1 Corinthians 4:11-21
New International Version
11 To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless.(A) 12 We work hard with our own hands.(B) When we are cursed, we bless;(C) when we are persecuted,(D) we endure it; 13 when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage(E) of the world—right up to this moment.
Paul’s Appeal and Warning
14 I am writing this not to shame you(F) but to warn you as my dear children.(G) 15 Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father(H) through the gospel.(I) 16 Therefore I urge you to imitate me.(J) 17 For this reason I have sent to you(K) Timothy,(L) my son(M) whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.(N)
18 Some of you have become arrogant,(O) as if I were not coming to you.(P) 19 But I will come to you very soon,(Q) if the Lord is willing,(R) and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have. 20 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of(S) talk but of power.(T) 21 What do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a rod of discipline,(U) or shall I come in love and with a gentle spirit?
Proverbs 2
New International Version
Moral Benefits of Wisdom
2 My son,(A) if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,
2 turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding(B)—
3 indeed, if you call out for insight(C)
and cry aloud for understanding,
4 and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,(D)
5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.(E)
6 For the Lord gives wisdom;(F)
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.(G)
7 He holds success in store for the upright,
he is a shield(H) to those whose walk is blameless,(I)
8 for he guards the course of the just
and protects the way of his faithful ones.(J)
9 Then you will understand(K) what is right and just
and fair—every good path.
10 For wisdom will enter your heart,(L)
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
11 Discretion will protect you,
and understanding will guard you.(M)
12 Wisdom will save(N) you from the ways of wicked men,
from men whose words are perverse,
13 who have left the straight paths
to walk in dark ways,(O)
14 who delight in doing wrong
and rejoice in the perverseness of evil,(P)
15 whose paths are crooked(Q)
and who are devious in their ways.(R)
16 Wisdom will save you also from the adulterous woman,(S)
from the wayward woman with her seductive words,
17 who has left the partner of her youth
and ignored the covenant she made before God.[a](T)
18 Surely her house leads down to death
and her paths to the spirits of the dead.(U)
19 None who go to her return
or attain the paths of life.(V)
Footnotes
- Proverbs 2:17 Or covenant of her God
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