Wisdom of Sirach 27
1 Many have sinned to make a profit, And he who seeks riches will turn away his eyes.
2 As a stake will be driven tightly between fitted stones, So sin will be wedged between selling and buying.
3 If a man does not hold steadfastly to the fear of the Lord, His house will be soon overturned.
Tested by Reason
4 When a sieve is shaken, the refuse remains; So a man’s filth remains in the way he reasons.†
5 As a furnace tests a potter’s vessels, So the test of a man is in the way he reasons.†
6 As fruit reveals how a tree is cultivated, So a man’s reasoning process reveals his heart.
7 Do not praise a man before he reveals the way he reasons, For this is the way a man is tested.
8 If you pursue righteousness, you will attain it And put it on like a glorious robe.†
9 As birds flock with their own kind, So also truth will return to those who practice it.
10 As a lion lies in wait for his prey, So sin lies in wait for those who do wrong.
Speaking Wisely
11 The talk of a godly man is always wise, But a fool changes like the moon.
12 Among senseless men, limit your time; Instead, spend it with men of understanding.
13 The talk of fools is offensive, And they laugh at the lewdness of sin.†
14 Speech filled with swearing will make one’s hair stand on end, And quarreling will make one stop his ears.
15 The quarreling of the arrogant leads to bloodshed, And their abusive language is hard on the ears.
16 He who reveals secrets destroys his credibility, And he will not find a friend for life.
17 Love your friend, And be trustworthy with him; But if you reveal his secrets, do not pursue him closely.
18 For as surely as a man has destroyed his enemy, So you have destroyed the friendship of your neighbor.
19 As you might release a bird from your hand, So you have let your neighbor go; And you will not catch him.
20 Do not pursue him, for he has withdrawn far away And has escaped like a deer from a snare.
21 For a wound can be bandaged and an insult forgiven, But anyone who reveals secrets is without hope.
22 He who winks with his eye plots evil deeds, And no one can draw him away from them.
23 His speech will be sweet in your presence, And he will marvel at your words; But later his speech will distort what you said, And he will cause trouble with your words.
24 I hate many things, but none in comparison to him; And the Lord will hate him.
Consequences of Sin
25 He who throws a stone into the air Throws it on his head, And a treacherous blow will distribute wounds.
26 He who digs a pit will fall into it, And he who sets a snare will be caught in it.
27 He who does evil things will have it roll back on him, And he will not know what hit him.†
28 Mockery and abuse come back on an arrogant man, And vengeance lies in wait for him like a lion.
29 Those who rejoice at the fall of the godly Will be caught in a trap, And pain will consume them before their death.
30 Anger and wrath, these are also abominations, And a sinful man shall possess both.
Psalms 32
1 By David. †Rejoice greatly in the Lord, O righteous ones; Praise is fitting for the upright.
2 Give thanks to the Lord on the lyre; Sing praises to Him on a ten-stringed instrument.
3 Sing to Him a new song; Sing praises beautifully with a shout.
4 For the word of the Lord is right, And all His works are done in faithfulness.
5 He loves mercy and judgment; The earth is full of the Lord’s mercy.
6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were established, And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth,
7 Who gathers the waters of the sea together as in a wineskin, Who put the abysses in storehouses.
8 Let all the earth fear the Lord, And let all the world’s inhabitants be shaken by Him;
9 For He spoke, and they were made; He commanded, and they were created.
10 The Lord scatters abroad the counsels of the nations, And He sets aside the reasoning of peoples; And He rejects the counsels of rulers.
11 The counsel of the Lord abides forever, The thoughts of His heart from generation to generation.
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, The people He chose as an inheritance for Himself.
Proverbs of Solomon 6
20 For he rejoices in everything the Lord hates, And he shall be broken because of his soul’s uncleanness:
21 A haughty eye, an unrighteous tongue, Hands that shed righteous blood,
22 A heart that devises evil thoughts, And feet that hasten to do evil;
23 As a false witness he kindles injustice And causes quarrels between brethren.
24 My son, guard the laws of your father, And do not depart from the rules of your mother.
25 But fasten them to your soul continually And wear them as a collar upon your neck.
Romans 4
Abraham, Model of Faith
1 What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh?†
2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.
3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”
4 Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt.
5 But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness,
6 just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works:†
7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, And whose sins are covered;
8 Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin.”
9 Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness.
10 How then was it accounted? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised.
11 And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also,†
12 and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of the faith which our father Abraham had while still uncircumcised.
Abraham’s Children: Faithful Believers
13 For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.†
14 For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect,
15 because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression.
16 Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all
17 (as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations” ) in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did;
18 who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.”
19 And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb.
20 He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God,
21 and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.
22 And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.”
23 Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him,
24 but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead,
25 who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.†