Every word of God is fire tried: he is a buckler to them that hope in him.6 Add not any thing to his words, lest thou be reproved, and found a liar:7 Two things I have asked of thee, deny them not to me before I die.8 Remove far from me vanity, and lying words. Give me neither beggary, nor riches: give me only the necessaries of life:9 Lest perhaps being filled, I should be tempted to deny, and say: Who is the Lord? or being compelled by poverty, I should steal, and forswear the name of my God.
Solomon says, "Give me neither beggary nor riches; give me only what is necessary and sufficient," lest being filled I should deny and say, Who sees me? Or being poor, I should steal and forswear the name of my God; thus representing riches as satiety, poverty as a complete lack of the necessities of life, and sufficiency as a state both free from want and without superfluity. Sufficiency varies, however, according to physical condition and present need.… In every case, care must be taken for a good table, yet without overstepping the limits of the actual need.
Remove from me the way of iniquity: and out of thy law have mercy on me.72 The law of thy mouth is good to me, above thousands of gold and silver.89 LAMED. For ever, O Lord, thy word standeth firm in heaven.101 I have restrained my feet from every evil way: that I may keep thy words.104 By thy commandments I have had understanding: therefore have I hated every way of iniquity.163 I have hated and abhorred iniquity; but I have loved thy law.
He who loves truth, and never utters a false word with his mouth, may say, "I have chosen the way of truth." Moreover, he who always sets the judgments of God before his eyes, and remembers them in every action, will say, "Thy judgments have I not forgotten." And how is our heart enlarged by trials and afflictions! For these pluck out the thorns of anxious thoughts within us, and enlarge the heart for the reception of the divine laws. For, says he, "in affliction Thou hast enlarged me." Then do we walk in the way of God's commandments, well prepared for it by the endurance of trials.
Then calling together the twelve apostles, he gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases.2 And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.3 And he said to them: Take nothing for your journey; neither staff, nor scrip, nor bread, nor money; neither have two coats.4 And whatsoever house you shall enter into, abide there, and depart not from thence.5 And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off even the dust of your feet, for a testimony against them.6 And going out, they went about through the towns, preaching the gospel, and healing every where.
And that through them the whole race of mankind may be sought out, He not only gives them power to drive away evil spirits, but to cure all kind of diseases at His command; as it follows, And to cure diseases.
Wishing then that they should be free from the desire of wealth and the anxieties of life, He gave this injunction. He took it as a proof of their faith and courage, that when it was commanded them to lead a life of extreme poverty, they would not escape from what was ordered. For it was fitting that they should make a kind of bargain, receiving these saving virtues to recompense them for obedience to commands. And when He was making them soldiers of God, He girds them for battle against their enemies, by telling them to embrace poverty. For no soldier of God entangles himself in the affairs of a secular life. (2 Tim. 2:4.)
But when the Lord had girded His disciples as soldiers of God with divine virtue and wise admonitions, sending them to the Jews as teachers and physicians, they afterwards went forth, as it follows, And they departed, and went through the towns preaching the gospel, and healing every where.
About CSB. A personal translation of the New Testament, rendered directly from the public-domain Greek in a literary style — not a scholarly critical edition, and not for liturgical or doctrinal authority. It is one reader's work, offered for enjoyment; where it matters, weigh it against an established translation. (Placeholder text — final wording to come.)