Proverbs 7-9
New American Standard Bible
The Lures of the Prostitute
7 My son, (A)keep my words
And treasure my commandments within you.
2 (B)Keep my commandments and live,
And my [a]teaching (C)as the [b]apple of your eye.
3 (D)Bind them on your fingers;
(E)Write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
And call understanding your intimate friend,
5 So that they may keep you from an [c]adulteress,
From the foreigner who flatters with her words.
6 For (F)at the window of my house
I looked out (G)through my lattice,
7 And I saw among the (H)naive,
And discerned among the [d]youths
A young man (I)lacking [e]sense,
8 Passing through the street near (J)her corner;
And he walks along the way to (K)her house,
9 In the (L)twilight, in the [f]evening,
In the [g]middle of the night and the darkness.
10 And behold, a woman comes to meet him,
(M)Dressed as a prostitute and cunning of heart.
11 She is (N)boisterous and rebellious,
Her (O)feet do not remain at home;
12 She is now in the streets, now (P)in the public squares,
And (Q)lurks by every corner.
13 So she seizes him and kisses him,
[h]And with a (R)brazen face she says to him:
14 “[i]I was due to offer (S)peace offerings;
Today I have (T)paid my vows.
15 Therefore I have come out to meet you,
To seek your presence diligently, and I have found you.
16 I have spread my couch with (U)coverings,
With colored (V)linens of Egypt.
17 I have sprinkled my bed
With (W)myrrh, aloes, and (X)cinnamon.
18 Come, let’s drink our fill of love until morning;
Let’s delight ourselves with caresses.
19 For [j]my husband is not at home;
He has gone on a long journey.
20 He has taken a (Y)bag of money [k]with him.
At the full moon he will come home.”
21 With her many persuasions she entices him;
With her [l](Z)flattering lips she seduces him.
22 Suddenly he follows her
As an ox goes to the slaughter,
Or as [m]one walks in ankle bracelets to the discipline of a fool,
23 Until an arrow pierces through his liver;
As a (AA)bird hurries to the snare,
So he does not know that it will cost him his life.
24 Now therefore, my sons, (AB)listen to me,
And pay attention to the words of my mouth.
25 Do not let your heart (AC)turn aside to her ways,
Do not stray into her paths.
26 For many are the [n]victims she has brought to ruin,
And (AD)numerous are all those slaughtered by her.
27 Her (AE)house is the way to Sheol,
Descending to the chambers of death.
The Commendation of Wisdom
8 Does not (AF)wisdom call,
And understanding [o]raise her voice?
2 On top of (AG)the heights beside the way,
Where the paths meet, she takes her stand;
3 Beside the (AH)gates, at the opening to the city,
At the entrance of the doors, she cries out:
4 “To you, people, I call,
And my voice is to [p]mankind.
5 You (AI)naive ones, understand prudence;
And, you (AJ)fools, understand [q]wisdom!
6 Listen, for I will speak (AK)noble things;
And the opening of my lips will reveal (AL)right things.
7 For my (AM)mouth will proclaim truth;
And wickedness is an abomination to my lips.
8 All the words of my mouth are in righteousness;
There is nothing (AN)crooked or perverted in them.
9 They are all (AO)straightforward to him who understands,
And right to those who (AP)find knowledge.
10 Accept my (AQ)instruction and not silver,
And knowledge rather than choice gold.
11 For wisdom is (AR)better than [r]jewels;
And (AS)all desirable things cannot compare with her.
12 “I, wisdom, (AT)dwell with prudence,
And I find (AU)knowledge and discretion.
13 The (AV)fear of the Lord is to hate evil;
(AW)Pride, arrogance, (AX)the evil way,
And the (AY)perverted mouth, I hate.
14 (AZ)Advice is mine and (BA)sound wisdom;
I am understanding, (BB)power is mine.
15 By me (BC)kings reign,
And rulers decree justice.
16 By me princes rule, and nobles,
All who judge rightly.
17 I (BD)love those who love me;
And (BE)those who diligently seek me will find me.
18 (BF)Riches and honor are with me,
Enduring (BG)wealth and righteousness.
19 My fruit is (BH)better than gold, even pure gold;
And my yield better than (BI)choice silver.
20 I walk in the way of righteousness,
In the midst of the paths of justice,
21 To endow those who love me with wealth,
That I may (BJ)fill their treasuries.
22 “The Lord [s]created me (BK)at the beginning of His way,
Before His works [t]of old.
23 From eternity I was [u](BL)established,
From the beginning, (BM)from the earliest times of the earth.
24 When there were no (BN)ocean depths, I was born,
When there were no springs abounding with water.
25 (BO)Before the mountains were settled,
Before the hills, I was born;
26 While He had not yet made the earth and the [v]fields,
Nor the first dust of the world.
27 When He (BP)established the heavens, I was there;
When (BQ)He inscribed a circle on the face of the deep,
28 When He made firm the skies above,
When the springs of the deep became [w]fixed,
29 When (BR)He set a boundary for the sea
So that the water would not violate His [x]command,
When He marked out (BS)the foundations of the earth;
30 Then (BT)I was beside Him, as a master workman;
And I was His delight daily,
[y]Rejoicing always before Him,
31 [z]Rejoicing in the world, His earth,
And having (BU)my delight in the sons of mankind.
32 “Now then, sons, (BV)listen to me,
For (BW)blessed are those who keep my ways.
33 (BX)Listen to instruction and be wise,
And do not neglect it.
34 (BY)Blessed is the person who listens to me,
Watching daily at my gates,
Waiting at my doorposts.
35 For (BZ)one who finds me finds life,
And (CA)obtains favor from the Lord.
36 But one who [aa]sins against me (CB)injures himself;
All those who (CC)hate me (CD)love death.”
Wisdom’s Invitation
9 Wisdom has (CE)built her house,
She has carved out her seven pillars;
2 She has [ab](CF)prepared her food, she has (CG)mixed her wine;
She has also (CH)set her table;
3 She has (CI)sent out her attendants, she (CJ)calls out
From the (CK)tops of the heights of the city:
4 “(CL)Whoever is naive, let him turn in here!”
To him who (CM)lacks [ac]understanding she says,
5 “Come, (CN)eat of my food
And drink of the wine I have mixed.
6 [ad]Abandon your foolishness and (CO)live,
And (CP)proceed in the way of understanding.”
7 One who (CQ)corrects a scoffer gets dishonor for himself,
And one who rebukes a wicked person gets [ae]insults for himself.
8 (CR)Do not rebuke a scoffer, or he will hate you;
(CS)Rebuke a wise person and he will love you.
9 Give instruction to a wise person and he will become still wiser;
Teach a righteous person and he will (CT)increase his insight.
10 The (CU)fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
11 For (CV)by me your days will be multiplied,
And years of life will be added to you.
12 If you are wise, you are wise (CW)for yourself,
And if you (CX)scoff, you alone will [af]suffer from it.
13 [ag]A woman of foolishness is (CY)boisterous,
She has a lack of understanding and (CZ)knows nothing.
14 She sits at the doorway of her house,
On a seat by (DA)the high places of the city,
15 Calling to those who pass by,
Who are going straight on their paths:
16 “(DB)Whoever is naive, let him turn in here,”
And to him who lacks [ah]understanding she says,
17 “Stolen water is sweet;
And (DC)bread eaten in secret is pleasant.”
18 But he does not know that the [ai]dead are there,
That her guests are in the (DD)depths of Sheol.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 7:2 Or law
- Proverbs 7:2 Lit pupil
- Proverbs 7:5 Lit strange woman
- Proverbs 7:7 Lit sons
- Proverbs 7:7 Lit heart
- Proverbs 7:9 Lit evening of the day
- Proverbs 7:9 Lit pupil (of the eye)
- Proverbs 7:13 Lit She makes bold her face and says
- Proverbs 7:14 Lit Sacrifices of peace offerings are with me
- Proverbs 7:19 Lit the man
- Proverbs 7:20 Lit in his hand
- Proverbs 7:21 Lit smooth
- Proverbs 7:22 Or as a stag goes into a trap; as in some ancient versions, Heb is uncertain
- Proverbs 7:26 Lit wounded
- Proverbs 8:1 Lit give
- Proverbs 8:4 Lit sons of mankind
- Proverbs 8:5 Lit heart
- Proverbs 8:11 Lit corals
- Proverbs 8:22 Or possessed
- Proverbs 8:22 Lit from then
- Proverbs 8:23 Or consecrated
- Proverbs 8:26 Lit outside places
- Proverbs 8:28 Lit strong
- Proverbs 8:29 Lit mouth
- Proverbs 8:30 Or Playing
- Proverbs 8:31 Or Playing
- Proverbs 8:36 Or misses me
- Proverbs 9:2 Lit slaughtered her slaughter
- Proverbs 9:4 Lit heart
- Proverbs 9:6 Or Abandon the naive
- Proverbs 9:7 Lit a blemish
- Proverbs 9:12 Lit bear
- Proverbs 9:13 Or A foolish woman
- Proverbs 9:16 Lit heart
- Proverbs 9:18 Lit departed spirits
John 9
New American Standard Bible
Healing the Man Born Blind
9 As Jesus passed by, He saw a man who had been blind from birth. 2 And His disciples asked Him, “(A)Rabbi, who sinned, (B)this man or his (C)parents, that he would be born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was (D)so that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 We must carry out the works of Him who sent Me (E)as long as it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am (F)the Light of the world.” 6 When He had said this, He (G)spit on the ground, and made mud from the saliva, and applied the mud to his eyes, 7 and said to him, “Go, wash in (H)the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he left and (I)washed, and (J)came back seeing. 8 So the neighbors, and those who previously saw [a]him as a beggar, were saying, “Is this not the one who used to (K)sit and beg?” 9 Others were saying, “This is he,” still others were saying, “No, but he is like him.” [b]The man himself kept saying, “I am the one.” 10 So they were saying to him, “How then were your eyes opened?” 11 He answered, “The man who is called Jesus made mud, and spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to (L)Siloam and wash’; so I went away and washed, and I received sight.” 12 And they said to him, “Where is He?” He *said, “I do not know.”
Controversy over the Man
13 They *brought [c]the man who was previously blind to the Pharisees. 14 (M)Now it was a Sabbath on the day that Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 15 (N)Then the Pharisees also were asking him again how he received his sight. And he said to them, “He applied mud to my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” 16 Therefore some of the Pharisees were saying, “This man is not from God, because He (O)does not keep the Sabbath.” But others were saying, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such [d](P)signs?” And (Q)there was dissension among them. 17 So they *said (R)again to the man who was blind, “What do you say about Him, since He opened your eyes?” And he said, “He is a (S)prophet.”
18 (T)The Jews then did not believe it about him, that he had been blind and had received sight, until they called the parents of the very one who had received his sight, 19 and they questioned them, saying, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? Then how does he now see?” 20 His parents then answered and said, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; 21 but how he now sees, we do not know; or who opened his eyes, we do not know. Ask him; he is of age, he will speak for himself.” 22 His parents said this because they (U)were afraid of the [e]Jews; for the Jews (V)had already reached the decision that if anyone confessed Him to be [f]Christ, (W)he was to be excommunicated from the synagogue. 23 It was for this reason that his parents said, “(X)He is of age; ask him.”
24 So for a second time they summoned the man who had been blind, and said to him, “(Y)Give glory to God; we know that (Z)this man is a sinner.” 25 He then answered, “Whether He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” 26 So they said to him, “What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?” 27 He answered them, “(AA)I told you already and you did not (AB)listen; why do you want to hear it again? You do not want to become His disciples too, do you?” 28 They spoke abusively to him and said, “You are His disciple, but (AC)we are disciples of Moses. 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, (AD)we do not know where He is from.” 30 The man answered and said to them, “Well, here is the amazing thing, that you do not know where He is from, and yet He opened my eyes! 31 We know that (AE)God does not listen to sinners; but if someone is [g]God-fearing and does His will, He listens to him. 32 [h]Since the beginning of time it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. 33 (AF)If this man were not from God, He could do nothing.” 34 They answered him, “(AG)You were born entirely in sins, and yet you are teaching us?” So they [i](AH)put him out.
Jesus Affirms His Deity
35 Jesus heard that they had [j](AI)put him out, and upon finding him, He said, “Do you believe in the (AJ)Son of Man?” 36 He answered [k]by saying, “And (AK)who is He, [l]Sir, that I may believe in Him?” 37 Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him, and (AL)He is the one who is talking with you.” 38 And he said, “I believe, Lord.” And he (AM)worshiped Him. 39 And Jesus said, “(AN)For judgment I came into this world, so that (AO)those who do not see may see, and (AP)those who see may become blind.” 40 Those who were with Him from the Pharisees heard these things and said to Him, “(AQ)We are not blind too, are we?” 41 Jesus said to them, “(AR)If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now that you maintain, ‘(AS)We see,’ your sin remains.
Footnotes
- John 9:8 Lit that he was a
- John 9:9 Lit That one kept
- John 9:13 Lit him who
- John 9:16 I.e., confirming miracles
- John 9:22 I.e., the Jewish leaders
- John 9:22 I.e., the Messiah
- John 9:31 Or devout
- John 9:32 Lit From the age it was not heard
- John 9:34 I.e., prob. excommunication from the synagogue
- John 9:35 See note v 34
- John 9:36 Lit and said
- John 9:36 Or Lord
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