13 Like clay in the hand of the potter, to be molded as he pleases, so all are in the hand of their Maker, to be given whatever he decides. 14 Good is the opposite of evil, and life the opposite of death; so the sinner is the opposite of the godly. 15 Look at all the works of the Most High; they come in pairs, one the opposite of the other. 16 Now I was the last to keep vigil; I was like a gleaner following the grape-pickers; 17 by the blessing of the Lord I arrived first, and like a grape-picker I filled my wine press.

In the Second Epistle to the Corinthians the Apostle Paul also makes a graceful use of antithesis, in that place where he says, By the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things. As, then, these oppositions of contraries lend beauty to the language, so the beauty of the course of this world is achieved by the opposition of contraries, arranged, as it were, by an eloquence not of words, but of things. This is quite plainly stated in the Book of Ecclesiasticus, in this way: Good is set against evil, and life against death: so is the sinner against the godly. So look upon all the works of the Most High, and these are two and two, one against another.