64 lines
2.6 KiB
Markdown
64 lines
2.6 KiB
Markdown
# Chapter 24
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1 “Since times are not hidden from the Almighty,
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Why do those who know Him see not His days?
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2 “Some remove landmarks;
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They seize flocks violently and feed on them;
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3 They drive away the donkey of the fatherless;
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They take the widow’s ox as a pledge.
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4 They push the needy off the road;
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All the poor of the land are forced to hide.
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5 Indeed, like wild donkeys in the desert,
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They go out to their work, searching for food.
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The wilderness yields food for them and for their children.
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6 They gather their fodder in the field
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And glean in the vineyard of the wicked.
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7 They spend the night naked, without clothing,
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And have no covering in the cold.
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8 They are wet with the showers of the mountains,
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And huddle around the rock for want of shelter.
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9 “Some snatch the fatherless from the breast,
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And take a pledge from the poor.
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10 They cause the poor to go naked, without clothing;
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And they take away the sheaves from the hungry.
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11 They press out oil within their walls,
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And tread winepresses, yet suffer thirst.
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12 The dying groan in the city,
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And the souls of the wounded cry out;
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Yet God does not charge them with wrong.
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13 “There are those who rebel against the light;
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They do not know its ways
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Nor abide in its paths.
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14 The murderer rises with the light;
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He kills the poor and needy;
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And in the night he is like a thief.
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15 The eye of the adulterer waits for the twilight,
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Saying, ‘No eye will see me’;
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And he disguises his face.
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16 In the dark they break into houses
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Which they marked for themselves in the daytime;
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They do not know the light.
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17 For the morning is the same to them as the shadow of death;
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If someone recognizes them,
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They are in the terrors of the shadow of death.
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18 “They should be swift on the face of the waters,
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Their portion should be cursed in the earth,
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So that no one would turn into the way of their vineyards.
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19 As drought and heat consume the snow waters,
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So the grave consumes those who have sinned.
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20 The womb should forget him,
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The worm should feed sweetly on him;
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He should be remembered no more,
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And wickedness should be broken like a tree.
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21 For he preys on the barren who do not bear,
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And does no good for the widow.
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22 “But God draws the mighty away with His power;
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He rises up, but no man is sure of life.
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23 He gives them security, and they rely on it;
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Yet His eyes are on their ways.
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24 They are exalted for a little while,
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Then they are gone.
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They are brought low;
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They are taken out of the way like all others;
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They dry out like the heads of grain.
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25 “Now if it is not so, who will prove me a liar,
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And make my speech worth nothing?” |