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12 “Is not God high in the heavens?
    See the highest stars, how lofty they are!
13 Therefore you say, ‘What does God know?
    Can he judge through the deep darkness?(A)
14 Thick clouds enwrap him, so that he does not see,
    and he walks on the dome of heaven.’
15 Will you keep to the old way
    that the wicked have trod?
16 They were snatched away before their time;
    their foundation was washed away by a flood.(B)
17 They said to God, ‘Leave us alone,’
    and ‘What can the Almighty[a] do to us?’[b]
18 Yet he filled their houses with good things—
    but the plans of the wicked are repugnant to me.(C)
19 The righteous see it and are glad;
    the innocent laugh them to scorn,(D)
20 saying, ‘Surely our adversaries are cut off,
    and what they left, the fire has consumed.’(E)

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Footnotes

  1. 22.17 Traditional rendering of Heb Shaddai
  2. 22.17 Gk Syr: Heb them

God’s activity

12 Isn’t God in the heights of heaven;
    see how high the topmost stars are?
13 You say: “What does God know?
    Can he judge through thick clouds?
14     Clouds conceal him so he can’t see
        while he walks on heaven’s rim.”
15 Will you keep the ancient way
    traveled by sinful persons,
16     who were snatched prematurely
    when a river flooded their foundations,
17     who say to God, “Turn away from us;
            what can the Almighty do to us?”
18 Yet he filled their houses with good things;
    a sinner’s logic is beyond me.
19 The righteous see and rejoice;
    the innocent mock them:
20     our enemies are certainly cut off;
    fire will devour what’s left of them.

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