- 1
My son, if you come to serve the Lord, prepare your soul for temptation.
- 2
Set your heart aright, constantly endure, and don’t make haste in time of calamity.
- 3
Cling to him, and don’t depart, that you may be increased at your latter end.
- 4
Accept whatever is brought upon you, and be patient when you suffer humiliation.
- 5
For gold is tried in the fire, and acceptable men in the furnace of humiliation.
- 6
Put your trust in him, and he will help you. Make your ways straight, and set your hope on him.
- 7
All you who fear the Lord, wait for his mercy. Don’t turn aside, lest you fall.
- 8
All you who fear the Lord, put your trust in him, and your reward will not fail.
- 9
All you who fear the Lord, hope for good things, and for eternal gladness and mercy.
- 10
Look at the generations of old, and see: Who ever put his trust in the Lord, and was ashamed? Or who remained in his fear, and was forsaken? Or who called upon him, and he neglected him?
- 11
For the Lord is full of compassion and mercy. He forgives sins and saves in time of affliction.
- 12
Woe to fearful hearts, to faint hands, and to the sinner who goes two ways!
- 13
Woe to the faint heart! For it doesn’t believe. Therefore it won’t be defended.
- 14
Woe to you who have lost your patience! And what will you all do when the Lord visits you?
- 15
Those who fear the Lord will not disobey his words. Those who love him will keep his ways.
- 16
Those who fear the Lord will seek his good pleasure. Those who love him will be filled with the law.
- 17
Those who fear the Lord will prepare their hearts, and will humble their souls in his sight.
- 18
We will fall into the hands of the Lord, and not into the hands of men; for as his majesty is, so also is his mercy.
Bible: World English Bible (Catholic), public domain, via eBible.org. Footnotes, section headings and acrostic letters are not reproduced.