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Proverbs 3

Further Benefits of Wisdom

 ² for they will prolong your life many years
       and bring you prosperity.

 ³ Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
       bind them around your neck,
       write them on the tablet of your heart.

 ⁴ Then you will win favor and a good name
       in the sight of God and man.

 ⁵ Trust in the LORD with all your heart
       and lean not on your own understanding;

 ⁶ in all your ways acknowledge him,
       and he will make your paths straight. ^[a]

 ⁷ Do not be wise in your own eyes;
       fear the LORD and shun evil.

 ⁸ This will bring health to your body
       and nourishment to your bones.

 ⁹ Honor the LORD with your wealth,
       with the firstfruits of all your crops;

 ¹⁰ then your barns will be filled to overflowing,
       and your vats will brim over with new wine.

 ¹¹ My son, do not despise the LORD's discipline
       and do not resent his rebuke,

 ¹² because the LORD disciplines those he loves,
       as a father ^[b] the son he delights in.

 ¹³ Blessed is the man who finds wisdom,
       the man who gains understanding,

 ¹⁴ for she is more profitable than silver
       and yields better returns than gold.

 ¹⁵ She is more precious than rubies;
       nothing you desire can compare with her.

 ¹⁶ Long life is in her right hand;
       in her left hand are riches and honor.

 ¹⁷ Her ways are pleasant ways,
       and all her paths are peace.

 ¹⁸ She is a tree of life to those who embrace her;
       those who lay hold of her will be blessed.

 ¹⁹ By wisdom the LORD laid the earth's foundations,
       by understanding he set the heavens in place;

 ²⁰ by his knowledge the deeps were divided,
       and the clouds let drop the dew.

 ²¹ My son, preserve sound judgment and discernment,
       do not let them out of your sight;

 ²² they will be life for you,
       an ornament to grace your neck.

 ²³ Then you will go on your way in safety,
       and your foot will not stumble;

 ²⁴ when you lie down, you will not be afraid;
       when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.

 ²⁵ Have no fear of sudden disaster
       or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked,

 ²⁶ for the LORD will be your confidence
       and will keep your foot from being snared.

 ²⁷ Do not withhold good from those who deserve it,
       when it is in your power to act.

 ²⁸ Do not say to your neighbor,
       "Come back later; I'll give it tomorrow"—
       when you now have it with you.

 ²⁹ Do not plot harm against your neighbor,
       who lives trustfully near you.

 ³⁰ Do not accuse a man for no reason—
       when he has done you no harm.

 ³¹ Do not envy a violent man
       or choose any of his ways,

 ³² for the LORD detests a perverse man
       but takes the upright into his confidence.

 ³³ The LORD's curse is on the house of the wicked,
       but he blesses the home of the righteous.

 ³⁴ He mocks proud mockers
       but gives grace to the humble.

 ³⁵ The wise inherit honor,
       but fools he holds up to shame.

Proverbs 4

Wisdom Is Supreme

 ² I give you sound learning,
       so do not forsake my teaching.

 ³ When I was a boy in my father's house,
       still tender, and an only child of my mother,

 ⁴ he taught me and said,
       "Lay hold of my words with all your heart;
       keep my commands and you will live.

 ⁵ Get wisdom, get understanding;
       do not forget my words or swerve from them.

 ⁶ Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you;
       love her, and she will watch over you.

 ⁷ Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom.
       Though it cost all you have, ^[c] get understanding.

 ⁸ Esteem her, and she will exalt you;
       embrace her, and she will honor you.

 ⁹ She will set a garland of grace on your head
       and present you with a crown of splendor."

 ¹⁰ Listen, my son, accept what I say,
       and the years of your life will be many.

 ¹¹ I guide you in the way of wisdom
       and lead you along straight paths.

 ¹² When you walk, your steps will not be hampered;
       when you run, you will not stumble.

 ¹³ Hold on to instruction, do not let it go;
       guard it well, for it is your life.

 ¹⁴ Do not set foot on the path of the wicked
       or walk in the way of evil men.

 ¹⁵ Avoid it, do not travel on it;
       turn from it and go on your way.

 ¹⁶ For they cannot sleep till they do evil;
       they are robbed of slumber till they make someone fall.

 ¹⁷ They eat the bread of wickedness
       and drink the wine of violence.

 ¹⁸ The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn,
       shining ever brighter till the full light of day.

 ¹⁹ But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness;
       they do not know what makes them stumble.

 ²⁰ My son, pay attention to what I say;
       listen closely to my words.

 ²¹ Do not let them out of your sight,
       keep them within your heart;

 ²² for they are life to those who find them
       and health to a man's whole body.

 ²³ Above all else, guard your heart,
       for it is the wellspring of life.

 ²⁴ Put away perversity from your mouth;
       keep corrupt talk far from your lips.

 ²⁵ Let your eyes look straight ahead,
       fix your gaze directly before you.

 ²⁶ Make level ^[d] paths for your feet
       and take only ways that are firm.

 ²⁷ Do not swerve to the right or the left;
       keep your foot from evil.

Proverbs 5

Warning Against Adultery

 ² that you may maintain discretion
       and your lips may preserve knowledge.

 ³ For the lips of an adulteress drip honey,
       and her speech is smoother than oil;

 ⁴ but in the end she is bitter as gall,
       sharp as a double-edged sword.

 ⁵ Her feet go down to death;
       her steps lead straight to the grave. ^[e]

 ⁶ She gives no thought to the way of life;
       her paths are crooked, but she knows it not.

 ⁷ Now then, my sons, listen to me;
       do not turn aside from what I say.

 ⁸ Keep to a path far from her,
       do not go near the door of her house,

 ⁹ lest you give your best strength to others
       and your years to one who is cruel,

 ¹⁰ lest strangers feast on your wealth
       and your toil enrich another man's house.

 ¹¹ At the end of your life you will groan,
       when your flesh and body are spent.

 ¹² You will say, "How I hated discipline!
       How my heart spurned correction!

 ¹³ I would not obey my teachers
       or listen to my instructors.

 ¹⁴ I have come to the brink of utter ruin
       in the midst of the whole assembly."

 ¹⁵ Drink water from your own cistern,
       running water from your own well.

 ¹⁶ Should your springs overflow in the streets,
       your streams of water in the public squares?

 ¹⁷ Let them be yours alone,
       never to be shared with strangers.

 ¹⁸ May your fountain be blessed,
       and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.

 ¹⁹ A loving doe, a graceful deer—
       may her breasts satisfy you always,
       may you ever be captivated by her love.

 ²⁰ Why be captivated, my son, by an adulteress?
       Why embrace the bosom of another man's wife?

 ²¹ For a man's ways are in full view of the LORD,
       and he examines all his paths.

 ²² The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him;
       the cords of his sin hold him fast.

 ²³ He will die for lack of discipline,
       led astray by his own great folly.

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2 Corinthians 1

 ¹Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
      To the church of God in Corinth, together with all the saints throughout Achaia:

 ²Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

The God of All Comfort

 ⁸We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. ⁹Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. ¹⁰He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, ¹¹as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our^[a] behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.

Paul's Change of Plans

 ¹⁵Because I was confident of this, I planned to visit you first so that you might benefit twice. ¹⁶I planned to visit you on my way to Macedonia and to come back to you from Macedonia, and then to have you send me on my way to Judea. ¹⁷When I planned this, did I do it lightly? Or do I make my plans in a worldly manner so that in the same breath I say, "Yes, yes" and "No, no"?

 ¹⁸But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not "Yes" and "No." ¹⁹For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by me and Silas^[b] and Timothy, was not "Yes" and "No," but in him it has always been "Yes." ²⁰For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God. ²¹Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, ²²set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

 ²³I call God as my witness that it was in order to spare you that I did not return to Corinth. ²⁴Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, because it is by faith you stand firm.