First reading
The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will. All deeds are right in the sight of the doer, but the Lord weighs the heart. To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. Haughty eyes and a proud heart — the lamp of the wicked — are sin. The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to want. The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapour and a snare of death. The souls of the wicked desire evil; their neighbours find no mercy in their eyes. When a scoffer is punished, the simple become wiser; when the wise are instructed, they increase in knowledge. The Righteous One observes the house of the wicked; he casts the wicked down to ruin. If you close your ear to the cry of the poor, you will cry out and not be heard.