Sirach 18:15-33
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Right Spirit in Giving Alms
15 My child, do not mix reproach with your good deeds
or harsh words with any gift.(A)
16 Does not the dew give relief from the scorching heat?
So a word is better than a gift.(B)
17 Indeed, does not a word surpass a good gift?
Both are to be found in a gracious person.
18 A fool will rebuke ungraciously,
and the gift of a grudging giver makes the eyes weary.(C)
The Need of Reflection and Self-control
19 Before you speak, learn,
and before you fall ill, take care of yourself.(D)
20 Before judgment comes, examine yourself,
and at the time of scrutiny you will find forgiveness.(E)
21 Before falling ill, humble yourself,
and when you have sinned, repent.(F)
22 Let nothing hinder you from paying a vow promptly,
and do not wait until death to be released from it.(G)
23 Before making a vow, prepare yourself;
do not be like one who puts the Lord to the test.(H)
24 Think of his wrath on the day of death
and of the moment of vengeance when he turns away his face.(I)
25 In the time of plenty think of the time of hunger;
in days of wealth think of poverty and need.(J)
26 From morning to evening conditions change;
all things move swiftly before the Lord.(K)
27 One who is wise is cautious in everything;
when sin is all around, one guards against wrongdoing.
28 Every intelligent person knows wisdom
and praises the one who finds her.
29 Those who are skilled in words become wise themselves
and pour forth apt proverbs.[a](L)
Self-Control[b]
30 Do not follow your base desires
but restrain your appetites.(M)
31 If you allow your soul to take pleasure in base desire,
it will make you the laughingstock of your enemies.(N)
32 Do not revel in great luxury,
or you may become impoverished by contact with it.(O)
33 Do not become a beggar by feasting with borrowed money,
when you have nothing in your purse.[c]
Acts 17:16-34
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Paul in Athens
16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply distressed to see that the city was full of idols.(A) 17 So he argued in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons and also in the marketplace[a] every day with those who happened to be there. 18 Also some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers debated with him. Some said, “What does this pretentious babbler want to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign divinities.” (This was because he was telling the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.) 19 So they took him and brought him to the Areopagus and asked him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 20 It sounds rather strange to us, so we would like to know what it means.” 21 Now all the Athenians and the foreigners living there would spend their time in nothing but telling or hearing something new.
22 Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely spiritual you are in every way. 23 For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24 The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands,(B) 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things.(C) 26 From one ancestor[b] he made all peoples to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live,(D) 27 so that they would search for God[c] and perhaps fumble about for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us.(E) 28 For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said,
‘For we, too, are his offspring.’(F)
29 “Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals.(G) 30 While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent,(H) 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”(I)
32 When they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some scoffed, but others said, “We will hear you again about this.” 33 At that point Paul left them. 34 But some of them joined him and became believers, including Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.
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Sirach 19:13-30
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
13 Question a friend; perhaps he did not do it;
or if he did, so that he may not do it again.(A)
14 Question a neighbor; perhaps he did not say it;
or if he said it, so that he may not repeat it.
15 Question a friend, for often it is slander;
so do not believe every word.
16 A person may make a slip without intending it.
Who has not sinned with his tongue?(B)
17 Question your neighbor before you threaten him,
and make room for the law of the Most High.[a](C)
True and False Wisdom
20 The whole of wisdom is fear of the Lord,
and in all wisdom there is the fulfillment of the law.[b](D)
22 The knowledge of wickedness is not wisdom,
nor is there prudence in the counsel of sinners.(E)
23 There is a cleverness that is detestable,
and there is a fool who merely lacks wisdom.
24 Better are the God-fearing who lack understanding
than the highly intelligent who transgress the law.(F)
25 There is a cleverness that is exact but unjust,
and there are people who abuse favors to gain a verdict.[c]
26 There are villains bowed down in mourning,
but inwardly they are full of deceit.(G)
27 They hide their faces and pretend not to hear,
but when no one notices, they will take advantage of you.
28 Even if lack of strength keeps them from sinning,
they will nevertheless do evil when they find the opportunity.
29 People will be known by their appearances,
and sensible people will be known when first met face to face.(H)
30 People’s attire and hearty laughter
and the way they walk proclaim things about them.(I)
Footnotes
- 19.17 Other ancient authorities add and do not be angry.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of acceptance, and wisdom obtains his love. The knowledge of the Lord’s commandments is life-giving discipline, and those who do what is pleasing to him enjoy the fruit of the tree of immortality. - 19.20 Other ancient authorities add and the knowledge of his omnipotence.
When a slave says to his master, “I will not act as you wish,” even if later he does it, he angers the one who supports him. - 19.25 Other ancient authorities add and the one who justifies is wise in judgment.
Acts 18:1-23
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Paul in Corinth
18 After this Paul[a] left Athens and went to Corinth.(A) 2 There he found a Jew named Aquila from Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul[b] went to see them,(B) 3 and, because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them, and they worked together—by trade they were tentmakers.(C) 4 Every Sabbath he would argue in the synagogue and would try to convince Jews and Greeks.(D)
5 When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with proclaiming the word,[c] testifying to the Jews that the Messiah[d] was Jesus.(E) 6 When they opposed and reviled him, in protest he shook the dust from his clothes[e] and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the gentiles.”(F) 7 Then he left the synagogue[f] and went to the house of a man named Titius[g] Justus, a worshiper of God; his house was next door to the synagogue.(G) 8 Crispus, the official of the synagogue, became a believer in the Lord, together with all his household, and many of the Corinthians who heard Paul became believers and were baptized.(H) 9 One night the Lord said to Paul in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent,(I) 10 for I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you to harm you, for there are many in this city who are my people.”(J) 11 He stayed there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.
12 But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him before the tribunal. 13 They said, “This man is persuading people to worship God in ways that are contrary to the law.” 14 Just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of crime or serious villainy, I would be justified in accepting the complaint of you Jews,(K) 15 but since it is a matter of questions about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves; I do not wish to be a judge of these matters.” 16 And he dismissed them from the tribunal. 17 Then all of them[h] seized Sosthenes, the official of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the tribunal. But Gallio paid no attention to any of these things.(L)
Paul’s Return to Antioch
18 After staying there for a considerable time, Paul said farewell to the brothers and sisters and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae he had his hair cut, for he was under a vow.(M) 19 When they reached Ephesus, he left them there, but first he himself went into the synagogue and had a discussion with the Jews. 20 When they asked him to stay longer, he declined, 21 but on taking leave of them he said, “I[i] will return to you, if God wills.” Then he set sail from Ephesus.(N)
22 When he had landed at Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem[j] and greeted the church and then went down to Antioch.(O) 23 After spending some time there he departed and went from place to place through the region of Galatia[k] and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.(P)
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 18.1 Gk he
- 18.2 Gk He
- 18.5 Gk with the word
- 18.5 Or the Christ
- 18.6 Gk reviled him, he shook out his clothes
- 18.7 Gk left there
- 18.7 Other ancient authorities read Titus
- 18.17 Other ancient authorities read all the Greeks
- 18.21 Other ancient authorities read I must at all costs keep the approaching festival in Jerusalem, but I
- 18.22 Gk went up
- 18.23 Gk the Galatian region
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