King Hezekiah's illness and recovery.

Isaiah 38: 1-9

About this time King Hezekiah became sick and almost died. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to see him and said to him. "The Lord tells you that you are to put everything in order because you will not recover. Get ready to die."
Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed. "Remember, Lord, that I have served you faithfully and loyally, and that I have always tried to do what you wanted me to." And he began to cry bitterly.
Then the Lord commanded Isaiah to go back to Hezekiah and say to him, "I, the Lord, the God of your ancestor David, have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will let you live fifteen years longer. I will rescue you and this city of Jerusalem from the emperor of Assyria, and I will continue to protect the city."
Isaiah told the king to put a paste made of figs on his boil, and he would get well.
Then King Hezekiah asked, "What is the sign to prove that I will be able to go to the Temple?"
Isaiah replied, "The Lord will give you a sign to prove that he will keep his promise. On the stairway built by King Ahaz, the Lord will make shadow moved back ten steps."
And the shadow moved back ten steps.

Isaiah 38: 9-22

After Hezekiah recovered from his illness, he wrote this song of praise:

I thought that in the prime of life

I was going to the world of the dead.

Never to live out my life.

I thought that in this world of the living

I would never again see the Lord

Or any living person.

My life was cut off and ended,

Like a tent that is taken down,

Like a cloth that is cut from a loom.

I thought that God was ending my life.

All night I cried out with pain,

As if a lion were breaking my bones.

I thought that God was ending my life.

My voice was thin and weak,

And I moaned like a dove.

My eyes grew tired from looking to heaven.

Lord, rescue me from all this trouble.

What can I say? The Lord has done this.

My heart is bitter, and I cannot sleep.

Lord, I will live for you, for you alone;

Heal me and let me live.

My bitterness will turn into peace.

You save my life from all danger;

You forgive all my sins.

No one in the world of the dead can praise you;

The dead cannot trust in your faithfulness.

It is the living who praise you.

As I praise you now.

Fathers tell their children how faithful you are.

Lord, you have healed me.

We will play harps and sing your praise,

Sing praise in your Temple as long as we live.

Planning.

Proverbs 21:5

Plan carefully and you will have plenty;

If you act too guickly,

you will never have enough.

I've got Peace Like a River

Choosing a Wife.

Sirach 36:21-24

A woman has to take any man as a husband,

but a man must choose his wife carefully.

A woman's beauty makes a man happy;

there is no fairer sight for the human eye to see.

If the woman is kind and gentle in her speech,

her husband is the most fortunate of men.

When a man marries,

he gets the finest thing he will ever have-

a wife to help and encourage him.

A Song of Praise

Psalms 92: 1-8

How good it is to give thanks to you, O Lord,

to sing in your honor, O Most High God,

to proclaim your constant love every morning

and your faithfulness every night,

with the music of stringed instruments

and with melody on the harp.

Your mighty deeds, O Lord, make me glad;

because of what you have done,
I sing for joy.

How great are your actions, Lord!

How deep are your thoughts!

This is something a fool cannot know;

a stupid man cannot understand;

the wicked may grow like weeds,

those who do wrong may prosper;

yet they will be totally destroyed,

because you, Lord, are supreme forever.

Appearances

Sirach 11:2-6

Do not compliment a person on his good looks.

On the other hand, do not look down on someone who is unattractive.

Compare to most flying things,

a bee is very small,

but the honey it makes is the sweetest of all foods.

Don't make fun of someone who has fallen on hard times and is dressed in rags.

The Lord does wonderful things that human beings never notice.

Many are the kings who have ended their careers sitting on the ground,

while their crowns were worn by men no one had heard of before.
Many are the rulers who have suffered disgrace.

Many are the famous men who have fallen into the power of others.

Friendship with the World

James 4:1-3

Where do all the fights and quarrels among you come from?

They come from your desires for pleasure, which are constantly fighting within you.

You want things, but you cannot have them, so you are ready to kill;

you strongly desire things, but you cannot get them, so you quarrel and fight.

You do not have what you want because you do not ask God for it.

And when you ask, you do not receive it, because your motives are bad;

you ask for things to use for your own pleasures.

Begging

Sirach 40:28-30

Son, don't live the life of a beggar;

it is better to die than to beg.

If you have to depend on someone else for your food,

you are not really living your own life.

You pollute yourself by accepting food from other.

Begging is torture to the soul of any sensitive person.

A shameless person can make begging sound sweet,

but something inside him burns.

Sudden Changes of Fortune

Sirach 20:9-12

Back luck can sometimes lead to success,

and a stroke of good luck can sometimes lead to loss.

Generousity will sometimes do you no good,

but at other times it will repay you double.

Honor can be followed by disgrace,

but there are people who have risen from obscurity to places of honor.

Sometimes what seems like a real bargain can turn out

to be a very expensive mistake.

Wrong doings

Sirach 7:1-2

If you do No Wrong,

No Wrong will ever come to you.