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Proverbs 6

Warnings Against Folly

 ² if you have been trapped by what you said,
       ensnared by the words of your mouth,

 ³ then do this, my son, to free yourself,
       since you have fallen into your neighbor's hands:
       Go and humble yourself;
       press your plea with your neighbor!

 ⁴ Allow no sleep to your eyes,
       no slumber to your eyelids.

 ⁵ Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,
       like a bird from the snare of the fowler.

 ⁶ Go to the ant, you sluggard;
       consider its ways and be wise!

 ⁷ It has no commander,
       no overseer or ruler,

 ⁸ yet it stores its provisions in summer
       and gathers its food at harvest.

 ⁹ How long will you lie there, you sluggard?
       When will you get up from your sleep?

 ¹⁰ A little sleep, a little slumber,
       a little folding of the hands to rest-

 ¹¹ and poverty will come on you like a bandit
       and scarcity like an armed man. ^[a]

 ¹² A scoundrel and villain,
       who goes about with a corrupt mouth,

 ¹³ who winks with his eye,
       signals with his feet
       and motions with his fingers,

 ¹⁴ who plots evil with deceit in his heart—
       he always stirs up dissension.

 ¹⁵ Therefore disaster will overtake him in an instant;
       he will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy.

 ¹⁶ There are six things the LORD hates,
       seven that are detestable to him:

 ¹⁷ haughty eyes,
       a lying tongue,
       hands that shed innocent blood,

 ¹⁸ a heart that devises wicked schemes,
       feet that are quick to rush into evil,

 ¹⁹ a false witness who pours out lies
       and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.

Warning Against Adultery

 ²¹ Bind them upon your heart forever;
       fasten them around your neck.

 ²² When you walk, they will guide you;
       when you sleep, they will watch over you;
       when you awake, they will speak to you.

 ²³ For these commands are a lamp,
       this teaching is a light,
       and the corrections of discipline
       are the way to life,

 ²⁴ keeping you from the immoral woman,
       from the smooth tongue of the wayward wife.

 ²⁵ Do not lust in your heart after her beauty
       or let her captivate you with her eyes,

 ²⁶ for the prostitute reduces you to a loaf of bread,
       and the adulteress preys upon your very life.

 ²⁷ Can a man scoop fire into his lap
       without his clothes being burned?

 ²⁸ Can a man walk on hot coals
       without his feet being scorched?

 ²⁹ So is he who sleeps with another man's wife;
       no one who touches her will go unpunished.

 ³⁰ Men do not despise a thief if he steals
       to satisfy his hunger when he is starving.

 ³¹ Yet if he is caught, he must pay sevenfold,
       though it costs him all the wealth of his house.

 ³² But a man who commits adultery lacks judgment;
       whoever does so destroys himself.

 ³³ Blows and disgrace are his lot,
       and his shame will never be wiped away;

 ³⁴ for jealousy arouses a husband's fury,
       and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.

 ³⁵ He will not accept any compensation;
       he will refuse the bribe, however great it is.

Proverbs 7

Warning Against the Adulteress

 ² Keep my commands and you will live;
       guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.

 ³ Bind them on your fingers;
       write them on the tablet of your heart.

 ⁴ Say to wisdom, "You are my sister,"
       and call understanding your kinsman;

 ⁵ they will keep you from the adulteress,
       from the wayward wife with her seductive words.

 ⁶ At the window of my house
       I looked out through the lattice.

 ⁷ I saw among the simple,
       I noticed among the young men,
       a youth who lacked judgment.

 ⁸ He was going down the street near her corner,
       walking along in the direction of her house

 ⁹ at twilight, as the day was fading,
       as the dark of night set in.

 ¹⁰ Then out came a woman to meet him,
       dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent.

 ¹¹ (She is loud and defiant,
       her feet never stay at home;

 ¹² now in the street, now in the squares,
       at every corner she lurks.)

 ¹³ She took hold of him and kissed him
       and with a brazen face she said:

 ¹⁴ "I have fellowship offerings ^[b] at home;
       today I fulfilled my vows.

 ¹⁵ So I came out to meet you;
       I looked for you and have found you!

 ¹⁶ I have covered my bed
       with colored linens from Egypt.

 ¹⁷ I have perfumed my bed
       with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon.

 ¹⁸ Come, let's drink deep of love till morning;
       let's enjoy ourselves with love!

 ¹⁹ My husband is not at home;
       he has gone on a long journey.

 ²⁰ He took his purse filled with money
       and will not be home till full moon."

 ²¹ With persuasive words she led him astray;
       she seduced him with her smooth talk.

 ²² All at once he followed her
       like an ox going to the slaughter,
       like a deer ^[c] stepping into a noose ^[d]

 ²³ till an arrow pierces his liver,
       like a bird darting into a snare,
       little knowing it will cost him his life.

 ²⁴ Now then, my sons, listen to me;
       pay attention to what I say.

 ²⁵ Do not let your heart turn to her ways
       or stray into her paths.

 ²⁶ Many are the victims she has brought down;
       her slain are a mighty throng.

 ²⁷ Her house is a highway to the grave, ^[e]
       leading down to the chambers of death.

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2 Corinthians 2

 ¹So I made up my mind that I would not make another painful visit to you. ²For if I grieve you, who is left to make me glad but you whom I have grieved? ³I wrote as I did so that when I came I should not be distressed by those who ought to make me rejoice. I had confidence in all of you, that you would all share my joy. ⁴For I wrote you out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to grieve you but to let you know the depth of my love for you.

Forgiveness for the Sinner

Ministers of the New Covenant

 ¹⁴But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. ¹⁵For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. ¹⁶To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task? ¹⁷Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God.