1 “So clothe yourself in cheerfulness, which is always pleasing to God and acceptable to Him, and rejoice in it. For everyone who is cheerful does good and thinks good, and despises sadness; 2 but the sad person is always doing wrong. First, they sin because they grieve the Holy Spirit who was given to them—a⁠a cheerful Spirit. Next, by grieving the Holy Spirit, they act lawlessly by not pleading with or confessing to God. For the plea of a sad person never has power to ascend to God’s altar.” 3 “Why,” I said, “does the plea of a sad person not ascend to the altar?” “Because,” he said, “sadness sits in that person’s heart. So sadness mixed with the plea does not allow the plea to go up pure to the altar. For just as vinegar mixed with wine in the same vessel does not have the same pleasant taste, so also sadness mixed with the Holy Spirit does not have the same effect in pleading. 4 So cleanse yourself of this evil sadness, and you will live for God; yes, and all who cast away sadness from themselves and clothe themselves in complete cheerfulness will live for God.”