| Chapter 24 |
1 |
Why are times not laid up by the Almighty? And why do not they that know him see his days? --
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2 |
There are that remove the landmarks; They violently take away flocks, and feed them. --
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3 |
They drive away the ass of the fatherless; They take the widow's ox for a pledge. --
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4 |
They turn the needy out of the way: The poor of the earth all hide themselves. --
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5 |
Behold, as wild asses in the desert They go forth to their work, seeking diligently for food; The wilderness [yieldeth] them bread for their children. --
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6 |
They cut their provender in the field; And they glean the vintage of the wicked. --
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7 |
They lie all night naked without clothing, And have no covering in the cold. --
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8 |
They are wet with the showers of the mountains, And embrace the rock for want of a shelter. --
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9 |
There are that pluck the fatherless from the breast, And take a pledge of the poor; --
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10 |
[So that] they go about naked without clothing, And being hungry they carry the sheaves. --
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11 |
They make oil within the walls of these men; They tread [their] winepresses, and suffer thirst. --
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12 |
From out of the populous city men groan, And the soul of the wounded crieth out: Yet God regardeth not the folly. --
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13 |
These are of them that rebel against the light; They know not the ways thereof, Nor abide in the paths thereof. --
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14 |
The murderer riseth with the light; He killeth the poor and needy; And in the night he is as a thief. --
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15 |
The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, Saying, No eye shall see me: And he disguiseth his face. --
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16 |
In the dark they dig through houses: They shut themselves up in the day-time; They know not the light. --
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17 |
For the morning is to all of them as thick darkness; For they know the terrors of the thick darkness. --
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18 |
Swiftly they [pass away] upon the face of the waters; Their portion is cursed in the earth: They turn not into the way of the vineyards. --
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19 |
Drought and heat consume the snow waters: [So doth] Sheol [those that] have sinned. --
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20 |
The womb shall forget him; The worm shall feed sweetly on him; He shall be no more remembered; And unrighteousness shall be broken as a tree. --
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21 |
He devoureth the barren that beareth not, And doeth not good to the widow. --
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22 |
Yet [God] preserveth the mighty by his power: He riseth up that hath no assurance of life. --
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23 |
[God] giveth them to be in security, and they rest thereon; And his eyes are upon their ways. --
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24 |
They are exalted; yet a little while, and they are gone; Yea, they are brought low, they are taken out of the way as all others, And are cut off as the tops of the ears of grain. --
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25 |
And if it be not so now, who will prove me a liar, And make my speech nothing worth? --
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