilderness where no sustenance is to be had, yet, by robbing everyone that passes by, they get enough for them and their families: though some understand all this of the poor, who are obliged to hide themselves from their oppressors, and go into the wilderness in droves like wild asses, and as timorous and as swift as they in fleeing; and are forced to hard service, and to rise early to earn their bread, and get sustenance for their families; and who in the main are obliged to live on berries and roots, and what a wild desert will afford; but the, word "prey" is not applicable to the pains and labours of such industrious people, wherefore the former sense is best; and besides, there seems to be one continued account of wicked men.

i Aben Ezra, Ben Gersom, Bar Tzemach.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Behold, as wild asses in the desert - In regard to the wild ass, see the notes at Job 6:5. Schultens, Good, Noyes, and Wemyss, understand this, not as referring to the haughty tyrants themselves, but to the oppressed and needy wretches whom they had driven from society, and compelled to seek a precarious subsistence, like the wild ass, in the desert. They suppose that the meaning is, that these outcasts go to their daily toil seeking roots and vegetables in the desert for a subsistence, like wild animals. But it seems to me that the reference is rather to another class of wicked people: to the wandering tribes that live by plunder - who roam through the deserts, and live an unrestrained and a lawless life, like wild animals. The wild ass is distinguished for its fleetness, and the comparison here turns principally on this fact. These marauders move rapidly from place to place, make their assault suddenly and unexpectedly, and, having plundered the traveler, or the caravan, as suddenly disappear. They have no home, cultivate no land, and keep no flocks. The only objection to this interpretation is, that the wild ass is not a beast of prey. But, in reply to this, it may be said, that the comparison does not depend on that, but on the fact that they resemble those animals in their lawless habits of life; see Job 11:12, note; Job 39:5, note.

Go they forth to their work - To their employment - to wit, plunder.

Rising betimes - Rising early. It is a custom of the Orientals everywhere to rise by break of day. In journeys, they usually rise long before day, and travel much in the night, and during the heat of the day they rest. As caravans often traveled early, plunderers would rise early, also, to meet them.

For a prey - For plunder - the business of their lives.

The wilderness - The desert, for so the word wilderness is used in the Scriptures; see Isaiah 35:1, note; Matthew 3:1, note.

Yieldeth food - To wit, by plunder. They obtain subsistence for themselves and their families by plundering the caravans of the desert. The idea of Job is, that they are seen by God, and yet that they are suffered to roam at large.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Job 24:5. Rising betimes for a prey — The general sense here seems plain enough. There are some who live a lawless roaming life: make a predatory life their employment; for this purpose, frequent the wilderness, where they seize on and appropriate whatsoever they find, and by this method they and their families are supported.

Mr. Good says: "The sense has never yet been understood by any commentator;" and hence he proposes a different division of the words, placing ערבה arabah, the desert or wilderness, in the first hemistich, thus: -

"Rising early for the pillage of the wilderness;

The bread of themselves and of their children."

Others think that the words are spoken solely of the poor under the hand of oppression, who are driven away from their homes, and obliged to seek such support as the wilderness can afford. Such was originally the state of the Bedouins, and of the wandering Arab hordes in general: the oppression of the tyrannous governors obliged them to seek refuge in the deserts, where they still live in a roaming predatory life.