O HEAR ye this, all ye people; * ponder it with your ears, all ye that dwell in the world;
 
High and low, rich and poor, * one with another.
 
My mouth shall speak of wisdom, * and my heart shall muse of understanding.
 
I will incline mine ear to the parable, * and show my dark speech upon the harp.
 
Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, * when wickedness at my heels compasseth me round about?
 
There be some that put their trust in their goods, * and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches.
 
But no man may deliver his brother, * nor give a ransom unto God for him,
 
(For it cost more to redeem their souls, * so that he must let that alone for ever;)
 
That he shall live alway, * and not see the grave.
 
For he seeth that wise men also die and perish together, * as well as the ignorant and foolish, and leave their riches for other.
 
And yet they think that their houses shall continue for ever, and that their dwelling-places shall endure from one generation to another; * and call the lands after their own names.
 
Nevertheless, man being in honour abideth not, * seeing he may be compared unto the beasts that perish;
 
This their way is very foolishness; * yet their posterity praise their saying.
 
They lie in the grave like sheep; death is their shepherd; and the righteous shall have dominion over them in the morning: * their beauty shall consume in the sepulchre, and have no abiding.
 
But God hath delivered my soul from the power of the grave; * for he shall receive me.
 
Be not thou afraid, though one be made rich, * or if the glory of his house be increased;
 
For he shall carry nothing away with him when he dieth, * neither shall his pomp follow him.
 
For while he lived, he counted himself an happy man; * and so long as thou doest well unto thyself, men will speak good of thee.
 
He shall follow the generation of his fathers, * and shall never see light.
 
Man that is in honour but hath no understanding * is compared unto the beasts that perish.

And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time. And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers. And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat. And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again. And the angel of the Lord came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee. And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God.

What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

LORD, we beseech thee, grant thy people grace to withstand the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil; and with pure hearts and minds to follow thee, the only God; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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