being two-faced

¹Blessed is the man who has not followed the counsel of the impious, and has not remained in the way of sinners, and has not sat in the chair of pestilence. ²But his will is with the law of the Lord, and he will meditate on his law, day and night. ³And he will be like a tree that has been planted beside running waters, which will provide its fruit in its time, and its leaf will not fall away, and all things whatsoever that he does will prosper. ⁴Not so the impious, not so. For they are like the dust that the wind casts along the face of the earth. ⁵Therefore, the impious will not prevail again in judgment, nor sinners in the council of the just. ⁶For the Lord knows the way of the just. And the path of the impious will pass away.

⁸Similarly, deacons must be chaste, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not pursuing tainted profit,

²²They were divided by the wrath of his countenance, and his heart has drawn near. His words are smoother than oil, and they are arrows.

¹Where do wars and contentions among you come from? Is it not from this: from your own desires, which battle within your members? ²You desire, and you do not have. You envy and you kill, and you are unable to obtain. You argue and you fight, and you do not have, because you do not ask. ³You ask and you do not receive, because you ask badly, so that you may use it toward your own desires. ⁴You adulterers! Do you not know that the friendship of this world is hostile to God? Therefore, whoever has chosen to be a friend of this world has been made into an enemy of God. ⁵Or do you think that Scripture says in vain: “The spirit which lives within you desires unto envy?” ⁶But he gives a greater grace. Therefore he says: “God resists the arrogant, but he gives grace to the humble.”

⁸Be sober and vigilant. For your adversary, the devil, is like a roaring lion, traveling around and seeking those whom he might devour. ⁹Resist him by being strong in faith, being aware that the same passions afflict those who are your brothers in the world.

¹⁶You shall not speak false testimony against your neighbor.

³Let nothing be done by contention, nor in vain glory. Instead, in humility, let each of you esteem others to be better than himself. ⁴Let each of you not consider anything to be your own, but rather to belong to others.

⁸Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

⁴The innocent of hands and the clean of heart, who has not received his soul in vain, nor sworn deceitfully to his neighbor.

¹²But whoever has exalted himself, shall be humbled. And whoever has humbled himself, shall be exalted.

⁸For a man who is of two minds is inconstant in all his ways.

¹Then Jesus spoke to the crowds, and to his disciples, ²saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees have sat down in the chair of Moses. ³Therefore, all things whatsoever that they shall say to you, observe and do. Yet truly, do not choose to act according to their works. For they say, but they do not do. ⁴For they bind up heavy and unbearable burdens, and they impose them on men’s shoulders. But they are not willing to move them with even a finger of their own. ⁵Truly, they do all their works so that they may be seen by men. For they enlarge their phylacteries and glorify their hems. ⁶And they love the first places at feasts, and the first chairs in the synagogues,

¹⁴consider that you do not know what will be tomorrow.

⁸Be sober and vigilant. For your adversary, the devil, is like a roaring lion, traveling around and seeking those whom he might devour.

¹⁷But within the wisdom that is from above, certainly, chastity is first, and next peacefulness, meekness, openness, consenting to what is good, a plenitude of mercy and good fruits, not judging, without falseness.

¹¹Be clothed in the armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the treachery of the devil. ¹²For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the directors of this world of darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in high places. ¹³Because of this, take up the armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand the evil day and remain perfect in all things. ¹⁴Therefore, stand firm, having been girded about your waist with truth, and having been clothed with the breastplate of justice, ¹⁵and having feet which have been shod by the preparation of the Gospel of peace. ¹⁶In all things, take up the shield of faith, with which you may be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the most wicked one.

¹⁵Do not choose to love the world, nor the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the charity of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶For all that is in the world is the desire of the flesh, and the desire of the eyes, and the arrogance of a life which is not of the Father, but is of the world. ¹⁷And the world is passing away, with its desire. But whoever does the will of God abides unto eternity.

⁶But he should ask with faith, doubting nothing. For he who doubts is like a wave on the ocean, which is moved about by the wind and carried away; ⁷then a man should not consider that he would receive anything from the Lord. ⁸For a man who is of two minds is inconstant in all his ways.

²For even though they say, ‘As the Lord lives,’ in this, too, they swear falsely.”