Scripture quotations are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.
Proverbs 3
My child, do not forget my instruction,
and may your heart guard my commands.
For length of days, years of life,
and peace they shall add to you.
May loyal love and truth not forsake you;
bind them around your neck,
write them upon your heart.
And you shall find favor and good sense
in the eyes of God and humankind.
Trust Yahweh with all your heart;
do not lean toward your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will straighten your paths.
Do not be wise in your own eyes;
fear Yahweh and retreat from evil.
There shall be healing for your flesh,
and refreshment for your body.
Honor Yahweh from your substance,
and from the firstfruits of all that will come to you,
and your barns shall be full of plenty,
and your vats shall burst with new wine.
Do not despise the discipline of Yahweh, my child.
Do not be weary of his reproof
because whomever Yahweh will love, he will rebuke,
as a father delights in his son.
Happy is the one who finds wisdom,
and one who obtains understanding.
For her income is better than the income of silver,
and her revenue than that of gold.
She is more precious than rubies,
and all your desires shall not compare with her.
Length of days is in her right hand;
in her left hand are riches and honor.
Her ways are ways of pleasantness,
and all her paths are peace.
She is a tree of life for those who seize her;
those who take hold of her are considered happy.
Yahweh in wisdom founded the earth;
he established the heavens in understanding.
With his knowledge, depths broke open,
and clouds dropped dew.
My child, may they not escape from your sight;
may you keep sound wisdom and prudence.
They shall be life for your soul
and adornment for your neck.
Then you will walk in the confidence of your ways,
and your foot will not stumble.
If you sit down, you will not panic,
and if you lie down, then your sleep shall be sweet.
Do not be afraid of sudden panic,
or the storm of wickedness that will come.
Yahweh will be your confidence
and guard your foot from capture.
Do not withhold good from its owner
when it is in the power of your hand to do.
Do not say to your neighbor,
"Go and return and tomorrow I will give it,"
when it is with you.
Do not plot harm against your neighbor
who dwells in confidence beside you.
Do not quarrel with anyone without cause,
when he did not do you harm.
Do not envy a man of violence,
and do not choose any of his ways,
for he who is perverse is an abomination of Yahweh,
but those who are upright are his confidence.
The curse of Yahweh is on the house of the wicked,
and the abode of the righteous ones he blesses.
With those who scorn, he is scornful,
but to those who are humble, he gives favor.
They will inherit the honor of the wise,
but stubborn fools, disgrace.
Proverbs 4
Children, listen to the instruction of a father,
and be attentive in order to know insight.
For I have given you good instruction;
do not forsake my teaching.
When I was a son to my father,
tender and alone before my mother,
he taught me and said to me,
"May your heart hold fast to my words;
guard my commandments and live.
Get wisdom and insight;
do not forget and do not turn from the sayings of my mouth.
Do not forsake her—then she will guard you;
love her and she will keep you.
The beginning of wisdom: Get wisdom!
With all that is in your possession, gain insight.
Cherish her and she will exalt you;
she will honor you if you embrace her.
She will give a garland for your head;
she shall bestow a crown of glory upon you."
Listen, my child, take my sayings,
and the years of your life shall be great.
In the way of wisdom I have instructed you;
I have led you in the path of uprightness.
When you walk, your step will not be hampered,
and if you run, you will not stumble.
Seize the instruction! Do not let go!
Guard her, for she is your life.
In the path of the wicked do not go;
do not walk in the way of those who do evil.
Avoid it; do not transgress it;
turn away from it and pass by.
For they will not sleep if they have not done wrong,
and they are robbed of their sleep if they do not cause stumbling.
For they ate the bread of wickedness,
and they drank the wine of violence.
But the path of the righteous ones is like the light of dawn,
leading and shining until the day is full.
The way of the wicked ones is like deep darkness;
they do not know what they stumble over.
My child, be attentive to my words;
to my sayings incline your ear.
May they not escape from your sight;
keep them in the midst of your heart.
For they are life to those who find them
and healing to the entire body.
With all vigilance, keep your heart,
for from it comes the source of life.
Remove from yourself deceitful speech,
and abolish devious talk from yourself.
May your eyes look forward
and your gaze be straight before you.
May the path of your foot be balanced
and all your ways be sure.
Do not swerve right or left;
remove your foot from evil.
Proverbs 5
My child, be attentive to my wisdom,
and to my understanding incline your ear;
in order to keep prudence,
and knowledge will guard your lips.
For the lips of the strange woman will drip honey,
and smoother than oil is her mouth.
But her end is bitter as the wormwood,
sharp as a two-edged sword.
Her feet go down to death;
her steps take hold of Sheol.
She does not observe the path of life;
her ways wander, and she does not know it.
Now, O children, listen to me;
do not depart from the sayings of my mouth.
Keep your paths far from her,
and do not go near to the door of her house,
lest you give your honor to the others,
and your years to the merciless,
lest strangers take their fill of your strength,
and your labors go to the house of a foreigner,
and you groan at your end,
when your flesh and body are consumed,
and say "How I hated discipline,
and I despised reproof!"
and "I did not listen to the voice of my teachers,
and I did not incline my ear to my instructors!
I was almost at utter ruin
in the midst of the assembly and congregation."
Drink water from your own cistern
and flowing waters from inside your own well.
Shall your springs be scattered outward?
In the streets, shall there be streams of water?
May they be yours alone,
and not for strangers who are with you.
May your fountain be blessed,
and rejoice in the wife of your youth.
She is a deer of love and a doe of grace;
may her breasts satisfy you always;
by her love may you be intoxicated continually.
Why should you be intoxicated, my child, by a strange woman,
and embrace the bosom of a foreigner?
For before the eyes of Yahweh are human ways,
and all his paths he examines.
His iniquities shall ensnare him, the evildoer,
and in the vanity of his sin he shall be caught.
He shall die for lack of discipline,
and in the greatness of his folly he shall be lost.
Romans 10
Brothers, the desire of my heart and my prayer to God on behalf of them is for their salvation. For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For ignoring the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
For Moses writes about the righteousness that is from the law: "The person who does this will live by it." But the righteousness from faith speaks like this: "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 to you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim), 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 the heart one believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth one confesses, resulting in salvation. For the scripture says, "Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame." For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all, who is rich to all who call upon him. For "everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved."
How then will they call upon him in whom they have not believed? And how will they believe in him about whom they have not heard? And how will they hear about him without one who preaches to them? And how will they preach, unless they are sent? Just as it is written, "How timely are the feet of those who bring good news of good things." But not all have obeyed the good news, for Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed our report?" Consequently, faith comes by hearing, and hearing through the word about Christ.
But I say, they have not heard, have they? On the contrary,
"Their voice has gone out to all the earth,
and their words to the ends of the inhabited world."
But I say, Israel did not know, did they? First, Moses says,
"I will provoke you to jealousy by those who are not a nation;
by a senseless nation I will provoke you to anger."
And Isaiah is very bold and says,
"I was found by those who did not seek me;
I became known to those who did not ask for me."
But about Israel he says,
"The whole day long I held out my hands
to a disobedient and resistant people."