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    But you, our God, are kind and true, 
patient, and ruling all things 1  in mercy. 
  
  
  
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    For even if we sin we are yours, knowing your power; 
but we will not sin, because we know that you acknowledge us as yours. 
  
  
  
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    For to know you is complete righteousness, 
and to know your power is the root of immortality. 
  
  
  
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    For neither has the evil intent of human art misled us, 
nor the fruitless toil of painters, 
a figure stained with varied colors, 
  
  
  
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    whose appearance arouses yearning in fools, 
so that they desire 2  the lifeless form of a dead image. 
  
  
  
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    Lovers of evil things and fit for such objects of hope 3  
are those who either make or desire or worship them.