But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,
    which shines brighter and brighter until full day.

5 “If anyone sins in that he hears a public adjuration to testify, and though he is a witness, whether he has seen or come to know the matter, yet does not speak, he shall bear his iniquity; ² or if anyone touches an unclean thing, whether a carcass of an unclean wild animal or a carcass of unclean livestock or a carcass of unclean swarming things, and it is hidden from him and he has become unclean, and he realizes his guilt; ³ or if he touches human uncleanness, of whatever sort the uncleanness may be with which one becomes unclean, and it is hidden from him, when he comes to know it, and realizes his guilt; ⁴ or if anyone utters with his lips a rash oath to do evil or to do good, any sort of rash oath that people swear, and it is hidden from him, when he comes to know it, and he realizes his guilt in any of these; ⁵ when he realizes his guilt in any of these and confesses the sin he has committed, ⁶ he shall bring to the Lord as his compensation^[a] for the sin that he has committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a goat, for a sin offering. And the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin.

⁷ “But if he cannot afford a lamb, then he shall bring to the Lord as his compensation for the sin that he has committed two turtledoves or two pigeons,^[b] one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. ⁸ He shall bring them to the priest, who shall offer first the one for the sin offering. He shall wring its head from its neck but shall not sever it completely, ⁹ and he shall sprinkle some of the blood of the sin offering on the side of the altar, while the rest of the blood shall be drained out at the base of the altar; it is a sin offering. ¹⁰ Then he shall offer the second for a burnt offering according to the rule. And the priest shall make atonement for him for the sin that he has committed, and he shall be forgiven.

¹¹ “But if he cannot afford two turtledoves or two pigeons, then he shall bring as his offering for the sin that he has committed a tenth of an ephah^[c] of fine flour for a sin offering. He shall put no oil on it and shall put no frankincense on it, for it is a sin offering. ¹² And he shall bring it to the priest, and the priest shall take a handful of it as its memorial portion and burn this on the altar, on the Lord‘s food offerings; it is a sin offering. ¹³ Thus the priest shall make atonement for him for the sin which he has committed in any one of these things, and he shall be forgiven. And the remainder^[d] shall be for the priest, as in the grain offering.”

¹⁴ The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁵ “If anyone commits a breach of faith and sins unintentionally in any of the holy things of the Lord, he shall bring to the Lord as his compensation, a ram without blemish out of the flock, valued^[e] in silver shekels,^[f] according to the shekel of the sanctuary, for a guilt offering. ¹⁶ He shall also make restitution for what he has done amiss in the holy thing and shall add a fifth to it and give it to the priest. And the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering, and he shall be forgiven.

¹⁷ “If anyone sins, doing any of the things that by the Lord‘s commandments ought not to be done, though he did not know it, then realizes his guilt, he shall bear his iniquity. ¹⁸ He shall bring to the priest a ram without blemish out of the flock, or its equivalent, for a guilt offering, and the priest shall make atonement for him for the mistake that he made unintentionally, and he shall be forgiven. ¹⁹ It is a guilt offering; he has indeed incurred guilt before^[g] the Lord.”

5 On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, ² and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. ³ Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. ⁴ And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” ⁵ And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” ⁶ And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. ⁷ They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. ⁸ But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” ⁹ For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, ¹⁰ and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”^[a] 11 And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.

¹² While he was in one of the cities, there came a man full of leprosy.^[b] And when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged him, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” ¹³ And Jesus^[c] stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him. ¹⁴ And he charged him to tell no one, but “go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as Moses commanded, for a proof to them.” ¹⁵ But now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. ¹⁶ But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.

¹⁷ On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with him to heal.^[d] 18 And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, ¹⁹ but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. ²⁰ And when he saw their faith, he said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” ²¹ And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” ²² When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts? ²³ Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? ²⁴ But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.” ²⁵ And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, glorifying God. ²⁶ And amazement seized them all, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, “We have seen extraordinary things today.”

²⁷ After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” ²⁸ And leaving everything, he rose and followed him.

²⁹ And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. ³⁰ And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” ³¹ And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ³² I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

³³ And they said to him, “The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink.” ³⁴ And Jesus said to them, “Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? ³⁵ The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.” ³⁶ He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. If he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. ³⁷ And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. ³⁸ But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. ³⁹ And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, ‘The old is good.’”

21 The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord;
    he turns it wherever he will.
² Every way of a man is right in his own eyes,
    but the Lord weighs the heart.
³ To do righteousness and justice
    is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.
⁴ Haughty eyes and a proud heart,
    the lamp^[a] of the wicked, are sin.
⁵ The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance,
    but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.
⁶ The getting of treasures by a lying tongue
    is a fleeting vapor and a snare of death.^[b]
7 The violence of the wicked will sweep them away,
    because they refuse to do what is just.
⁸ The way of the guilty is crooked,
    but the conduct of the pure is upright.
⁹ It is better to live in a corner of the housetop
    than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife.
¹⁰ The soul of the wicked desires evil;
    his neighbor finds no mercy in his eyes.
¹¹ When a scoffer is punished, the simple becomes wise;
    when a wise man is instructed, he gains knowledge.
¹² The Righteous One observes the house of the wicked;
    he throws the wicked down to ruin.
¹³ Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor
    will himself call out and not be answered.
¹⁴ A gift in secret averts anger,
    and a concealed bribe,^[c] strong wrath.
¹⁵ When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous
    but terror to evildoers.
¹⁶ One who wanders from the way of good sense
    will rest in the assembly of the dead.
¹⁷ Whoever loves pleasure will be a poor man;
    he who loves wine and oil will not be rich.
¹⁸ The wicked is a ransom for the righteous,
    and the traitor for the upright.
¹⁹ It is better to live in a desert land
    than with a quarrelsome and fretful woman.
²⁰ Precious treasure and oil are in a wise man’s dwelling,
    but a foolish man devours it.
²¹ Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness
    will find life, righteousness, and honor.
²² A wise man scales the city of the mighty
    and brings down the stronghold in which they trust.
²³ Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue
    keeps himself out of trouble.
²⁴ “Scoffer” is the name of the arrogant, haughty man
    who acts with arrogant pride.
²⁵ The desire of the sluggard kills him,
    for his hands refuse to labor.
²⁶ All day long he craves and craves,
    but the righteous gives and does not hold back.
²⁷ The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination;
    how much more when he brings it with evil intent.
²⁸ A false witness will perish,
    but the word of a man who hears will endure.
²⁹ A wicked man puts on a bold face,
    but the upright gives thought to^[d] his ways.
³⁰ No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel
    can avail against the Lord.
³¹ The horse is made ready for the day of battle,
    but the victory belongs to the Lord.