closer to god

²³Then he said to everyone: “If anyone is willing to come after me: let him deny himself, and take up his cross every day, and follow me.

⁸Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners! And purify your hearts, you duplicitous souls!

⁹If we confess our sins, then he is faithful and just, so as to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all iniquity.

¹“Do not let your heart be troubled. You believe in God. Believe in me also.

²³Do you not realize that I am a God close by, says the Lord, and not a God far away? ²⁴If a man is hidden in concealed places, do I not see him, says the Lord? Do I not fill up heaven and earth, says the Lord?

¹⁶And when you fast, do not choose to become gloomy, like the hypocrites. For they alter their faces, so that their fasting may be apparent to men. Amen I say to you, that they have received their reward. ¹⁷But as for you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, ¹⁸so that your fasting will not be apparent to men, but to your Father, who is in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will repay you.

¹And so I beg you, first of all, to make supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings for all men, ²for kings, and for all who are in high places, so that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all piety and chastity. ³For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, ⁴who wants all men to be saved and to arrive at an acknowledgment of the truth. ⁵For there is one God, and one mediator of God and of men, the man Christ Jesus, ⁶who gave himself as a redemption for all, as a testimony in its proper time.

¹⁶For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that all who believe in him may not perish, but may have eternal life.

²⁷But I say to you who are listening: Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you.

²⁸But it is good for me to adhere to God, to put my hope in the Lord God, so that I may announce all your prophecies, at the gates of the daughter of Zion.

¹My little sons, this I write to you, so that you may not sin. But if anyone has sinned, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the Just One. ²And he is the propitiation for our sins. And not only for our sins, but also for those of the whole world. ³And we can be sure that we have known him by this: if we observe his commandments. ⁴Whoever claims that he knows him, and yet does not keep his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. ⁵But whoever keeps his word, truly in him the charity of God is perfected. And by this we know that we are in him. ⁶Whoever declares himself to remain in him, ought to walk just as he himself walked.

¹But accept those who are weak in faith, without disputing about ideas. ²For one person believes that he may eat all things, but if another is weak, let him eat plants. ³He who eats should not despise him who does not eat. And he who does not eat should not judge him who eats. For God has accepted him. ⁴Who are you to judge the servant of another? He stands or falls by his own Lord. But he shall stand. For God is able to make him stand. ⁵For one person discerns one age from the next. But another discerns unto every age. Let each one increase according to his own mind. ⁶He who understands the age, understands for the Lord. And he who eats, eats for the Lord; for he gives thanks to God. And he who does not eat, does not eat for the Lord, and he gives thanks to God.

⁹Do not become like the horse and the mule, which have no understanding. Their jaws are constrained with bit and bridle, so as not to draw near to you.

¹⁷Pray without ceasing.

⁴And approaching him as if he were a living stone, rejected by men, certainly, but elect and honored by God,

²⁶As a result, all the sons of Israel went to the house of God, and sitting down, they wept before the Lord. And they fasted that day until evening, and they offered to him holocausts and victims of peace offerings.

⁴¹Therefore, those who accepted his discourse were baptized. And about three thousand souls were added on that day.

²⁸But I say to you, that anyone who will have looked at a woman, so as to lust after her, has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

¹Then, after the death of Ahab, Moab transgressed against Israel. ²And Ahaziah fell down through the lattices of his upper room, which he had in Samaria, and he was injured. And he sent messengers, saying to them, “Go, consult Beelzebub, the god of Ekron, as to whether I may be able to survive this infirmity of mine.” ³And an Angel of the Lord spoke to Elijah, the Tishbite, saying: “Rise up, and ascend to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria. And you shall say to them: ‘Is there not a God in Israel, so that you would go to consult Beelzebub, the god of Ekron? ⁴For this reason, thus says the Lord: From the bed to which you have ascended, you shall not descend. Instead, dying you shall die.’ ” And Elijah went away. ⁵And the messengers returned to Ahaziah. And he said to them, “Why have you returned?” ⁶But they responded to him: “A man met us, and he said to us: ‘Go, and return to the king who sent you. And you shall say to him: Thus says the Lord: Is it because there was no God in Israel that you are sending to consult Beelzebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore, from the bed to which you have ascended, you shall not descend. Instead, dying you shall die.’ ”