1 Corinthians 4:11-21

New International Version

¹¹To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless.^(A) ¹²We work hard with our own hands.^(B) When we are cursed, we bless;^(C) when we are persecuted,^(D) we endure it; ¹³when 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

¹⁴I am writing this not to shame you^(F) but to warn you as my dear children.^(G) ¹⁵Even 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) ¹⁶Therefore I urge you to imitate me.^(J) ¹⁷For 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)

¹⁸Some of you have become arrogant,^(O) as if I were not coming to you.^(P) ¹⁹But 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. ²⁰For the kingdom of God is not a matter of^(S) talk but of power.^(T) ²¹What 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?

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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,
²turning your ear to wisdom
    and applying your heart to understanding^(B)—
³indeed, if you call out for insight^(C)
    and cry aloud for understanding,
⁴and if you look for it as for silver
    and search for it as for hidden treasure,^(D)
⁵then you will understand the fear of the Lord
    and find the knowledge of God.^(E)
⁶For the Lord gives wisdom;^(F)
    from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.^(G)
⁷He holds success in store for the upright,
    he is a shield^(H) to those whose walk is blameless,^(I)
⁸for he guards the course of the just
    and protects the way of his faithful ones.^(J)

⁹Then you will understand^(K) what is right and just
    and fair—every good path.
¹⁰For wisdom will enter your heart,^(L)
    and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
¹¹Discretion will protect you,
    and understanding will guard you.^(M)

¹²Wisdom will save^(N) you from the ways of wicked men,
    from men whose words are perverse,
¹³who have left the straight paths
    to walk in dark ways,^(O)
¹⁴who delight in doing wrong
    and rejoice in the perverseness of evil,^(P)
¹⁵whose paths are crooked^(Q)
    and who are devious in their ways.^(R)

¹⁶Wisdom will save you also from the adulterous woman,^(S)
    from the wayward woman with her seductive words,
¹⁷who has left the partner of her youth
    and ignored the covenant she made before God.^[a]^(T)
¹⁸Surely her house leads down to death
    and her paths to the spirits of the dead.^(U)
¹⁹None who go to her return
    or attain the paths of life.^(V)

²⁰Thus you will walk in the ways of the good
    and keep to the paths of the righteous.
²¹For the upright will live in the land,^(W)
    and the blameless will remain in it;
²²but the wicked^(X) will be cut off from the land,^(Y)
    and the unfaithful will be torn from it.^(Z)