arable the first. When the congregation of the righteous shall be manifested; and sinners be judged for their crimes, and be troubled in the sight of the world;
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2. When righteousness shall be manifested
(38) in the presence of the righteous themselves, who will be elected for their
good works
duly weighed by the Lord of spirits; and when the light of the righteous and the elect, who dwell on earth, shall be manifested; where will the habitation of sinners be? And where the place of rest for those who have rejected the Lord of spirits? It would have been better for them, had they never been born.
(38) When righteousness shall be manifested. Or, "when the Righteous One appears" (Knibb, p. 125; cp. Charles, p. 112). Matt. 26:24 Compare
3. When, too, the secrets of the righteous shall be revealed, then shall sinners be judged; and impious men shall be afflicted in the presence of the righteous and the elect.
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4. From that period those who possess the earth shall cease to be powerful and exalted. Neither shall they be capable of beholding the countenances of the holy; for the light of the countenances of the holy, the righteous, and the elect, has been seen by the Lord of spirits.
(39)
(39) For the light... Lord of spirits. Or, "for the light of the Lord of spirits will have appeared on the face of the holy, the righteous, and the chosen" (Knibb, p. 126). Compare
5. Yet shall not the mighty kings of that period be destroyed; but be delivered into the hands of the righteous and the holy.
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6. Nor thenceforwards shall any obtain commiseration from the Lord of spirits, because their lives
in this world will have been completed.
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