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"Why are 1not times of judgment 2kept by the Almighty, and why do those who know him never see his 3days?
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Some move 4landmarks; they seize flocks and pasture them.
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They drive away the donkey of the fatherless; they 5take the widow's ox for a pledge.
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They 6thrust the poor off the road; the poor of the earth 7all hide themselves.
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Behold, like wild donkeys in the desert the poor8go out to their toil, 9seeking game; the wasteland yields food for their children.
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They gather their fodder in the field, and they glean the vineyard of the wicked man.
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They 10lie all night naked, without clothing, and have no covering in the cold.
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They are wet with the rain of the mountains and 11cling to the rock for lack of shelter.
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(There are those who snatch the fatherless child from the breast, and they take a pledge against the poor.)
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They go about naked, without clothing; hungry, they 12carry the sheaves;
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among the olive rows of the wicked they make oil; they tread the winepresses, but suffer thirst.
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From out of the city the dying groan, and the soul of 13the wounded cries for help; yet God charges no one with 14wrong.
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"There are those who rebel 15against the light, who are not acquainted with its ways, and do not stay in its paths.
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The murderer rises before it is light, that he 16may kill the poor and needy, and in the night he is like a thief.
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The eye of the adulterer also waits for 17the twilight, saying, 'No 18eye will see me'; and he veils his face.
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In the dark they 19dig through houses; by day they shut themselves up; they do not know the light.
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For 20deep darkness is morning to all of them; for they are friends with the terrors of deep darkness.
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"You say, 21'Swift are they on the face of the waters; their portion is cursed in the land; no treader turns toward their vineyards.
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Drought and heat snatch away the snow waters; so does 22Sheol those who have sinned.
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The womb forgets them; the worm finds them sweet; they are 23no longer remembered, so wickedness is broken like 24a tree.'
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"They wrong the barren, childless woman, and do no good to the widow.
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Yet God prolongs the life of the mighty by his power; they rise up when they despair of life.