A Father’s Wise Instruction
1 fHear, O sons, a father’s instruction,
and be attentive, that you may ggain1 insight,
2 for I give you good hprecepts;
do not forsake my teaching.
3 When I was a son with my father,
itender, jthe only one in the sight of my mother,
4 he ktaught me and said to me,
l“Let your heart hold fast my words;
mkeep my commandments, and live.
do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth.
6 Do not forsake her, and she will keep you;
olove her, and she will guard you.
7 pThe beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom,
and whatever you get, get ginsight.
8 Prize her highly, and she will exalt you;
she will qhonor you rif you embrace her.
9 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 their2 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 tPonder3 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.
Mary Anoints Jesus at Bethany
1 Six days before ithe Passover, jJesus therefore came to Bethany, kwhere Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 So they gave a dinner for him there. lMartha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. 3 mMary therefore took a pound1 of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, 5 “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii2 and ngiven to the poor?” 6 He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and nhaving charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. 7 Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it3 for the day of my burial. 8 For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”
The Plot to Kill Lazarus
9 When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus4 was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, owhom he had raised from the dead. 10 pSo the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, 11 because qon account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.
The Triumphal Entry
12 The next day rthe large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13 So they took branches of spalm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, t“Hosanna! Blessed is uhe who comes in the name of the Lord, even vthe King of Israel!” 14 And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,
15 w“Fear not, daughter of Zion;
behold, your king is coming,
sitting on a donkey’s colt!”
16 xHis disciples did not understand these things at first, but ywhen Jesus was glorified, then zthey remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. 17 aThe crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. 18 The reason why the crowd went to meet him bwas that they heard he had done this sign. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, c“You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, dthe world has gone after him.”
