42
I answered and said, "If I have found favor before thee, let me speak.
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For if the farmer's seed does not come up, because it has not received thy rain in due season, or if it has been ruined by too much rain, it perishes.
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But man, who has been formed by thy hands and is called thy own image because he is made like thee, and for whose sake thou hast formed all things -- hast thou also made him like the farmer's seed?
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No, O Lord who art over us! But spare thy people and have mercy on thy inheritance, for thou hast mercy on thy own creation."
46
He answered me and said, "Things that are present are for those who live now, and things that are future are for those who will live hereafter.
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For you come far short of being able to love my creation more than I love it. But you have often compared yourself to the unrighteous. Never do so!
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But even in this respect you will be praiseworthy before the Most High,
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because you have humbled yourself, as is becoming for you, and have not deemed yourself to be among the righteous in order to receive the greatest glory.
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For many miseries will affect those who inhabit the world in the last times, because they have walked in great pride.
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But think of your own case, and inquire concerning the glory of those who are like yourself,
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because it is for you that paradise is opened, the tree of life is planted, the age to come is prepared, plenty is provided, a city is built, rest is appointed, goodness is established and wisdom perfected beforehand.