The Berean Pursuit
My son, do not forget my teaching,
but let your heart keep my commandments;
for they will add length to your days,
years and peace to your life.
Never let loving devotion or faithfulness leave you;
bind them around your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart.
Then you will find favor and high regard
in the sight of God and man.
Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge Him,
and He will make your paths straight.
Be not wise in your own eyes;
fear the LORD and turn away from evil.
This will bring healing to your body
and refreshment to your bones.
Honor the LORD with your wealth
and with the firstfruits of all your harvest;
then your barns will be filled with plenty,
and your vats will overflow with new wine.
My son, do not reject the discipline of the LORD,
and do not loathe His rebuke;
for the LORD disciplines the one He loves,
as does a father the son in whom he delights.
Blessed is the man who finds wisdom,
the man who acquires understanding,
for she is more profitable than silver,
and her gain is better than fine gold.
She is more precious than rubies;
nothing you desire compares with her.
Long life is in her right hand;
in her left hand are riches and honor.
All her ways are pleasant,
and all her paths are peaceful.
She is a tree of life to those who embrace her,
and those who lay hold of her are blessed.
The LORD founded the earth by wisdom
and established the heavens by understanding.
By His knowledge the watery depths were broken open,
and the clouds dripped with dew.
My son, do not lose sight of this:
Preserve sound judgment and discernment.
They will be life to your soul
and adornment to your neck.
Then you will go on your way in safety,
and your foot will not stumble.
When you lie down, you will not be afraid;
when you rest, your sleep will be sweet.
Do not fear sudden danger
or the ruin that overtakes the wicked,
for the LORD will be your confidence
and will keep your foot from the snare.
Do not withhold good from the deserving
when it is within your power to act.
Do not tell your neighbor,
"Come back tomorrow and I will provide"-
when you already have the means.
Do not devise evil against your neighbor,
for he trustfully dwells beside you.
Do not accuse a man without cause,
when he has done you no harm.
Do not envy a violent man
or choose any of his ways;
for the LORD detests the perverse,
but He is a friend to the upright.
The curse of the LORD is on the house of the wicked,
but He blesses the home of the righteous.
He mocks the mockers,
but gives grace to the humble.
The wise will inherit honor,
but fools are held up to shame.
Listen, my sons, to a father's instruction;
pay attention and gain understanding.
For I give you sound teaching;
do not abandon my directive.
When I was a son to my father,
tender and the only child of my mother,
he taught me and said,
"Let your heart lay hold of my words;
keep my commands and you will live.
Get wisdom, get understanding;
do not forget my words or turn from them.
Do not forsake wisdom, and she will preserve you;
love her, and she will guard you.
Wisdom is supreme; so acquire wisdom.
And whatever you may acquire, gain understanding.
Prize her, and she will exalt you;
if you embrace her, she will honor you.
She will set a garland of grace on your head;
she will present you with a crown of beauty."
Listen, my son, and receive my words,
and the years of your life will be many.
I will guide you in the way of wisdom;
I will lead you on straight paths.
When you walk, your steps will not be impeded;
when you run, you will not stumble.
Hold on to instruction; do not let go.
Guard it, for it is your life.
Do not set foot on the path of the wicked
or walk in the way of evildoers.
Avoid it; do not travel on it.
Turn from it and pass on by.
For they cannot sleep
unless they do evil;
they are deprived of slumber
until they make someone fall.
For they eat the bread of wickedness
and drink the wine of violence.
The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn,
shining brighter and brighter until midday.
But the way of the wicked is like the darkest gloom;
they do not know what makes them stumble.
My son, pay attention to my words;
incline your ear to my sayings.
Do not lose sight of them;
keep them within your heart.
For they are life to those who find them,
and health to the whole body.
Guard your heart with all diligence,
for from it flow springs of life.
Put away deception from your mouth;
keep your lips from perverse speech.
Let your eyes look forward;
fix your gaze straight ahead.
Make a level path for your feet,
and all your ways will be sure.
Do not swerve to the right or to the left;
turn your feet away from evil.
My son, pay attention to my wisdom;
incline your ear to my insight,
that you may maintain discretion
and your lips may preserve knowledge.
Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey
and her speech is smoother than oil,
in the end she is bitter as wormwood,
sharp as a double-edged sword.
Her feet go down to death;
her steps lead straight to Sheol.
She does not consider the path of life;
she does not know that her ways are unstable.
So now, my sons, listen to me,
and do not turn aside from the words of my mouth.
Keep your path far from her;
do not go near the door of her house,
lest you concede your vigor to others,
and your years to one who is cruel;
lest strangers feast on your wealth,
and your labors enrich the house of a foreigner.
At the end of your life you will groan
when your flesh and your body are spent,
and you will say, "How I hated discipline,
and my heart despised reproof!
I did not listen to the voice of my teachers
or incline my ear to my mentors.
I am on the brink of utter ruin
in the midst of the whole assembly."
Drink water from your own cistern,
and running water from your own well.
Why should your springs flow in the streets,
your streams of water in the public squares?
Let them be yours alone,
never to be shared with strangers.
May your fountain be blessed,
and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth:
A loving doe, a graceful fawn-
may her breasts satisfy you always;
may you be captivated by her love forever.
Why be captivated, my son, by an adulteress,
or embrace the bosom of a stranger?
For a man's ways are before the eyes of the LORD,
and the LORD examines all his paths.
The iniquities of a wicked man entrap him;
the cords of his sin entangle him.
He dies for lack of discipline,
led astray by his own great folly.
Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is for their salvation. For I testify about them that they are zealous for God, but not on the basis of knowledge. Because they were ignorant of God's righteousness and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law, to bring righteousness to everyone who believes.
For concerning the righteousness that is by the law, Moses writes: "The man who does these things will live by them." But the righteousness that is by faith says: "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?' (that is, to bring Christ down) or, 'Who will descend into the Abyss?' (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead)."
But what does it say? "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: that if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with your heart you believe and are justified, and with your mouth you confess and are saved.
It is just as the Scripture says: "Anyone who believes in Him will never be put to shame." For there is no difference between Jew and Greek: The same Lord is Lord of all, and gives richly to all who call on Him, for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
How then can they call on the One in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in the One of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone to preach? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"
But not all of them welcomed the good news. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed our message?" Consequently, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
But I ask, did they not hear? Indeed they did:
"Their voice has gone out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world."
I ask instead, did Israel not understand? First, Moses says:
"I will make you jealous by those who are not a nation;
I will make you angry by a nation without understanding."
And Isaiah boldly says:
"I was found by those who did not seek Me;
I revealed Myself to those who did not ask for Me."
But as for Israel he says:
"All day long I have held out My hands
to a disobedient and obstinate people."