Son, when thou comest to the service of God, stand in justice and in fear, and prepare thy soul for temptation.2 Humble thy heart, and endure: incline thy ear, and receive the words of understanding: and make not haste in the time of clouds.3 Wait on God with patience: join thyself to God, and endure, that thy life may be increased in the latter end.4 Take all that shall be brought upon thee: and in thy sorrow endure, and in thy humiliation keep patience.5 For gold and silver are tried in the fire, but acceptable men in the furnace of humiliation.6 Believe God, and he will recover thee: and direct thy way, and trust in him. Keep his fear, and grow old therein.7 Ye that fear the Lord, wait for his mercy: and go not aside from him, lest ye fall.8 Ye that fear the Lord, believe him: and your reward shall not be made void.9 Ye that fear the Lord, hope in him: and mercy shall come to you for your delight.10 Ye that fear the Lord, love him, and your hearts shall be enlightened.11 My children behold the generations of men: and know ye that no one hath hoped in the Lord, and hath been confounded.
God often holds some kind of threat over our heads—not so that he may inflict it on us but so that he can draw us to himself. When we return to him, the fear quickly dissipates. Certainly, if we were the same person in temptations that we are when at ease, there would be no need for temptations.But why do I speak of us? Since even those saints of old learned a great lesson, as the prophet says, "It was good for me that you humbled me." And Jesus likewise said to the apostles, "In the world you will have tribulation." And Paul alludes to just this when he says, "A thorn in the flesh was given to me; the messenger of Satan to buffet me." Therefore when he looked for deliverance from temptation, he did not obtain it, because of the greater benefit that would follow from it. And if we should rehearse the whole life of David, we would find him more glorious when he was in danger—both he and everyone else who was like him. For such was the case with Job, who shined more brightly during his troubles, and Joseph too in this way became the more approved, and Jacob also, and his father likewise and his father's father. For all those who ever donned such crowns of peculiar glory, it was by tribulations and temptations that they first won their crowns. Only then did they have their names recited.
Being conscious of all these things, according to the wise saying, let us "not be hasty in time of calamity." Rather, let us teach ourselves only one thing: how to bear all nobly and not to be curious or inquisitive about any of the things that are happening. For to know when our tribulations will be over and done with belongs to God who permits them to happen to us. But to bear what is brought on us, with all thankfulness, is all the work of a good disposition on our part. And if this is the case, then all our blessings will follow.
Trust in the Lord, and do good, and dwell in the land, and thou shalt be fed with its riches.4 Delight in the Lord, and he will give thee the requests of thy heart.18 The Lord knoweth the days of undefiled; and their inheritance shall be for ever.19 They shall not be confounded in the evil time; and in the days of famine they shall be filled:27 Decline from evil and do good, and dwell for ever and ever.28 For the Lord loveth judgment, and will not forsake his saints: they shall be preserved for ever. The unjust shall be punished, and the seed of the wicked shall perish.39 But the salvation of the just is from the Lord, and he is their protector in the time of trouble.40 And the Lord will help them and deliver them: and he will rescue them from the wicked, and save them, because they have hoped in him.
Therefore it is right and proper, brothers, that we should be obedient to God rather than follow those who in arrogance and unruliness have set themselves up as leaders in abominable jealousy. For we shall bring on us no common harm, but rather great peril, if we surrender ourselves recklessly to the purposes of people who launch out into strife and seditions, so as to estrange us from that which is right. Let us be good one toward another according to the compassion and sweetness of him that made us.
It is right and holy therefore, men and brethren, rather to obey God than to follow those who, through pride and sedition, have become the leaders of a detestable emulation. For we shall incur no slight injury, but rather great danger, if we rashly yield ourselves to the inclinations of men who aim at exciting strife and tumults, so as to draw us away from what is good. Let us be kind one to another after the pattern of the tender mercy and benignity of our Creator. For it is written, "The kind-hearted shall inhabit the land, and the guiltless shall be left upon it, but transgressors shall be destroyed from off the face of it." [Proverbs 2:21-22] And again [the Scripture] saith, "I saw the ungodly highly exalted, and lifted up like the cedars of Lebanon: I passed by, and, behold, he was not; and I diligently sought his place, and could not find it. Preserve innocence, and look on equity: for there shall be a remnant to the peaceful man." [Psalm 37:35-37]
And he taught his disciple, and said to them: The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise again the third day.†31 But they understood not the word, and they were afraid to ask him.†32 And they came to Capharnaum. And when they were in the house, he asked them: What did you treat of in the way?33 But they held their peace, for in the way they had disputed among themselves, which of them should be the greatest.34 And sitting down, he called the twelve, and saith to them: If any man desire to be first, he shall be the last of all, and the minister of all.35 And taking a child, he set him in the midst of them. Whom when he had embraced, he saith to them:†36 Whosoever shall receive one such child as this in my name, receiveth me. And whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him that sent me.37 John answered him, saying: Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, who followeth not us, and we forbade him.
(Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc. Sed v. Chrys. Hom. in Matt. 58) By the very sight, persuading them to humility and simplicity; for this little one was pure from envy and vain glory, and from a desire of superiority. But He does not only say, If ye become such, ye shall receive a great reward, but also, if ye will honour others, who are such for my sake. Wherefore there follows: And when he had taken him in his arms, he said unto them, Whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name, receiveth me.
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.)