21 Do you not know?
    Have you not heard?(A)
Has it not been told(B) you from the beginning?(C)
    Have you not understood(D) since the earth was founded?(E)
22 He sits enthroned(F) above the circle of the earth,
    and its people are like grasshoppers.(G)
He stretches out the heavens(H) like a canopy,(I)
    and spreads them out like a tent(J) to live in.(K)
23 He brings princes(L) to naught
    and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.(M)
24 No sooner are they planted,
    no sooner are they sown,
    no sooner do they take root(N) in the ground,
than he blows(O) on them and they wither,(P)
    and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.(Q)

25 “To whom will you compare me?(R)
    Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.(S)
26 Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:(T)
    Who created(U) all these?
He who brings out the starry host(V) one by one
    and calls forth each of them by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,(W)
    not one of them is missing.(X)

27 Why do you complain, Jacob?
    Why do you say, Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord;
    my cause is disregarded by my God”?(Y)
28 Do you not know?
    Have you not heard?(Z)
The Lord is the everlasting(AA) God,
    the Creator(AB) of the ends of the earth.(AC)
He will not grow tired or weary,(AD)
    and his understanding no one can fathom.(AE)
29 He gives strength(AF) to the weary(AG)
    and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
    and young men(AH) stumble and fall;(AI)
31 but those who hope(AJ) in the Lord
    will renew their strength.(AK)
They will soar on wings like eagles;(AL)
    they will run and not grow weary,
    they will walk and not be faint.(AM)

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30 I went past the field of a sluggard,(A)
    past the vineyard of someone who has no sense;
31 thorns had come up everywhere,
    the ground was covered with weeds,
    and the stone wall was in ruins.
32 I applied my heart to what I observed
    and learned a lesson from what I saw:
33 A little sleep, a little slumber,
    a little folding of the hands to rest(B)
34 and poverty will come on you like a thief
    and scarcity like an armed man.(C)

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The Need for Self-Discipline

24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize?(A) Run(B) in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown(C) that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.(D) 26 Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly;(E) I do not fight like a boxer beating the air.(F) 27 No, I strike a blow to my body(G) and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.(H)

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