Proverbs 8

New International Version

Wisdom’s Call

8 Does not wisdom call out?^(A)
    Does not understanding raise her voice?
²At the highest point along the way,
    where the paths meet, she takes her stand;
³beside the gate leading into the city,
    at the entrance, she cries aloud:^(B)
⁴“To you, O people, I call out;^(C)
    I raise my voice to all mankind.
⁵You who are simple,^(D) gain prudence;^(E)
    you who are foolish, set your hearts on it.^[a]
⁶Listen, for I have trustworthy things to say;
    I open my lips to speak what is right.
⁷My mouth speaks what is true,^(F)
    for my lips detest wickedness.
⁸All the words of my mouth are just;
    none of them is crooked or perverse.
⁹To the discerning all of them are right;
    they are upright to those who have found knowledge.
¹⁰Choose my instruction instead of silver,
    knowledge rather than choice gold,^(G)
¹¹for wisdom is more precious^(H) than rubies,
    and nothing you desire can compare with her.^(I)

¹²“I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence;
    I possess knowledge and discretion.^(J)
¹³To fear the Lord^(K) is to hate evil;^(L)
    I hate^(M) pride and arrogance,
    evil behavior and perverse speech.
¹⁴Counsel and sound judgment are mine;
    I have insight, I have power.^(N)
¹⁵By me kings reign
    and rulers^(O) issue decrees that are just;
¹⁶by me princes govern,^(P)
    and nobles—all who rule on earth.^[b]
¹⁷I love those who love me,^(Q)
    and those who seek me find me.^(R)
¹⁸With me are riches and honor,^(S)
    enduring wealth and prosperity.^(T)
¹⁹My fruit is better than fine gold;^(U)
    what I yield surpasses choice silver.^(V)
²⁰I walk in the way of righteousness,^(W)
    along the paths of justice,
²¹bestowing a rich inheritance on those who love me
    and making their treasuries full.^(X)

²²“The Lord brought me forth as the first of his works,^[c]^[d]
    before his deeds of old;
²³I was formed long ages ago,
    at the very beginning, when the world came to be.
²⁴When there were no watery depths, I was given birth,
    when there were no springs overflowing with water;^(Y)
²⁵before the mountains were settled in place,^(Z)
    before the hills, I was given birth,^(AA)
²⁶before he made the world or its fields
    or any of the dust of the earth.^(AB)
²⁷I was there when he set the heavens in place,^(AC)
    when he marked out the horizon^(AD) on the face of the deep,
²⁸when he established the clouds above^(AE)
    and fixed securely the fountains of the deep,^(AF)
²⁹when he gave the sea its boundary^(AG)
    so the waters would not overstep his command,^(AH)
and when he marked out the foundations of the earth.^(AI)
³⁰    Then I was constantly^[e] at his side.^(AJ)
I was filled with delight day after day,
    rejoicing always in his presence,
³¹rejoicing in his whole world
    and delighting in mankind.^(AK)

³²“Now then, my children, listen^(AL) to me;
    blessed are^(AM) those who keep my ways.^(AN)
³³Listen to my instruction and be wise;
    do not disregard it.
³⁴Blessed are those who listen^(AO) to me,
    watching daily at my doors,
    waiting at my doorway.
³⁵For those who find me^(AP) find life^(AQ)
    and receive favor from the Lord.^(AR)
³⁶But those who fail to find me harm themselves;^(AS)
    all who hate me love death.”^(AT)

Notas al pie

Proverbs 8:5 Septuagint; Hebrew foolish, instruct your minds
Proverbs 8:16 Some Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint; other Hebrew manuscripts all righteous rulers
Proverbs 8:22 Or way; or dominion
Proverbs 8:22 Or The Lord possessed me at the beginning of his work; or The Lord brought me forth at the beginning of his work
Proverbs 8:30 Or was the artisan; or was a little child

Deuteronomy 15:1-18

New International Version

The Year for Canceling Debts^(A)

15 At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts.^(B) ²This is how it is to be done: Every creditor shall cancel any loan they have made to a fellow Israelite. They shall not require payment from anyone among their own people, because the Lord’s time for canceling debts has been proclaimed. ³You may require payment from a foreigner,^(C) but you must cancel any debt your fellow Israelite owes you. ⁴However, there need be no poor people among you, for in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless^(D) you, ⁵if only you fully obey the Lord your God and are careful to follow^(E) all these commands I am giving you today. ⁶For the Lord your God will bless you as he has promised, and you will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. You will rule over many nations but none will rule over you.^(F)

⁷If anyone is poor^(G) among your fellow Israelites in any of the towns of the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted^(H) toward them. ⁸Rather, be openhanded^(I) and freely lend them whatever they need. ⁹Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: “The seventh year, the year for canceling debts,^(J) is near,” so that you do not show ill will^(K) toward the needy among your fellow Israelites and give them nothing. They may then appeal to the Lord against you, and you will be found guilty of sin.^(L) ¹⁰Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart;^(M) then because of this the Lord your God will bless^(N) you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. ¹¹There will always be poor people^(O) in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.^(P)

Freeing Servants^(Q)^(R)

¹²If any of your people—Hebrew men or women—sell themselves to you and serve you six years, in the seventh year you must let them go free.^(S) ¹³And when you release them, do not send them away empty-handed. ¹⁴Supply them liberally from your flock, your threshing floor^(T) and your winepress. Give to them as the Lord your God has blessed you. ¹⁵Remember that you were slaves^(U) in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you.^(V) That is why I give you this command today.

¹⁶But if your servant says to you, “I do not want to leave you,” because he loves you and your family and is well off with you, ¹⁷then take an awl and push it through his earlobe into the door, and he will become your servant for life. Do the same for your female servant.

¹⁸Do not consider it a hardship to set your servant free, because their service to you these six years has been worth twice as much as that of a hired hand. And the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.

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Hosea 11:12-13:16

New International Version

Israel’s Sin

¹²Ephraim has surrounded me with lies,^(A)
Israel with deceit.
And Judah is unruly against God,
even against the faithful^(B) Holy One.^[a]^(C)

12 ^[b]¹Ephraim^(D) feeds on the wind;^(E)
    he pursues the east wind all day
    and multiplies lies and violence.^(F)
He makes a treaty with Assyria^(G)
    and sends olive oil to Egypt.^(H)
²The Lord has a charge^(I) to bring against Judah;^(J)
    he will punish^(K) Jacob^[c] according to his ways
    and repay him according to his deeds.^(L)
³In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel;^(M)
    as a man he struggled^(N) with God.
⁴He struggled with the angel and overcame him;
    he wept and begged for his favor.
He found him at Bethel^(O)
    and talked with him there—
⁵the Lord God Almighty,
    the Lord is his name!^(P)
⁶But you must return^(Q) to your God;
    maintain love and justice,^(R)
    and wait for your God always.^(S)

⁷The merchant uses dishonest scales^(T)
    and loves to defraud.
⁸Ephraim boasts,^(U)
    “I am very rich; I have become wealthy.^(V)
With all my wealth they will not find in me
    any iniquity or sin.”

⁹“I have been the Lord your God
    ever since you came out of Egypt;^(W)
I will make you live in tents^(X) again,
    as in the days of your appointed festivals.
¹⁰I spoke to the prophets,
    gave them many visions
    and told parables^(Y) through them.”^(Z)

¹¹Is Gilead wicked?^(AA)
    Its people are worthless!
Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal?^(AB)
    Their altars will be like piles of stones
    on a plowed field.^(AC)
¹²Jacob fled to the country of Aram^[d];^(AD)
    Israel served to get a wife,
    and to pay for her he tended sheep.^(AE)
¹³The Lord used a prophet to bring Israel up from Egypt,^(AF)
    by a prophet he cared for him.^(AG)
¹⁴But Ephraim has aroused his bitter anger;
    his Lord will leave on him the guilt of his bloodshed^(AH)
    and will repay him for his contempt.^(AI)

The Lord’s Anger Against Israel

13 When Ephraim spoke, people trembled;^(AJ)
    he was exalted^(AK) in Israel.
    But he became guilty of Baal worship^(AL) and died.
²Now they sin more and more;
    they make^(AM) idols for themselves from their silver,^(AN)
cleverly fashioned images,
    all of them the work of craftsmen.^(AO)
It is said of these people,
    “They offer human sacrifices!
    They kiss^[e]^(AP) calf-idols!^(AQ)”
³Therefore they will be like the morning mist,
    like the early dew that disappears,^(AR)
    like chaff^(AS) swirling from a threshing floor,^(AT)
    like smoke^(AU) escaping through a window.

⁴“But I have been the Lord your God
    ever since you came out of Egypt.^(AV)
You shall acknowledge^(AW) no God but me,^(AX)
    no Savior^(AY) except me.
⁵I cared for you in the wilderness,^(AZ)
    in the land of burning heat.
⁶When I fed them, they were satisfied;
    when they were satisfied, they became proud;^(BA)
    then they forgot^(BB) me.^(BC)
⁷So I will be like a lion^(BD) to them,
    like a leopard I will lurk by the path.
⁸Like a bear robbed of her cubs,^(BE)
    I will attack them and rip them open;
like a lion^(BF) I will devour them—
    a wild animal will tear them apart.^(BG)

⁹“You are destroyed, Israel,
    because you are against me,^(BH) against your helper.^(BI)
¹⁰Where is your king,^(BJ) that he may save you?
    Where are your rulers in all your towns,
of whom you said,
    ‘Give me a king and princes’?^(BK)
¹¹So in my anger I gave you a king,^(BL)
    and in my wrath I took him away.^(BM)
¹²The guilt of Ephraim is stored up,
    his sins are kept on record.^(BN)
¹³Pains as of a woman in childbirth^(BO) come to him,
    but he is a child without wisdom;
when the time^(BP) arrives,
    he doesn’t have the sense to come out of the womb.^(BQ)

¹⁴“I will deliver this people from the power of the grave;^(BR)
I will redeem them from death.^(BS)
Where, O death, are your plagues?
Where, O grave, is your destruction?^(BT)

“I will have no compassion,
¹⁵    even though he thrives^(BU) among his brothers.
An east wind^(BV) from the Lord will come,
    blowing in from the desert;
his spring will fail
    and his well dry up.^(BW)
His storehouse will be plundered^(BX)
    of all its treasures.
¹⁶The people of Samaria^(BY) must bear their guilt,^(BZ)
    because they have rebelled^(CA) against their God.
They will fall by the sword;^(CB)
    their little ones will be dashed^(CC) to the ground,
    their pregnant women^(CD) ripped open.”^[f]

Notas al pie

Hosea 11:12 In Hebrew texts this verse (11:12) is numbered 12:1.
Hosea 12:1 In Hebrew texts 12:1-14 is numbered 12:2-15.
Hosea 12:2 Jacob means he grasps the heel, a Hebrew idiom for he takes advantage of or he deceives.
Hosea 12:12 That is, Northwest Mesopotamia
Hosea 13:2 Or “Men who sacrifice / kiss
Hosea 13:16 In Hebrew texts this verse (13:16) is numbered 14:1.

Philemon 4-7

New International Version

Thanksgiving and Prayer

⁴I always thank my God^(A) as I remember you in my prayers,^(B) ⁵because I hear about your love for all his holy people^(C) and your faith in the Lord Jesus.^(D) ⁶I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ. ⁷Your love has given me great joy and encouragement,^(E) because you, brother, have refreshed^(F) the hearts of the Lord’s people.