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1My child, when you come to serve the Lord,[#2 Tim 3.12; 1 Pet 4.12]
prepare yourself for testing.
2Set your heart right and be steadfast,
and do not be impetuous in time of calamity.
3Cling to him and do not depart,
so that your last days may be prosperous.
4Accept whatever befalls you,
and in times of humiliation be patient.
5For gold is tested in the fire,[#Sir 3.17; 2 Esd 16.73]
and those found acceptable, in the furnace of humiliation.
6Trust in him, and he will help you;[#Ps 27.3, 5]
make your ways straight and hope in him.
7You who fear the Lord, wait for his mercy;[#Ps 37.7–9]
do not stray, or else you may fall.
8You who fear the Lord, trust in him,[#Sir 51.30]
and your reward will not be lost.
9You who fear the Lord, hope for good things,
for lasting joy and mercy.
10Consider the generations of old and see:[#Ps 37.25; 145.18; 1 Macc 2.61]
Has anyone trusted in the Lord and been disappointed?
Or has anyone persevered in the fear of the Lord and been forsaken?
Or has anyone called upon him and been neglected?
11For the Lord is compassionate and merciful;[#Ps 86.15; Sir 51.12]
he forgives sins and saves in time of distress.
12Woe to timid hearts and to slack hands[#Prov 28.6, 18]
and to the sinner who walks a double path!
13Woe to the fainthearted who have no trust!
Therefore they will have no shelter.
14Woe to you who have lost patience![#Sir 41.2; Heb 10.36]
What will you do when the Lord’s reckoning comes?
15Those who fear the Lord will not disobey his words,[#Jn 14.23; 1 Jn 2.5]
and those who love him will keep his ways.
16Those who fear the Lord will seek his favor,[#Ps 119.97]
and those who love him will be filled with his law.
17Those who fear the Lord will prepare their hearts[#2 Sam 24.14; Sir 18.5; 2 Macc 10.4]
and will humble themselves before him.
18Let us fall into the hands of the Lord
but not into the hands of mortals,
for equal to his majesty is his mercy.