Wisdom of Sirach 25
Numbered Sayings
1 There are three things beautiful to see, And they are beautiful before the Lord and men: The harmony of brothers, friendship between neighbors, And a wife and husband well-adjusted together.†
2 My soul hates three kinds of men, And I am very offended with their lifestyle: A beggar who is arrogant, a rich man who is a liar, And an old man who is an adulterer and lacks understanding.
Wisdom of the Aged
3 If you have gathered nothing in your youth, How can you find anything in your old age?
4 Judgment is like beauty in gray hair, And in elders, it is to know counsel.
5 Wisdom is like the beauty of old men, And in those who are glorious, it is understanding and counsel.
6 The crown of old men is great experience, For their boast is the fear of the Lord.
Ten Blessings
7 In my heart I have blessed nine suppositions, And I will mention a tenth: A father who delights in his children; A man who lives to see the downfall of his enemies;†
8 A husband who is blessed to live with an understanding wife; A man who does not slip with his tongue; A man who has not served a man less worthy than himself;
9 A man who is blessed to find discernment; A man who is blessed to speak to ears that listen;
10 And a man who has found wisdom—how blessed he is! But there is no one greater than a man who fears the Lord.
11 The fear of the Lord is more important than anything. To what will it be compared?
An Evil Wife
12 Any wound, but not a wound of the heart! Any evil, but not an evil wife!
13 Any misery, but not the misery of those who hate me! Any vengeance, but not the vengeance of enemies!
14 There is no head worse than the head of a snake, And there is no anger worse than the anger of an enemy.
15 I would rather live with a lion or a snake than with an evil wife.†
16 The evil of a wife changes her appearance And darkens her face like that of a bear.
17 Her husband will go to his neighbors for meals, And he sighs bitterly and involuntarily.
18 Any evil is small compared to the evil of a wife. May the portion of a sinner fall upon her!
19 A sandy hill of ascent for the feet of an old man— Such is an overly talkative wife to a quiet husband.
20 Do not fall for the beauty of a woman, And do not long for her beauty.
21 There is wrath, insolence, and great shame When a wife supports her husband.†
22 A downcast heart, a sad face, and a wounded heart Are caused by an evil wife. Drooping hands and weakened knees Are caused by a wife who does not make her husband happy.
23 Sin had its beginning from a wife, And because of her we all die.
24 Do not give water an outlet, Nor boldness to an evil wife.†
25 If she does not follow your good leadership, Cut her off from yourself.†
Psalms 30
15 But as for me, I hope in You, O Lord; I said, “You are my God.”
16 My times are in Your hands; Deliver me from the hand of my enemies, And from those who persecute me.
17 Make Your face shine upon Your servant; Save me in Your mercy.
18 O Lord, do not let me be ashamed, because I call upon You; Let the ungodly be ashamed, And lead them down into Hades.
19 Let deceitful lips become speechless When they speak lawlessness against the righteous With arrogance and contempt.
20 How great, O Lord, is the abundance of Your goodness You hide for those who fear You, Which You will work for those who hope in You In the sight of the sons of men.
21 You shall hide them in the secret of Your presence from the disturbance of men; You will shelter them in Your tabernacle from the contradiction of tongues.
22 Blessed is the Lord, For He magnified His mercy in a fortified city.
23 But I said in my ecstasy, “Indeed, I am cast away from the countenance of Your eyes.” Therefore You heard the voice of my supplication When I cried to You.
24 Love the Lord, all you His saints, For the Lord seeks out truth, And He repays those who act with great arrogance.
25 Be courageous, and let your heart be strengthened, All who hope in the Lord.
Proverbs of Solomon 6
13 How long, O sluggard, will you be idle, And when will you arise from sleep?
14 You sleep a little; you sit down a little; you doze a short while; And you fold your hands on your chest a little;
15 Then poverty comes to you as an evil traveler And neediness as a swift runner.
16 But if you are diligent, your harvest shall come to you as a fountain, And neediness as an evil runner shall desert you.
Romans 2
Judgment of Each Conscience
1 Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.†
2 But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things.†
3 And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God?
4 Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?
5 But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,
6 who “ will render to each one according to his deeds” :
7 eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality;
8 but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath,
9 tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek;
10 but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
11 For there is no partiality with God.
12 For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law
13 (for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified;
14 for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves,†
15 who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them )
16 in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.
Judgment of the Jews
17 Indeed you are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God,†
18 and know His will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law,
19 and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness,
20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law.
21 You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal?
22 You who say, “Do not commit adultery,” do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?
23 You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law?
24 For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” as it is written.
25 For circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law; but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision.†
26 Therefore, if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision?
27 And will not the physically uncircumcised, if he fulfills the law, judge you who, even with your written code and circumcision, are a transgressor of the law?
28 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh;
29 but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.†