61 lines
2.4 KiB
Markdown
61 lines
2.4 KiB
Markdown
# Chapter 24
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1 Why does the Almighty not reserve times for judgment?
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Why do those who know him never see his days?
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2 The wicked displace boundary markers.
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They steal a flock and provide pasture for it.
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3 They drive away the donkeys owned by the fatherless
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and take the widow’s ox as collateral.
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4 They push the needy off the road;
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the poor of the land are forced into hiding.
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5 Like wild donkeys in the wilderness,
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the poor go out to their task of foraging for food;
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the desert provides nourishment for their children.
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6 They gather their fodder in the field
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and glean the vineyards of the wicked.
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7 Without clothing, they spend the night naked,
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having no covering against the cold.
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8 Drenched by mountain rains,
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they huddle against the rocks, shelterless.
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9 The fatherless infant is snatched from the breast;
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the nursing child of the poor is seized as collateral.
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10 Without clothing, they wander about naked.
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They carry sheaves but go hungry.
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11 They crush olives in their presses;
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they tread the winepresses, but go thirsty.
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12 From the city, men groan;
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the mortally wounded cry for help,
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yet God pays no attention to this crime.
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13 The wicked are those who rebel against the light.
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They do not recognize its ways
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or stay on its paths.
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14 The murderer rises at dawn
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to kill the poor and needy,
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and by night he becomes a thief.
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15 The adulterer’s eye watches for twilight,
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thinking, “No eye will see me,”
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and he covers his face.
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16 In the dark they break into houses;
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by day they lock themselves in,
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never experiencing the light.
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17 For the morning is like darkness to them.
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Surely they are familiar with the terrors of darkness!
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18 They float on the surface of the water.
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Their section of the land is cursed,
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so that they never go to their vineyards.
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19 As dry ground and heat snatch away the melted snow,
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so Sheol steals those who have sinned.
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20 The womb forgets them;
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worms feed on them;
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they are remembered no more.
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So injustice is broken like a tree.
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21 They prey on the childless woman who is unable to conceive,
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and do not deal kindly with the widow.
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22 Yet God drags away the mighty by his power;
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when he rises up, they have no assurance of life.
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23 He gives them a sense of security, so they can rely on it,
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but his eyes watch over their ways.
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24 They are exalted for a moment, then gone;
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they are brought low and shrivel up like everything else.
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They wither like heads of grain.
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25 If this is not true, then who can prove me a liar
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and show that my speech is worthless? |