16
Do not try to bind the purposes of the Lord our God; for God is not like man, to be threatened, nor like a human being, to be won over by pleading.
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Therefore, while we wait for his deliverance, let us call upon him to help us, and he will hear our voice, if it pleases him.
18
"For never in our generation, nor in these present days, has there been any tribe or family or people or city of ours which worshiped gods made with hands, as was done in days gone by --
19
and that was why our fathers were handed over to the sword, and to be plundered, and so they suffered a great catastrophe before our enemies.
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But we know no other god but him, and therefore we hope that he will not disdain us or any of our nation.
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For if we are captured all Judea will be captured and our sanctuary will be plundered; and he will exact of us the penalty for its desecration.
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And the slaughter of our brethren and the captivity of the land and the desolation of our inheritance -- all this he will bring upon our heads among the Gentiles, wherever we serve as slaves; and we shall be an offense and a reproach in the eyes of those who acquire us.
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For our slavery will not bring us into favor, but the Lord our God will turn it to dishonor.
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"Now therefore, brethren, let us set an example to our brethren, for their lives depend upon us, and the sanctuary and the temple and the altar rest upon us.
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In spite of everything let us give thanks to the Lord our God, who is putting us to the test as he did our forefathers.
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Remember what he did with Abraham, and how he tested Isaac, and what happened to Jacob in Mesopotamia in Syria, while he was keeping the sheep of Laban, his mother's brother.