61 lines
2.6 KiB
Markdown
61 lines
2.6 KiB
Markdown
# Chapter 24
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1 “Why doesn’t the Almighty bring the wicked to judgment?
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Why must the godly wait for him in vain?
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2 Evil people steal land by moving the boundary markers.
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They steal livestock and put them in their own pastures.
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3 They take the orphan’s donkey
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and demand the widow’s ox as security for a loan.
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4 The poor are pushed off the path;
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the needy must hide together for safety.
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5 Like wild donkeys in the wilderness,
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the poor must spend all their time looking for food,
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searching even in the desert for food for their children.
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6 They harvest a field they do not own,
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and they glean in the vineyards of the wicked.
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7 All night they lie naked in the cold,
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without clothing or covering.
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8 They are soaked by mountain showers,
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and they huddle against the rocks for want of a home.
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9 “The wicked snatch a widow’s child from her breast,
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taking the baby as security for a loan.
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10 The poor must go about naked, without any clothing.
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They harvest food for others while they themselves are starving.
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11 They press out olive oil without being allowed to taste it,
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and they tread in the winepress as they suffer from thirst.
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12 The groans of the dying rise from the city,
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and the wounded cry for help,
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yet God ignores their moaning.
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13 “Wicked people rebel against the light.
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They refuse to acknowledge its ways
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or stay in its paths.
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14 The murderer rises in the early dawn
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to kill the poor and needy;
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at night he is a thief.
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15 The adulterer waits for the twilight,
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saying, ‘No one will see me then.’
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He hides his face so no one will know him.
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16 Thieves break into houses at night
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and sleep in the daytime.
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They are not acquainted with the light.
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17 The black night is their morning.
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They ally themselves with the terrors of the darkness.
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18 “But they disappear like foam down a river.
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Everything they own is cursed,
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and they are afraid to enter their own vineyards.
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19 The grave consumes sinners
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just as drought and heat consume snow.
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20 Their own mothers will forget them.
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Maggots will find them sweet to eat.
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No one will remember them.
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Wicked people are broken like a tree in the storm.
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21 They cheat the woman who has no son to help her.
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They refuse to help the needy widow.
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22 “God, in his power, drags away the rich.
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They may rise high, but they have no assurance of life.
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23 They may be allowed to live in security,
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but God is always watching them.
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24 And though they are great now,
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in a moment they will be gone like all others,
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cut off like heads of grain.
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25 Can anyone claim otherwise?
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Who can prove me wrong?” |