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Then I began to speak and said to God Most High,
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"O Lord, you revealed yourself to our ancestors when they were traveling through the trackless, barren desert after they had left Egypt. You said to them,
1
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"Listen to me, people of Israel.
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I am giving you my Law. It will be like a seed planted among you that produces fruit, and it will be your crowning glory forever.'
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Our ancestors received the Law, but they disobeyed its commands. Yet the fruit of the Law was not destroyed - it could not be destroyed because it was yours.
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Those who had received the Law were destroyed because they did not guard the good seed that was sown in them.
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The usual thing is that the container remains after its contents have been destroyed, for example, seed in the ground, a ship on the sea, or food in a bowl. But this is not the case with us sinners.
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The Law was placed in our hearts, and we are the ones who will be destroyed because we have sinned.
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The Law will not be destroyed; it will remain in all its glory."
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While I was saying these things to myself, I looked around and saw a woman on my right. She was weeping and wailing, terribly upset; her clothes were torn, and there were ashes on her head.