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Sirach 42: 15-25

The Works of God in Nature

¹⁵ I will now call to mind the works of the Lord,
   and will declare what I have seen.
By the word of the Lord his works are made;
   and all his creatures do his will.^*
¹⁶ The sun looks down on everything with its light,
   and the work of the Lord is full of his glory.
¹⁷ The Lord has not empowered even his holy ones
   to recount all his marvellous works,
which the Lord the Almighty has established
   so that the universe may stand firm in his glory.
¹⁸ He searches out the abyss and the human heart;
   he understands their innermost secrets.
For the Most High knows all that may be known;
   he sees from of old the things that are to come.^*
¹⁹ He discloses what has been and what is to be,
   and he reveals the traces of hidden things.
²⁰ No thought escapes him,
   and nothing is hidden from him.
²¹ He has set in order the splendours of his wisdom;
   he is from all eternity one and the same.
Nothing can be added or taken away,
   and he needs no one to be his counsellor.
²² How desirable are all his works,
   and how sparkling they are to see!^*
²³ All these things live and remain for ever;
   each creature is preserved to meet a particular need.^*
²⁴ All things come in pairs, one opposite to the other,
   and he has made nothing incomplete.
²⁵ Each supplements the virtues of the other.
   Who could ever tire of seeing his glory?

James 5: 1-6

Warning to Rich Oppressors

5Come now, you rich people, weep and wail for the miseries that are coming to you. ²Your riches have rotted, and your clothes are moth-eaten. ³Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you, and it will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure^* for the last days. ⁴Listen! The wages of the labourers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. ⁵You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have fattened your hearts on a day of slaughter. ⁶You have condemned and murdered the righteous one, who does not resist you.