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Sirach 3: 17-31

Humility

¹⁷ My child, perform your tasks with humility;^*
   then you will be loved by those whom God accepts.
¹⁸ The greater you are, the more you must humble yourself;
   so you will find favour in the sight of the Lord.^*
²⁰ For great is the might of the Lord;
   but by the humble he is glorified.
²¹ Neither seek what is too difficult for you,
   nor investigate what is beyond your power.
²² Reflect upon what you have been commanded,
   for what is hidden is not your concern.
²³ Do not meddle in matters that are beyond you,
   for more than you can understand has been shown to you.
²⁴ For their conceit has led many astray,
   and wrong opinion has impaired their judgement.

²⁵ Without eyes there is no light;
   without knowledge there is no wisdom.^*
²⁶ A stubborn mind will fare badly at the end,
   and whoever loves danger will perish in it.
²⁷ A stubborn mind will be burdened by troubles,
   and the sinner adds sin to sins.
²⁸ When calamity befalls the proud, there is no healing,
   for an evil plant has taken root in him.
²⁹ The mind of the intelligent appreciates proverbs,
   and an attentive ear is the desire of the wise.

Alms for the Poor

³⁰ As water extinguishes a blazing fire,
so almsgiving atones for sin.
³¹ Those who repay favours give thought to the future;
when they fall they will find support.

Micah 2: 1-13

Social Evils Denounced

2Alas for those who devise wickedness
   and evil deeds^* on their beds!
When the morning dawns, they perform it,
   because it is in their power.
² They covet fields, and seize them;
   houses, and take them away;
they oppress householder and house,
   people and their inheritance.
³ Therefore, thus says the Lord:
Now, I am devising against this family an evil
   from which you cannot remove your necks;
and you shall not walk haughtily,
   for it will be an evil time.
⁴ On that day they shall take up a taunt-song against you,
   and wail with bitter lamentation,
and say, ‘We are utterly ruined;
   the Lord ^* alters the inheritance of my people;
how he removes it from me!
   Among our captors^* he parcels out our fields.’
⁵ Therefore you will have no one to cast the line by lot
   in the assembly of the Lord.

⁶ ‘Do not preach’—thus they preach—
   ‘one should not preach of such things;
   disgrace will not overtake us.’
⁷ Should this be said, O house of Jacob?
   Is the Lord’s patience exhausted?
   Are these his doings?
Do not my words do good
   to one who walks uprightly?
⁸ But you rise up against my people^* as an enemy;
   you strip the robe from the peaceful,^*
from those who pass by trustingly
   with no thought of war.
⁹ The women of my people you drive out
   from their pleasant houses;
from their young children you take away
   my glory for ever.
¹⁰ Arise and go;
   for this is no place to rest,
because of uncleanness that destroys
   with a grievous destruction.^*
¹¹ If someone were to go about uttering empty falsehoods,
   saying, ‘I will preach to you of wine and strong drink’,
   such a one would be the preacher for this people!

A Promise for the Remnant of Israel

¹² I will surely gather all of you, O Jacob,
   I will gather the survivors of Israel;
I will set them together
   like sheep in a fold,
like a flock in its pasture;
   it will resound with people.
¹³ The one who breaks out will go up before them;
   they will break through and pass the gate,
   going out by it.
Their king will pass on before them,
   the Lord at their head.