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and said to him, "It would have been better for us not to be here than to come here and live in ungodliness, and to suffer and not understand why."
13
He answered me and said, "I went into a forest of trees of the plain, and they made a plan
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and said, "Come, let us go and make war against the sea, so that it may recede before us and so that we may make for ourselves more forests.'
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In like manner the waves of the sea also made a plan and said, "Come, let us go up and subdue the forest of the plain so that there also we may gain more territory for ourselves.'
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But the plan of the forest was in vain, for the fire came and consumed it;
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likewise also the plan of the waves of the sea was in vain, for the sand stood firm and blocked it.
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If now you were a judge between them, which would you undertake to justify, and which to condemn?"
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I answered and said, "Each made a foolish plan, for the land has been assigned to the forest, and the locale of the sea a place to carry its waves."
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He answered me and said, "You have judged rightly, but why have you not judged so in your own case?
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For as the land has been assigned to the forest and the sea to its waves, so also those who inhabit the earth can understand only what is on the earth, and he who is above the heavens can understand what is above the height of the heavens."
22
Then I answered and said, "I implore you, my lord, why have I been endowed with the power of understanding?