1
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“Why does the Almighty not reserve times for judgment? Why may those who know Him never see His days? |
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2
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Men move boundary stones; they pasture stolen flocks. |
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3
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They drive away the donkey of the fatherless and take the widow’s ox in pledge. |
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4
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They push the needy off the road and force all the poor of the land into hiding. |
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5
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Indeed, like wild donkeys in the desert, the poor go to work foraging for food; the wasteland is food for their children. |
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6
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They gather fodder in the fields and glean the vineyards of the wicked. |
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7
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Without clothing, they spend the night naked; they have no covering against the cold. |
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8
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Drenched by mountain rains, they huddle against the rocks for want of shelter. |
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9
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The fatherless infant is snatched from the breast; the nursing child of the poor is seized for a debt. |
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10
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Without clothing, they wander about naked. They carry the sheaves, but still go hungry. |
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11
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They crush olives within their walls; they tread the winepresses, but go thirsty. |
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12
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From the city, men groan, and the souls of the wounded cry out, yet God charges no one with wrongdoing. |
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13
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Then there are those who rebel against the light, not knowing its ways or staying on its paths. |
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14
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When daylight is gone, the murderer rises to kill the poor and needy; in the night he is like a thief. |
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15
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The eye of the adulterer watches for twilight. Thinking, ‘No eye will see me,’ he covers his face. |
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16
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In the dark they dig through houses; by day they shut themselves in, never to experience the light. |
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17
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For to them, deep darkness is their morning; surely they are friends with the terrors of darkness! |
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18
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They are but foam on the surface of the water; their portion of the land is cursed, so that no one turns toward their vineyards. |
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19
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As drought and heat consume the melting snow, so Sheol steals those who have sinned. |
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20
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The womb forgets them; the worm feeds on them; they are remembered no more. So injustice is like a broken tree. |
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21
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They prey on the barren and childless, and show no kindness to the widow. |
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22
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Yet by His power, God drags away the mighty; though rising up, they have no assurance of life. |
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23
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He gives them a sense of security, but His eyes are on their ways. |
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24
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They are exalted for a moment, then they are gone; they are brought low and gathered up like all others; they are cut off like heads of grain. |
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25
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If this is not so, then who can prove me a liar and reduce my words to nothing?” |
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