17
I answered: "Supreme Lord, you ordained in your Law that the just will inherit these things, but the impious will perish.
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The just then can tolerate the narrow, hoping for the spacious, but those who have acted impiously endure the narrow and won't see the spacious."
19
He said to me: “You aren't a higher judge than God, nor more intelligent than the Most High.
20
Better that many of those now alive should perish than that the Law of God, which is laid out before them, be disregarded.
21
God commanded those who come into the world, after they came, what they needed to do to live, and what laws they should observe to avoid punishment.
22
But they weren't persuaded and opposed him. They filled their heads with worthless thoughts,
23
and they invented excuses for their sins. They emphatically denied that the Most High exists, and they didn't learn his ways.
24
They despised his Law and rejected his covenants. They weren't faithful to his statutes, and didn't perform the works he prescribed.
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Therefore, Ezra, empty things are for the empty and full things for the full.
26
“Look! The time is coming when the signs appear that I told you about in advance, and the city will appear, appearing as a bride, and the land that is now hidden will be openly displayed.
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Everyone who is rescued from the evils foretold will see my wonders.