Proverbs 24-26

New American Standard Bible

Precepts and Warnings

24 Do not be ^(A)envious of evil people,
Nor desire to ^(B)be with them;
²For their ^[a]minds plot ^(C)violence,
And their lips ^(D)talk of trouble.

³^(E)By wisdom a house is built,
And by understanding it is established;
⁴And by knowledge the rooms are ^(F)filled
With all precious and pleasant riches.

⁵A ^(G)wise man is ^[b]strong,
And a person of knowledge ^[c]increases power.
⁶For ^(H)by wise guidance you will ^[d]wage war,
And ^(I)in an abundance of counselors there is victory.

⁷Wisdom is ^(J)too exalted for a fool,
He does not open his mouth ^(K)at the gate.

⁸One who ^(L)plans to do evil,
People will call a ^[e]schemer.
⁹The ^(M)devising of foolishness is sin,
And the scoffer is an abomination to humanity.

¹⁰If you ^(N)show yourself lacking courage on the day of distress,
Your strength is meager.

¹¹^(O)Rescue those who are being taken away to death,
And those who are staggering to the slaughter, Oh hold them back!
¹²If you say, “See, we did not know this,”
Does He ^(P)who weighs the hearts not ^(Q)consider it?
And ^(R)does He who ^(S)watches over your soul not know it?
And will He not ^[f]^(T)repay a person according to his work?

¹³My son, eat ^(U)honey, for it is good;
Yes, the ^(V)honey from the comb is sweet to your taste;
¹⁴Know that ^(W)wisdom is the same for your soul;
If you find it, then there will be a ^[g]^(X)future,
And your hope will not be cut off.

¹⁵^(Y)Do not lie in ambush, you wicked person, against the home of the righteous;
Do not destroy his resting place;
¹⁶For a ^(Z)righteous person falls seven times and rises again,
But the ^(AA)wicked stumble in time of disaster.

¹⁷^(AB)Do not rejoice when your enemy falls,
And do not let your heart rejoice when he stumbles,
¹⁸Otherwise, the Lord will see and ^[h]be displeased,
And turn His anger away from him.

¹⁹^(AC)Do not get upset because of evildoers
Or be ^(AD)envious of the wicked;
²⁰For ^(AE)there will be no ^[i]^(AF)future for the evil person;
The ^(AG)lamp of the wicked will be put out.

²¹My son, ^[j]^(AH)fear the Lord and the king;
Do not get involved with those ^[k]of high rank,
²²For their ^(AI)disaster will rise suddenly,
And who knows the ruin that can come from both of them?

²³These also are ^(AJ)sayings of the wise:
To ^[l]^(AK)show partiality in judgment is not good.
²⁴One ^(AL)who says to the wicked, “You are righteous,”
^(AM)Peoples will curse him, nations will scold him;
²⁵But ^(AN)for those who rebuke the wicked there will be delight,
And a good blessing will come upon them.
²⁶One who gives ^[m]a right answer
Kisses the lips.

²⁷Prepare your work outside,
And ^(AO)make it ready for yourself in the field;
Afterward, then, build your house.

²⁸Do not be a ^(AP)witness against your neighbor for no reason,
And ^(AQ)do not deceive with your lips.
²⁹^(AR)Do not say, “I shall do the same to him as he has done to me;
I will ^[n]repay the person according to his work.”

³⁰I passed by the field of ^[o]a lazy one,
And by the vineyard of a person ^(AS)lacking ^[p]sense,
³¹And behold, it was completely ^(AT)overgrown with weeds;
Its surface was covered with ^(AU)weeds,
And its stone ^(AV)wall was broken down.
³²When I saw, I ^[q]reflected upon it;
I looked, and received instruction.
³³“^(AW)A little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to rest,”
³⁴Then your poverty will come like ^[r]a drifter,
And your need like ^[s]an armed man.

Similitudes and Instructions

25 These also are ^(AX)proverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah, king of Judah, transcribed.

²It is the glory of God to ^(AY)conceal a matter,
But the glory of ^(AZ)kings is to search out a matter.
³As the heavens for height and the earth for depth,
So the heart of kings is unsearchable.
⁴Take away the ^[t]^(BA)impurities from the silver,
And there comes out a vessel for the ^(BB)smith;
⁵Take away the ^(BC)wicked before the king,
And his ^(BD)throne will be established in righteousness.
⁶Do not boast in the presence of the king,
And do not stand in the same place ^[u]as great people;
⁷For ^(BE)it is better that it be said to you, “Come up here,”
Than for you to be placed lower in the presence of the prince,
Whom your eyes have seen.

⁸Do not go out ^(BF)hastily to ^[v]argue your case;
^[w]Otherwise, what will you do in ^[x]the end,
When your neighbor humiliates you?
⁹^[y]^(BG)Argue your case with your neighbor,
And ^(BH)do not reveal the secret of another,
¹⁰Or one who hears it will put you to shame,
And the evil report about you will not ^[z]pass away.

¹¹Like apples of gold in settings of silver,
Is a ^(BI)word spoken at ^[aa]the proper time.
¹²Like ^[ab]an ^(BJ)earring of gold and a ^(BK)jewelry piece of ^(BL)fine gold,
Is a wise person who offers rebukes to a ^(BM)listening ear.
¹³Like the cold of snow in the ^[ac]time of harvest
Is a ^(BN)faithful messenger to those who send him,
For he refreshes the soul of his masters.
¹⁴Like ^(BO)clouds and ^(BP)wind without rain
Is a person who boasts ^[ad]of his gifts falsely.
¹⁵Through ^[ae]^(BQ)patience a ruler may be persuaded,
And a gentle tongue breaks bone.
¹⁶Have you ^(BR)found honey? Eat only ^[af]what you need,
So that you do not have it in excess and vomit it.
¹⁷Let your foot rarely be in your neighbor’s house,
Or he will become ^[ag]weary of you and hate you.
¹⁸Like a club, a ^(BS)sword, and a sharp ^(BT)arrow
Is a person who gives ^(BU)false testimony against his neighbor.
¹⁹Like a bad tooth and ^[ah]an unsteady foot
Is confidence in a ^(BV)treacherous person in time of trouble.
²⁰Like one who takes off a garment on a cold day, or like vinegar on ^[ai]soda,
Is one who sings songs to ^[aj]a troubled heart.
²¹^(BW)If ^[ak]your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat;
And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink;
²²For you will ^[al]heap burning coals on his head,
And ^(BX)the Lord will reward you.
²³The north wind brings rain,
And a ^[am]^(BY)gossiping tongue brings an angry face.
²⁴It is ^(BZ)better to live on a corner of the roof,
Than ^[an]in a house shared with a contentious woman.
²⁵Like cold water to a weary soul,
So is ^(CA)good news from a distant land.
²⁶Like a ^(CB)trampled spring and a ^[ao]polluted well,
So is a righteous person who gives way before the wicked.
²⁷It is not good to eat much honey,
Nor is it glory to ^(CC)search out ^[ap]one’s own glory.
²⁸Like a ^(CD)city that is broken into and without walls
So is a person ^(CE)who has no self-control over his spirit.

Similitudes and Instructions

26 Like snow in summer and like ^(CF)rain in harvest,
So honor is not ^(CG)fitting for a fool.
²Like a ^(CH)sparrow in its ^[aq]flitting, like a swallow in its flying,
So a ^(CI)curse without cause does not come to rest.
³A ^(CJ)whip is for the horse, a bridle for the donkey,
And a ^(CK)rod for the back of fools.
⁴^(CL)Do not answer a fool ^[ar]according to his foolishness,
Or you will also be like him.
⁵^(CM)Answer a fool as his foolishness deserves,
So that he will not be ^(CN)wise in his own eyes.
⁶One who sends a message by the hand of a fool
Chops off his own feet and drinks violence.
⁷Like ^[as]useless legs to one who cannot walk,
So is a proverb in the mouths of fools.
⁸Like ^[at]one who binds a stone in a sling,
So is one who gives honor to a fool.
⁹Like a thorn that ^[au]sticks in the hand of a heavy drinker,
So is a proverb in the mouths of fools.
¹⁰^[av]Like an archer who wounds everyone,
So is one who hires a fool or hires those who pass by.
¹¹Like ^(CO)a dog that returns to its vomit,
So is a fool who ^(CP)repeats ^[aw]his foolishness.
¹²Do you see a person ^(CQ)wise in his own eyes?
^(CR)There is more hope for a fool than for him.
¹³^[ax]A ^(CS)lazy one says, “There is a lion on the road!
A lion is ^[ay]in the public square!”
¹⁴As the door turns on its hinges,
So does a ^(CT)lazy one on his bed.
¹⁵A ^(CU)lazy one buries his hand in the dish;
He is weary of bringing it to his mouth again.
¹⁶A lazy one is ^(CV)wiser in his own eyes
Than seven people who can ^[az]give a discreet answer.
¹⁷Like one who takes a dog by the ears,
So is one who passes by and ^[ba]meddles with ^(CW)strife not belonging to him.
¹⁸Like a maniac who shoots
^(CX)Flaming arrows, arrows, and death,
¹⁹So is a person who ^(CY)deceives his neighbor,
And says, “^(CZ)Was I not joking?”
²⁰For lack of wood the fire goes out,
And where there is no ^(DA)gossiper, ^(DB)quarreling quiets down.
²¹Like charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire,
So is a ^(DC)contentious person to kindle strife.
²²The ^(DD)words of a gossiper are like dainty morsels,
And they go down into the ^[bb]innermost parts of the body.
²³Like an earthenware ^(DE)vessel overlaid with silver ^[bc]^(DF)impurities
Are burning lips and a wicked heart.
²⁴One who ^(DG)hates disguises it with his lips,
But he harbors ^(DH)deceit in his ^[bd]heart.
²⁵When ^[be]he ^(DI)speaks graciously, do not believe him,
Because there are seven abominations in his heart.
²⁶Though his hatred ^(DJ)covers itself with deception,
His wickedness will be ^(DK)revealed in the assembly.
²⁷One who ^(DL)digs a pit will fall into it,
And one who rolls a stone, it will come back on him.
²⁸A lying tongue hates ^[bf]those it crushes,
And a ^(DM)flattering mouth works ruin.

Footnotes

Proverbs 24:2 Lit hearts
Proverbs 24:5 Lit in strength
Proverbs 24:5 Lit strengthens power
Proverbs 24:6 Lit make battle for yourself
Proverbs 24:8 Or deviser of evil
Proverbs 24:12 Lit bring back to
Proverbs 24:14 Lit latter end
Proverbs 24:18 Lit it is evil in His eyes
Proverbs 24:20 Lit latter end
Proverbs 24:21 Or revere
Proverbs 24:21 Or who change
Proverbs 24:23 Lit regard the face
Proverbs 24:26 Or an honest
Proverbs 24:29 Lit bring back
Proverbs 24:30 Lit an idle
Proverbs 24:30 Lit heart
Proverbs 24:32 Lit set my heart
Proverbs 24:34 Lit one who moves about
Proverbs 24:34 Lit a man with a shield
Proverbs 25:4 Lit dross
Proverbs 25:6 Lit of
Proverbs 25:8 Lit contend
Proverbs 25:8 Lit Lest
Proverbs 25:8 Lit its
Proverbs 25:9 Lit Contend
Proverbs 25:10 Lit return
Proverbs 25:11 Lit its time
Proverbs 25:12 Or a nose ring
Proverbs 25:13 Lit day
Proverbs 25:14 Lit in a gift of falsehood
Proverbs 25:15 Lit length of anger
Proverbs 25:16 Lit your sufficiency
Proverbs 25:17 Lit surfeited with
Proverbs 25:19 Lit a slipping foot
Proverbs 25:20 I.e., natron
Proverbs 25:20 Lit an evil
Proverbs 25:21 Lit one who hates you
Proverbs 25:22 Lit snatch up
Proverbs 25:23 Lit tongue of secrecy
Proverbs 25:24 Lit with a woman of contentions and a house of association
Proverbs 25:26 Lit ruined
Proverbs 25:27 Lit their
Proverbs 26:2 Lit wandering
Proverbs 26:4 I.e., taking his question or argument seriously
Proverbs 26:7 Lit legs that dangle from one paralyzed
Proverbs 26:8 Lit the binding of
Proverbs 26:9 Lit goes up
Proverbs 26:10 Or A master workman produces all things, But one who hires a fool is like one who hires those who pass by
Proverbs 26:11 Lit with his
Proverbs 26:13 Lit an idle, and so throughout the ch
Proverbs 26:13 Lit within
Proverbs 26:16 Lit return discreetly
Proverbs 26:17 Lit infuriates himself
Proverbs 26:22 Lit chambers of the belly
Proverbs 26:23 Lit dross
Proverbs 26:24 Lit inward part
Proverbs 26:25 Lit his voice is gracious
Proverbs 26:28 Lit its crushed ones

John 15

New American Standard Bible

Jesus Is the Vine—Followers Are Branches

15 “^(A)I am the true vine, and My Father is the ^(B)vinedresser. ²Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He ^[a]prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. ³^(C)You are already ^[b]clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. ⁴^(D)Remain in Me, ^[c]and I in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit ^[d]of itself ^[e]but must remain in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me. ⁵I am the vine, you are the branches; the one who remains in Me, and I in him ^[f]^(E)bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. ⁶If anyone does not remain in Me, he is ^(F)thrown away like a branch and dries up; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. ⁷If you remain in Me, and My words remain in you, ^(G)ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸My ^(H)Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so ^[g]^(I)prove to be My disciples. ⁹Just as ^(J)the Father has loved Me, I also have loved you; remain in My love. ¹⁰^(K)If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love; just as ^(L)I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love. ¹¹^(M)These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your ^(N)joy may be made full.

Disciples’ Relation to Each Other

¹²“This is ^(O)My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. ¹³^(P)Greater love has no one than this, that a person will ^(Q)lay down his life for his friends. ¹⁴You are My ^(R)friends if ^(S)you do what I command you. ¹⁵No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, because ^(T)all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. ¹⁶^(U)You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and ^(V)bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that ^(W)whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. ¹⁷This ^(X)I command you, that you love one another.

Disciples’ Relation to the World

¹⁸“^(Y)If the world hates you, ^[h]you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. ¹⁹If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but ^(Z)I chose you out of the world, ^(AA)because of this the world hates you. ²⁰Remember the word that I said to you, ‘^(AB)A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, ^(AC)they will persecute you as well; if they ^(AD)followed My word, they will follow yours also. ²¹But all these things they will do to you ^(AE)on account of My name, ^(AF)because they do not know the One who sent Me. ²²^(AG)If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have ^[i]sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. ²³The one who hates Me hates My Father also. ²⁴^(AH)If I had not done among them ^(AI)the works which no one else did, they would not have ^[j]sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well. ²⁵But this has happened so that the word that is written in their ^(AJ)Law will be fulfilled: ‘^(AK)They hated Me for no reason.’

²⁶“When the ^[k]^(AL)Helper comes, ^(AM)whom I will send to you from the Father, namely, ^(AN)the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, ^(AO)He will testify about Me, ²⁷and ^[l]^(AP)you are testifying as well, because you have been with Me ^(AQ)from the beginning.