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Prayer is good when accompanied by fasting, almsgiving, and righteousness. A little with righteousness is better than much with wrongdoing. It is better to give alms than to treasure up gold.
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For almsgiving delivers from death, and it will purge away every sin. Those who perform deeds of charity and of righteousness will have fulness of life;
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but those who commit sin are the enemies of their own lives.
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"I will not conceal anything from you. I have said, `It is good to guard the secret of a king, but gloriously to reveal the works of God.'
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And so, when you and your daughter-in-law Sarah prayed, I brought a reminder of your prayer before the Holy One; and when you buried the dead, I was likewise present with you.
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When you did not hesitate to rise and leave your dinner in order to go and lay out the dead, your good deed was not hidden from me, but I was with you.
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So now God sent me to heal you and your daughter-in-law Sarah.
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I am Raphael, one of the seven holy angels who present the prayers of the saints and enter into the presence of the glory of the Holy One."
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They were both alarmed; and they fell upon their faces, for they were afraid.
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But he said to them, "Do not be afraid; you will be safe. But praise God for ever.
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For I did not come as a favor on my part, but by the will of our God. Therefore praise him for ever.