Wisdom of Sirach 4
Care of the Poor and Needy
1 My son, do not deprive the poor of his living, And do not keep eyes in need waiting.
2 Do not grieve a soul who is hungry, Nor provoke to anger a man in despair.
3 Do not trouble a heart that was made resentful, And do not put off the gift of a man in need.
4 Do not reject a suppliant who is afflicted, Nor turn your face away from a poor man.
5 Do not turn your eye away from a needy man, And do not give a man occasion to curse you;
6 For if he curses you in the bitterness of his soul, His Maker will hear his prayer.
7 Make yourself beloved in the assembly And bow your head to a great man.
8 Incline your ear to a poor man And answer him peaceably and with gentleness.
9 Deliver a person who has been wronged From the hand of the wrongdoer, And do not be fainthearted when you judge his case.
10 Be like a father to orphans And like a husband to their mother; And you will be like a son of the Most High, And He will love you more than your mother.†
Pursuit of Wisdom
11 Wisdom exalts her children And lays hold of those who seek her.†
12 Whoever loves her loves life, And those who come to her early in the morning Will be filled with gladness.
13 He who holds fast to her will inherit glory, And the Lord blesses every place she enters.
14 Those who serve her will minister to the Holy One, And the Lord loves those who love her.
15 He who obeys her will judge the nations; And he that gives heed to her will live with confidence.
16 If he trusts in her, he will inherit her, And his posterity will be in possession of her.
17 At first she will walk with him on disturbing paths And bring fear and dread upon him; And she will torment him with her discipline Until she can trust his soul And test him with her ordinances.
18 Then she will come straight back to him, And will gladden him, and reveal her secrets to him.
19 If he wanders away, she will forsake him And hand him over to his ruin.
Shame and Sin
20 Watch for a proper opportunity and keep yourself from evil; And do not bring shame upon your soul.
21 For there is a shame that brings sin, And there is a shame which is glory and grace.
22 Do not show partiality to someone to your own harm, And do not let your respect for another cause you to fall.
23 Do not withhold a word in time of need;
24 For wisdom is made known by a word, And instruction by a word of the tongue.
25 Do not speak against the truth, And do not be put to shame by your ignorance.
26 Do not be ashamed to confess your sins, And do not exercise force against the current of a river.
27 Do not subject yourself to a foolish man, And do not show partiality to a ruler.
28 Fight to the death for the truth, And the Lord God will fight for you.
29 Do not be rash with your tongue And sluggish and neglectful in your works.
30 Do not be like a lion in your home And act in pretense with your servants.
31 Do not let your hand be extended to receive And shut when you should repay.
Psalms 10
1 For the End; a psalm by David. †In the Lord I trust. How will you say to my soul, “Flee to the mountains like a sparrow”?
2 See, the sinners stretch tight their bow; They prepare their arrows in the quiver, That in a moonless night they may shoot down the upright in heart.
3 For the things You created, they destroyed. But what did the righteous man do?
4 The Lord is in His holy temple; The Lord, His throne is in heaven; His eyes are fixed upon the poor man, His eyelids examine the sons of men.
5 The Lord examines the righteous man and the ungodly man, And he who loves unrighteousness hates his own soul.
6 He shall rain down snares upon sinners; Fire and brimstone and a raging wind shall be the portion of their cup.
7 The righteous Lord loves righteousness; His face beholds the upright.
Psalms 11
1 For the End, concerning the eighth; a psalm by David. †
2 Save me, O Lord, for the holy man has ceased; The truthful are diminished from among the sons of men.
3 Each one speaks useless things to his neighbor; Deceptive lips speak with a double heart.
4 May the Lord destroy all deceptive lips And the tongue that speaks boastful things,
5 Saying, “We will make our tongue powerful; Our lips are our own; Who is lord over us?”
6 “Because of the suffering of the needy, And because of the groaning of the poor, Now I will arise,” says the Lord; “I will establish them in salvation; I will declare it boldly.”
7 The words of the Lord are pure words, Like silver fired in a furnace of earth, Purified seven times.
8 You shall guard us, O Lord; You shall preserve us from this generation forever.
9 The ungodly walk in a circle; In Your exaltation, You highly exalted the sons of men.
Proverbs of Solomon 2
6 For the Lord gives wisdom, And from His face come knowledge and understanding;
7 And He stores up salvation for the upright; He will protect their journey,†
8 That He might guard the ways of His ordinances; And He will carefully guard the way of those who reverence Him.
9 Then you will understand righteousness and judgment, And accomplish successfully every good path for yourself.
Acts 16
The Call to Europe
1 Then he came to Derbe and Lystra. And behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a certain Jewish woman who believed, but his father was Greek.†
2 He was well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystra and Iconium.
3 Paul wanted to have him go on with him. And he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in that region, for they all knew that his father was Greek.†
4 And as they went through the cities, they delivered to them the decrees to keep, which were determined by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem.†
5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and increased in number daily.
6 Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia.†
7 After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them.
8 So passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas.
9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”
10 Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them.†
The First European Convert
11 Therefore, sailing from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and the next day came to Neapolis,
12 and from there to Philippi, which is the foremost city of that part of Macedonia, a colony. And we were staying in that city for some days.
13 And on the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the riverside, where prayer was customarily made; and we sat down and spoke to the women who met there. †
14 Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul.†
15 And when she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” So she persuaded us.†
Exorcism of a Spirit
16 Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling.
17 This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.”
18 And this she did for many days.
Paul and Silas Imprisoned
But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And he came out that very hour.