Chapter 24
| Collection: | The Book of Job and 42 Paintings |
| Author: | Fr. Antonio Oteiza |
| Type: | Painting |
| Location: | Cataloguing Room |
| Characteristics: | Acrylic paint on cardboard |
| Artwork: |
Click to enlarge |
| Description: |
Why does the Almighty not appoint times when his friends may witness his interventions? The wicked move boundary stones, steal flocks and pasture them; they drive away the orphan’s donkey and take the widow’s ox as a pledge. They force the poor off the road, and the wretched have to hide themselves. Like wild donkeys in the desert, they go out to their work, rising early in search of prey; the wasteland provides food for their children. They harvest in another man’s field and glean in the rich man’s vineyard. They spend the night naked, with no clothing to protect them from the cold; the mountain downpour soaks them, and for lack of shelter they cling to the rocks. The wicked tear the orphan from the breast and take the poor man’s child as a pledge. They go about naked for lack of clothing; they carry sheaves and go hungry. They press oil at the mill, tread the winepress, and go thirsty. In the city the dying groan and the wounded cry out for help, yet God pays no heed to their plea. Others rebel against the light; they do not know its ways or become accustomed to its paths. At dawn the murderer rises to kill the poor and needy; by night the thief prowls about and enters houses under cover of darkness. The adulterer watches for twilight, saying to himself, “No one will see me,” and covers his face. During the day they shut themselves away; they want nothing to do with the light. Morning is darkness to them, accustomed as they are to the terrors of the night. If this is not so, let someone prove me wrong and reduce my words to nothing. |
