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V, 7.

The Misery Caused by Avarice.

7.

Job answered and said, ... Why are times not laid up by the Almighty? And why do not they which know him see his days? There are that remove the landmarks; they violently take away flocks, and feed them. They drive away the ass of the fatherless, they take the widow's ox for a pledge. They turn the needy out of the way: the poor of the earth hide themselves together. Behold, as wild asses in the desert they go forth to their work, seeking diligently for meat; the wilderness yieldeth them food for their children. They cut their provender in the field; and they glean the vintage of the wicked. They lie all night naked without clothing, and have no covering in the cold. They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and embrace the rock for want of a shelter. There are that pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor: so that they go about naked without clothing, and being an hungred they carry the sheaves; they make oil

V, 8. within the walls of these men; they tread their winepresses, and suffer thirst. From out of the populous city men groan, and the soul of the wounded crieth out: yet God imputeth it not for folly. These are of them that rebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof; God giveth them to be in security, and they rest thereon; and his eyes are upon their ways. They are exalted; yet a little while and they are gone; yea, they are brought low, they are taken out of the way as all other, and are cut off as the tops of the ears of corn. And if it be not so now, who will prove me a liar, and make my speech nothing worth?

Job xxiv, 1-13, 23-25. (R.v.)

The Prophets call on us to Consider Our Ways.

8.

Then came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet, saying, Is it a time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, while this house lieth waste?

V, 9.

Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways. Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.

Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Con

sider your ways.

Haggai i, 3-7. (A.v.)

9.

My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause.. We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil: cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse: My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot

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of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.

Proverbs i, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 19. (A.v.)

V, 10-13.

10.

Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless for their redeemer is mighty; he shall plead their cause with thee.

Proverbs xxiii, 10, 11. (A.V.)

Description of the Life of the
Miser.

11.

There is that waxeth rich by his wariness and pinching, and this is the portion of his reward: When he saith, I have found rest, and now will I eat of my goods; yet he knoweth not what time shall pass, and he shall leave them to others, and die.

Ecclesiasticus xi, 18, 19. (APOC.)

12.

Let not thine hand be stretched out to receive, and closed when thou

shouldest repay.

Ecclesiasticus iv, 31. (APOC.)

13.

The mean man is bowed down, and

the great man is humbled, and the eyes

of the lofty are humbled.

Isaiah v, 15. (R.V.)

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are times not laid up by the Almighty? And why do not they which know him see his days? There are that remove the landmarks; they violently take away flocks, and feed them. They drive away the ass of the fatherless, they take the widow's ox for a pledge. They turn the needy out of the way: the poor of the earth hide themselves together. Behold, as wild asses in the desert they go forth to their work, seeking diligently for meat; the wilderness yieldeth them food for their children. They cut their provender in the field; and they glean the vintage of the wicked. They lie all night naked without clothing, and have no covering in the cold. They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and embrace the rock for want of a shelter. There are that pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor: so that they go about naked without clothing, and being an hungred they carry the sheaves; they make oil

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