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Sirach 5:1-8

Precepts for Everyday Living

5Do not rely on your wealth,
   or say, ‘I have enough.’
² Do not follow your inclination and strength
   in pursuing the desires of your heart.
³ Do not say, ‘Who can have power over me?’
   for the Lord will surely punish you.

⁴ Do not say, ‘I sinned, yet what has happened to me?’
   for the Lord is slow to anger.
⁵ Do not be so confident of forgiveness^*
   that you add sin to sin.
⁶ Do not say, ‘His mercy is great,
   he will forgive^* the multitude of my sins’,
for both mercy and wrath are with him,
   and his anger will rest on sinners.
⁷ Do not delay to turn back to the Lord,
   and do not postpone it from day to day;
for suddenly the wrath of the Lord will come upon you,
   and at the time of punishment you will perish.
⁸ Do not depend on dishonest wealth,
   for it will not benefit you on the day of calamity.

The Psalms

BOOK I

(Psalms 1-41)

Psalm 1

The Two Ways

¹ Happy are those
   who do not follow the advice of the wicked,
or take the path that sinners tread,
   or sit in the seat of scoffers;
² but their delight is in the law of the Lord,
   and on his law they meditate day and night.
³ They are like trees
   planted by streams of water,
which yield their fruit in its season,
   and their leaves do not wither.
In all that they do, they prosper.

⁴ The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
⁶ for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.

Mark 9:41-50

⁴¹For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.

Temptations to Sin

42 ‘If any of you put a stumbling-block before one of these little ones who believe in me,^* it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. ⁴³If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell,^* to the unquenchable fire.^* ⁴⁵And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell.^*^,^* ⁴⁷And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell,^* ⁴⁸where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.

49 ‘For everyone will be salted with fire.^* ⁵⁰Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it?^* Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.’