"But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from thee, and of thy own have we given thee.

O LORD our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building thee a house for thy holy name comes from thy hand and is all thy own.

"Can a man be profitable to God? Surely he who is wise is profitable to himself.

Is it any pleasure to the Almighty if you are righteous, or is it gain to him if you make your ways blameless?

If you have sinned, what do you accomplish against him? And if your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to him?

If you are righteous, what do you give to him; or what does he receive from your hand?

Preserve me, O God, for in thee I take refuge.

I say to the LORD, "Thou art my Lord; I have no good apart from thee."

Let them be like chaff before the wind, with the angel of the LORD driving them on!

Let their way be dark and slippery, with the angel of the LORD pursuing them!

All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the spirit.

Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established.

And I said: "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!"

We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.'

Then the righteous will answer him, `Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give thee drink?

And when did we see thee sick or in prison and visit thee?'

All have turned aside, together they have gone wrong; no one does good, not even one."

"Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?"

For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!

For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward; but if not of my own will, I am entrusted with a commission.

For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God which is with me.

Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as refuse, in order that I may gain Christ

and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, based on law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith;

(Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.)

Likewise you that are younger be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that in due time he may exalt you.