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The Law and Sacrifices

35One who keeps the law makes many offerings;
²   one who heeds the commandments makes an offering of well-being.
³ One who returns a kindness offers choice flour,
⁴   and one who gives alms sacrifices a thank-offering.
⁵ To keep from wickedness is pleasing to the Lord,
   and to forsake unrighteousness is an atonement.
⁶ Do not appear before the Lord empty-handed,
⁷   for all that you offer is in fulfilment of the commandment.
⁸ The offering of the righteous enriches the altar,
   and its pleasing odour rises before the Most High.
⁹ The sacrifice of the righteous is acceptable,
   and it will never be forgotten.
¹⁰ Be generous when you worship the Lord,
   and do not stint the first fruits of your hands.
¹¹ With every gift show a cheerful face,
   and dedicate your tithe with gladness.
¹² Give to the Most High as he has given to you,
   and as generously as you can afford.
¹³ For the Lord is the one who repays,
   and he will repay you sevenfold.

Divine Justice

¹⁴ Do not offer him a bribe, for he will not accept it;
¹⁵   and do not rely on a dishonest sacrifice;
for the Lord is the judge,
   and with him there is no partiality.
¹⁶ He will not show partiality to the poor;
   but he will listen to the prayer of one who is wronged.
¹⁷ He will not ignore the supplication of the orphan,
   or the widow when she pours out her complaint.

⁸ Are you better than Thebes^*
   that sat by the Nile,
with water around her,
   her rampart a sea,
   water her wall?
⁹ Ethiopia^* was her strength,
   Egypt too, and that without limit;
   Put and the Libyans were her^* helpers.

¹⁰ Yet she became an exile,
   she went into captivity;
even her infants were dashed in pieces
   at the head of every street;
lots were cast for her nobles,
   all her dignitaries were bound in fetters.
¹¹ You also will be drunken,
   you will go into hiding;^*
you will seek
   a refuge from the enemy.
¹² All your fortresses are like fig trees
   with first-ripe figs—
if shaken they fall
   into the mouth of the eater.
¹³ Look at your troops:
   they are women in your midst.
The gates of your land
   are wide open to your foes;
   fire has devoured the bars of your gates.

¹⁴ Draw water for the siege,
   strengthen your forts;
trample the clay,
   tread the mortar,
   take hold of the brick-mould!
¹⁵ There the fire will devour you,
   the sword will cut you off.
   It will devour you like the locust.

Multiply yourselves like the locust,
   multiply like the grasshopper!
¹⁶ You increased your merchants
   more than the stars of the heavens.
   The locust sheds its skin and flies away.
¹⁷ Your guards are like grasshoppers,
   your scribes like swarms^* of locusts
settling on the fences
   on a cold day—
when the sun rises, they fly away;
   no one knows where they have gone.

¹⁸ Your shepherds are asleep,
   O king of Assyria;
   your nobles slumber.
Your people are scattered on the mountains
   with no one to gather them.
¹⁹ There is no assuaging your hurt,
   your wound is mortal.
All who hear the news about you
   clap their hands over you.
For who has ever escaped
   your endless cruelty?

The Second Beast

11 Then I saw another beast that rose out of the earth; it had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. ¹²It exercises all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and it makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound^* had been healed. ¹³It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in the sight of all; ¹⁴and by the signs that it is allowed to perform on behalf of the beast, it deceives the inhabitants of earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that had been wounded by the sword^* and yet lived; ¹⁵and it was allowed to give breath^* to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast could even speak and cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. ¹⁶Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, ¹⁷so that no one can buy or sell who does not have the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. ¹⁸This calls for wisdom: let anyone with understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a person. Its number is six hundred and sixty-six.^*

32 ‘Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. ³³Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. ³⁴For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Watchful Slaves

35 ‘Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; ³⁶be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. ³⁷Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. ³⁸If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.

39 ‘But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he^* would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁰You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.’

The Faithful or the Unfaithful Slave

41 Peter said, ‘Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for everyone?’ ⁴²And the Lord said, ‘Who then is the faithful and prudent manager whom his master will put in charge of his slaves, to give them their allowance of food at the proper time? ⁴³Blessed is that slave whom his master will find at work when he arrives. ⁴⁴Truly I tell you, he will put that one in charge of all his possessions. ⁴⁵But if that slave says to himself, “My master is delayed in coming”, and if he begins to beat the other slaves, men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk, ⁴⁶the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour that he does not know, and will cut him in pieces,^* and put him with the unfaithful. ⁴⁷That slave who knew what his master wanted, but did not prepare himself or do what was wanted, will receive a severe beating. ⁴⁸But one who did not know and did what deserved a beating will receive a light beating. From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded.