For the LORD loves justice, and forsakes not his saints; they are preserved forever: but the descendants of the wicked shall be cut off.
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Augustine of Hippo
AD 430
8. "For the Lord loveth judgment, and forsaketh not His Saints" (ver. 28). When the Saints suffer affliction, think not that God doth not judge, or doth not judge righteously. Will He, who warns thee to judge righteously, Himself judge unrighteously? He "loveth judgment, and forsaketh not His Saints." But (think) how the "life" of the Saints is "hid with Him," in such a manner, that who now suffer trouble on earth, like trees in the winter-time, having no fruit and leaves, when He, like a newly-risen sun, shall have appeared, that which before was living in their root, will show itself forth in fruits. He does then "love judgment, and doth not forsake His Saints." ...
9. "But the unrighteous shall be punished; the seed of the wicked shall be cut off." Just as the "seed of the" other "shall be blessed," so shall the "seed of the wicked be cut off." For the "seed" of the wicked is the works of the wicked. For again, on the other hand, we find the son of the wicked man flourish in the ...
Saints. Hebrew, "merciful ones. "He will free them from captivity. (Calmet)
Punished. This sentence seems to be improperly omitted in Hebrew, which otherwise neglects the letter a, as the Chaldean, Syriac, and St. Jerome do as well as a few copies of the Septuagint. The Roman edition with the Arabic and Ethiopic, reads amomoi ekdikethesontai, "the innocent shall be avenged "(Calmet) or "punished "which is inaccurately put for anomoi ekdiochthesontai, the wicked shall be punished, or "expelled "(Berthier) though Grabe prefers the former verb. (Haydock)
St. Cyril acknowledges both readings. (Calmet)
