Sirach 15:15-20

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

¹⁵If you will, you can keep the commandments,
    and to act faithfully is a matter of your own choice.
¹⁶He has placed before you fire and water:
    stretch out your hand for whichever you wish.
¹⁷Before a man^[a] are life and death,
    and whichever he chooses will be given to him.
¹⁸For great is the wisdom of the Lord;
    he is mighty in power and sees everything;
¹⁹his eyes are on those who fear him,
    and he knows every deed of man.
²⁰He has not commanded any one to be ungodly,
    and he has not given any one permission to sin.

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Footnotes

Sirach 15:17 Gk men

1 Corinthians 2:6-10

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

The True Wisdom of God

⁶Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. ⁷But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glorification. ⁸None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. ⁹But, as it is written,

“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the heart of man conceived,
what God has prepared for those who love him,”

¹⁰God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.

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Matthew 5:17-37

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

The Law and the Prophets

¹⁷“Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil them.^[a] ¹⁸For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. ¹⁹Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Concerning Anger

²¹“You have heard that it was said to the men of old, ‘You shall not kill; and whoever kills shall be liable to judgment.’ ²²But I say to you that every one who is angry with his brother^[b] shall be liable to judgment; whoever insults^[c] his brother shall be liable to the council, and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be liable to the hell^[d] of fire. ²³So if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, ²⁴leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. ²⁵Make friends quickly with your accuser, while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison; ²⁶truly, I say to you, you will never get out till you have paid the last penny.

Concerning Adultery

²⁷“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ ²⁸But I say to you that every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ²⁹If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.^[e]^[f] ³⁰And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.^[g]

Concerning Divorce

³¹“It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ ³²But I say to you that every one who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity,^[h] makes her an adulteress; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Concerning Oaths

³³“Again you have heard that it was said to the men of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ ³⁴But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, ³⁵or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. ³⁶And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. ³⁷Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.^[i]

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Footnotes

5.17 Jesus came to bring the old law to its natural fulfilment in the new, while discarding what had become obsolete; cf. Jn 4.21.
Matthew 5:22 Other ancient authorities insert without cause
Matthew 5:22 Greek says Raca to (an obscure term of abuse)
Matthew 5:22 Greek Gehenna
Matthew 5:29 Greek Gehenna
5.29 An exaggeration to emphasize the need to avoid occasions of sin.
Matthew 5:30 Greek Gehenna
5.32 unchastity: The Greek word used here appears to refer to marriages that were not legally marriages because they were either within the forbidden degrees of consanguinity (Lev 18.6-16) or contracted with a Gentile. The phrase except on the ground of unchastity does not occur in the parallel passage in Lk 16.18. See also Mt 19.9 (Mk 10.11-12), and especially 1 Cor 7.10-11 which shows that the prohibition is unconditional.
Matthew 5:37 Or the evil one

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)

The Revised Standard Version of the Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1965, 1966 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.