Proverbs 3–5; 2 Corinthians 1

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Proverbs 3–5

Trust in the Lord with All Your Heart

yMy son, do not forget my teaching,

zbut let your heart keep my commandments,

for alength of days and years of life

and bpeace they will add to you.

Let not csteadfast love and dfaithfulness forsake you;

ebind them around your neck;

fwrite them on the tablet of your heart.

So you will gfind favor and hgood success1

in the sight of God and man.

iTrust in the Lord with all your heart,

and jdo not lean on your own understanding.

In all your ways kacknowledge him,

and he lwill make straight your paths.

mBe not wise in your own eyes;

nfear the Lord, and turn away from evil.

It will be ohealing to your flesh2

and prefreshment3 to your bones.

Honor the Lord with your wealth

and with qthe firstfruits of all your produce;

10  then your rbarns will be filled with plenty,

and your vats will be bursting with wine.

11  sMy son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline

or be weary of his reproof,

12  for the Lord reproves him whom he loves,

as ta father the son in whom he delights.

Blessed Is the One Who Finds Wisdom

13  uBlessed is the one who finds wisdom,

and the one who gets understanding,

14  vfor the gain from her is better than gain from silver

and her profit better than wgold.

15  She is more precious than xjewels,

and ynothing you desire can compare with her.

16  zLong life is in her right hand;

in her left hand are ariches and honor.

17  Her bways are ways of pleasantness,

and all her paths are peace.

18  She is ca tree of life to those who dlay hold of her;

those who hold her fast are called blessed.

19  eThe Lord by wisdom founded the earth;

by understanding ehe established the heavens;

20  by his knowledge fthe deeps broke open,

and gthe clouds drop down the dew.

21  My son, hdo not lose sight of these

keep sound wisdom and discretion,

22  and they will be ilife for your soul

and jadornment for your neck.

23  kThen you will walk on your way securely,

land your foot will not stumble.

24  mIf you lie down, you will not be afraid;

when you lie down, nyour sleep will be sweet.

25  oDo not be afraid of sudden terror

or of pthe ruin4 of the wicked, when it comes,

26  for the Lord will be your confidence

and will qkeep your foot from being caught.

27  rDo not withhold good from those to whom it is due,5

when it is in your power to do it.

28  sDo not say to your neighbor, Go, and come again,

tomorrow I will give itwhen you have it with you.

29  tDo not plan evil against your neighbor,

who udwells trustingly beside you.

30  vDo not contend with a man for no reason,

when he has done you no harm.

31  wDo not envy xa man of violence

and do not choose any of his ways,

32  for ythe devious person is an abomination to the Lord,

but the upright are zin his confidence.

33  aThe Lord’s curse is on the house of the wicked,

but he bblesses the dwelling of the righteous.

34  Toward the cscorners he dis scornful,

ebut to the humble he gives favor.6

35  The wise will inherit honor,

but fools get7 disgrace.

A Father’s Wise Instruction

fHear, O sons, a father’s instruction,

and be attentive, that you may ggain8 insight,

for I give you good hprecepts;

do not forsake my teaching.

When I was a son with my father,

itender, jthe only one in the sight of my mother,

he ktaught me and said to me,

lLet your heart hold fast my words;

mkeep my commandments, and live.

nGet wisdom; get ginsight;

do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth.

Do not forsake her, and she will keep you;

olove her, and she will guard you.

pThe beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom,

and whatever you get, get ginsight.

Prize her highly, and she will exalt you;

she will qhonor you rif you embrace her.

She will place on your head sa graceful garland;

she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.

10  fHear, tmy son, and accept my words,

that uthe years of your life may be many.

11  I have vtaught you the way of wisdom;

I have led you in the paths of uprightness.

12  When you walk, wyour step will not be hampered,

and xif you run, you will not stumble.

13  yKeep hold of instruction; do not let go;

guard her, for she is your zlife.

14  aDo not enter the path of the wicked,

and do not walk in the way of the evil.

15  Avoid it; do not go on it;

turn away from it and pass on.

16  For they bcannot sleep unless they have done wrong;

they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble.

17  For they eat the bread of wickedness

cand drink the wine of violence.

18  But dthe path of the righteous is like ethe light of dawn,

which shines fbrighter and brighter until gfull day.

19  hThe way of the wicked is like deep idarkness;

they do not know over what they jstumble.

20  kMy son, be attentive to my words;

incline your ear to my sayings.

21  lLet them not escape from your sight;

mkeep them within your heart.

22  For they are nlife to those who find them,

and healing to all their9 flesh.

23  Keep your heart with all vigilance,

for ofrom it flow pthe springs of life.

24  Put away from you qcrooked speech,

and put rdevious talk far from you.

25  sLet your eyes look directly forward,

and your gaze be straight before you.

26  tPonder10 the path of your feet;

uthen all your ways will be sure.

27  vDo not swerve to the right or to the left;

turn your foot away from evil.

Warning Against Adultery

wMy son, be attentive to my wisdom;

xincline your ear to my understanding,

that you may keep ydiscretion,

and your lips may zguard knowledge.

For the lips of aa forbidden11 woman drip honey,

and her speech12 is bsmoother than oil,

but in the end she is cbitter as dwormwood,

esharp as fa two-edged sword.

Her feet ggo down to death;

her steps follow the path to13 Sheol;

she hdoes not ponder the path of life;

her ways wander, and she does not know it.

And inow, O sons, listen to me,

and do not depart from the words of my mouth.

Keep your way far from her,

and do not go near the door of her house,

lest you give your honor to others

and your years to the merciless,

10  lest strangers take their fill of your strength,

and your jlabors go to the house of a foreigner,

11  and at the end of your life you kgroan,

when your flesh and body are consumed,

12  and you say, lHow I hated discipline,

and my heart mdespised reproof!

13  I did not listen to the voice of my teachers

or incline my ear to my instructors.

14  nI am at the brink of utter ruin

in the assembled congregation.

15  Drink owater from your own cistern,

flowing water from your own well.

16  Should your psprings be scattered abroad,

streams of water qin the streets?

17  rLet them be for yourself alone,

and not for strangers with you.

18  Let your ofountain be blessed,

and srejoice in tthe wife of your youth,

19  a lovely udeer, a graceful doe.

Let her breasts vfill you at all times with delight;

be intoxicated14 always in her love.

20  Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with wa forbidden woman

and embrace the bosom of wan adulteress?15

21  For xa man’s ways are ybefore the eyes of the Lord,

and he zponders16 all his paths.

22  The ainiquities of the wicked bensnare him,

and he is held fast in the cords of his sin.

23  cHe dies for lack of discipline,

and because of his great folly he is dled astray.


2 Corinthians 1

Greeting

Paul, aan apostle of Christ Jesus bby the will of God, and cTimothy our brother,

To the church of God that is at Corinth, dwith all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia:

eGrace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

God of All Comfort

fBlessed be the gGod and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and hGod of all comfort, iwho comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in jChrist’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.1 kIf we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you lshare in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.

For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers,2 of mthe affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us nrely not on ourselves obut on God pwho raises the dead. 10 qHe delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. rOn him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. 11 sYou also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf tfor the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.

Paul’s Change of Plans

12 For our boast is this, uthe testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity3 and vgodly sincerity, wnot by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you. 13 For we are not writing to you anything other than what you read and understand and I hope you will fully understand 14 just as you did xpartially understand usthat yon the day of our Lord Jesus zyou will boast of us as awe will boast of you.

15 Because I was sure of this, bI wanted to come to you first, so that you might have ca second dexperience of grace. 16 I wanted to visit you eon my way to Macedonia, and to come back to you from Macedonia and have you send me on my way to Judea. 17 Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make my plans faccording to the flesh, ready to say Yes, yes and No, no at the same time? 18 As surely as gGod is faithful, hour word to you has not been Yes and No. 19 For ithe Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, jSilvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but kin him it is always Yes. 20 For lall the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our mAmen to God for his glory. 21 And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and nhas anointed us, 22 and who has also oput his seal on us and pgiven us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.4

23 But qI call God to witness against meit was rto spare you that I refrained from coming again to Corinth. 24 Not that we slord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm tin your faith.