Faithfulness in Trials
1 My son, if you come to serve the Lord, prepare your soul for testing. 2 Set your heart right and endure steadily. Do not be hasty in a time of disaster. 3 Cling to him, and do not leave him, so that you may prosper at the end. 4 Accept whatever is brought on you, and be patient when you suffer humiliation. 5 For gold is tested in the fire, and people who are acceptable to God in the furnace of humiliation. 6 Put your trust in him, and he will help you. Make your ways straight, and set your hope on him.
Trust in God’s Mercy
7 All you who fear the Lord, wait for his mercy. Do not turn aside, so that you do not fall. 8 All you who fear the Lord, put your trust in him, and your reward will not fail. 9 All you who fear the Lord, hope for good things, and for eternal gladness and mercy. 10 Look at the generations of the past and see. Who ever put their trust in the Lord, and was put to shame? Or who continued to fear him and was abandoned? Or who called on him and was neglected? 11 For the Lord is full of compassion and mercy. He forgives sins and saves in time of distress.
Warnings against Faithlessness
12 How terrible for fearful hearts, to powerless hands, and to the sinner who follows two paths! 13 How terrible for the fainthearted! For they do not believe, so they will not be protected. 14 How terrible for you who have lost your patience! And what will you all do when the Lord comes to you?
Those Who Fear the Lord
15 Those who fear the Lord will not disobey his words. Those who love him will keep his ways. 16 Those who fear the Lord will seek his good pleasure. Those who love him will be filled with the law. 17 Those who fear the Lord will prepare their hearts, and will humble their souls in his sight. 18 We will fall into the hands of the Lord, and not into the hands of people, for his mercy is as great as his majesty.
Texts in conversation
Compare Exodus 34:6 and Jesus Ben Sira, Sirach 2:11
Hebrew Bible · Deuterocanon
Summary
Passages
Exodus 34:6
Hebrew Bible“The Lord, the Lord,
the compassionate and gracious God,
slow to anger,
and abounding in loyal love and faithfulness, 7 keeping loyal love for thousands,
forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.
But he by no means leaves the guilty unpunished,
responding to the transgression of fathers
by dealing with children and children’s children,
to the third and fourth generation.”
Jesus Ben Sira, Sirach 2:11
Deuterocanon · Ben Sira, EcclesiasticusWho ever put their trust in the Lord, and was put to shame?
Or who continued to fear him and was abandoned?
Or who called on him and was neglected? 11 For the Lord is full of compassion and mercy.
He forgives sins and saves in time of distress. 12 How terrible for fearful hearts, to powerless hands,
and to the sinner who follows two paths!
References
References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.
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