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16:1  A large family is nothing to be desired if the children are worthless. Godless children are nothing to be proud of.
16:2  No matter how many children you have, don't look on them with pride unless they fear the Lord.
16:3  Don't put much hope in their future or expect them to live a long time. One child who does the Lord's will is better than a thousand who do not. It is better to go to your grave with no children at all than to have children who are godless.
16:4  A city's population may grow because of the wisdom of one person, while a whole tribe of lawless people disappears.
16:5  I have seen such things many times and have heard of even more striking examples.
16:6  The Lord's flaming anger will break out against a small gathering of sinners or a disobedient nation.
16:7  He did not forgive those ancient giants who rebelled against him, confident of their own strength.
16:8  He detested the arrogance of the people among whom Lot lived, and he did not spare them.
16:9  He showed no mercy on that nation which he doomed to destruction for its sins,
16:10  nor on those 600,000 people on the march through the wilderness who gathered together in stubborn rebellion.
16:11  Even if there had been only one stubborn person, it would have been a miracle if he had escaped punishment. The Lord is merciful, but he can also become angry. He can be overwhelming in his forgiveness or in his anger.
16:12  His punishment is as severe as his mercy is great. He judges people by what they have done.
16:13  No sinner can escape with what he has stolen. The Lord will reward the patience of devout people.
16:14  Every righteous person will be rewarded; everyone will get what he deserves.
16:17  Never say, I will hide from the Lord. Nobody up there is going to give me a thought. How can I be noticed among so many people? The creation is so enormous, what am I worth?
16:18  When the Lord comes, everything will tremble: the earth and the great waters beneath it, the sky and the heavens above it.
16:19  The mountains will shake, and the foundations of the earth will shudder when he looks at them.
16:20  The Lord isn't going to give me a thought. Nobody cares what I do.
16:21  If I sin and am secretly disloyal, nobody will know it.
16:22  If I do what is right, nobody will tell the Lord about it. Who wants to wait for him, anyway? He is too slow in doing what he has said he would.
16:23  Only someone with very little sense, and foolishly misguided, would think things like that.
16:24  My child, listen and pay attention to me; you will gain knowledge if you do.
16:25  I will give you diligent and accurate instruction.
16:26  In the beginning the Lord did his work of creation, and gave everything a place of its own.
16:27  He arranged everything in an eternal order and decreed that it should be that way forever. Not one part of creation ever grows hungry; no part grows tired or stops its work.
16:28  The parts do not crowd one another, and they never disobey his word.
16:29  When the Lord had made all this, he looked at the earth and filled it with good things.
16:30  He covered it with all kinds of creatures that must die and return to the dust.