Proverbs 18

New American Standard Bible

Contrast of the Upright and the Wicked

18 One who separates himself seeks his own desire;
He ^[a]^(A)quarrels against all sound wisdom.
²A fool does not delight in understanding,
But ^(B)in revealing his own ^[b]mind.
³When a wicked person comes, contempt also comes,
And with dishonor comes taunting.
⁴The words of a person’s mouth are ^(C)deep waters;
^[c]The fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook.
⁵To ^(D)show partiality to the wicked is not good,
Nor to ^(E)suppress the righteous in judgment.
⁶A fool’s lips ^[d]bring strife,
And his mouth invites ^(F)beatings.
⁷A ^(G)fool’s mouth is his ruin,
And his lips are the snare of his soul.
⁸The words of a gossiper are like dainty morsels,
And they go down into the ^[e]innermost parts of the body.
⁹He also who is ^(H)lax in his work
^(I)Is a brother to him who destroys.
¹⁰The ^(J)name of the Lord is a ^(K)strong tower;
The righteous runs into it and ^(L)is ^[f]safe.
¹¹A ^(M)rich person’s wealth is his strong city,
And like a high wall in his own imagination.
¹²^(N)Before destruction the heart of a person is haughty,
But ^(O)humility goes before honor.
¹³One who ^(P)gives an answer before he hears,
It is foolishness and shame to him.
¹⁴The ^(Q)spirit of a person can endure his sickness,
But as for a ^(R)broken spirit, who can endure it?
¹⁵The ^[g]^(S)mind of the discerning acquires knowledge,
And the ^(T)ear of the wise seeks knowledge.
¹⁶A person’s ^(U)gift makes room for him
And brings him before great people.
¹⁷The first ^[h]to plead his case seems right,
Until ^[i]another comes and examines him.
¹⁸The cast ^(V)lot puts an end to quarrels,
And ^[j]decides between the mighty ones.
¹⁹A brother who is offended is harder to be won than a strong city,
And quarrels are like the bars of a citadel.
²⁰With the ^[k]^(W)fruit of a person’s mouth his stomach will be satisfied;
^(X)He will be satisfied with the product of his lips.
²¹^(Y)Death and life are in the ^[l]power of the tongue,
And those who love it will eat its ^(Z)fruit.
²²He who finds a ^(AA)wife finds a good thing
And ^(AB)obtains favor from the Lord.
²³A ^(AC)poor person utters pleadings,
But a ^(AD)rich person ^(AE)answers defiantly.
²⁴A person of too many friends comes to ^[m]ruin,
But there is ^(AF)a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Footnotes

Proverbs 18:1 Lit breaks out
Proverbs 18:2 Lit heart
Proverbs 18:4 Or A bubbling brook, a fountain of wisdom
Proverbs 18:6 Lit come with
Proverbs 18:8 Lit chambers of the belly
Proverbs 18:10 Lit set on high
Proverbs 18:15 Lit heart
Proverbs 18:17 Lit in his plea
Proverbs 18:17 Lit his neighbor
Proverbs 18:18 Lit makes a division
Proverbs 18:20 I.e., speech
Proverbs 18:21 Lit hand
Proverbs 18:24 Lit be broken in pieces

Colossians 1

New American Standard Bible

Thankfulness for Spiritual Attainments

1 ^(A)Paul, ^(B)an apostle of Christ Jesus ^[a]^(C)by the will of God, and ^(D)Timothy ^[b]our brother,

²To the ^[c]^(E)saints and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ who are at Colossae: ^(F)Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

³^(G)We ^[d]give thanks to God, ^(H)the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, ⁴^(I)since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the ^(J)love which you have ^[e]for ^(K)all the ^[f]saints; ⁵because of the ^(L)hope ^(M)reserved for you in ^[g]heaven, of which you previously ^(N)heard in the word of truth, ^[h]the gospel ⁶which has come to you, just as ^[i]^(O)in all the world also it is bearing ^(P)fruit and ^[j]increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you ^(Q)heard it and ^[k]understood the grace of God in truth; ⁷just as you learned it from ^(R)Epaphras, our ^(S)beloved fellow bond-servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf, ⁸and he also informed us of your ^(T)love in the Spirit.

⁹For this reason we also, ^(U)since the day we heard about it, ^(V)have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the ^[l]^(W)knowledge of His will in all spiritual ^(X)wisdom and understanding, ¹⁰so that you will ^(Y)walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, ^[m]^(Z)to please Him in all respects, ^(AA)bearing fruit in every good work and ^[n]increasing in the ^[o]knowledge of God; ¹¹^(AB)strengthened with all power, according to ^[p]His glorious might, ^[q]for the attaining of all perseverance and ^[r]patience; ^(AC)joyously ¹²giving thanks to ^(AD)the Father, who has qualified us ^[s]to share in ^(AE)the inheritance of the ^[t]saints in ^(AF)light.

The Incomparable Christ

¹³^[u]For He rescued us from the ^[v]^(AG)domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of ^[w]^(AH)His beloved Son, ¹⁴^(AI)in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

¹⁵^[x]He is the ^(AJ)image of the ^(AK)invisible God, the ^(AL)firstborn of all creation: ¹⁶for ^[y]^(AM)by Him all things were created, ^(AN)both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether ^(AO)thrones, or dominions, or rulers, or authorities—^(AP)all things have been created through Him and for Him. ¹⁷He ^[z]^(AQ)is before all things, and in Him all things ^[aa]hold together. ¹⁸He is also the ^(AR)head of ^(AS)the body, the church; and He is ^(AT)the beginning, ^(AU)the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. ¹⁹For ^[ab]it was ^(AV)the Father’s good pleasure for all ^(AW)the ^[ac]fullness to dwell in Him, ²⁰and through Him to ^(AX)reconcile all things to Himself, ^(AY)whether things on earth or things in ^[ad]heaven, having made ^(AZ)peace through ^(BA)the blood of His cross.

²¹And although you were ^(BB)previously alienated and hostile in attitude, engaged in evil deeds, ²²yet He has now ^(BC)reconciled you in His ^(BD)body of flesh through death, in order to ^(BE)present you before Him ^(BF)holy and blameless and beyond reproach— ²³if indeed you continue in ^[ae]the faith firmly ^(BG)established and steadfast, and not shifting from the ^(BH)hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed ^(BI)in all creation under heaven, ^(BJ)and of which I, Paul, ^[af]was made a ^[ag]^(BK)minister.

²⁴^(BL)Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh ^(BM)I am supplementing what is lacking ^[ah]in Christ’s afflictions in behalf of ^(BN)His body, which is the church. ²⁵^(BO)I ^[ai]was made a minister of this church according to the ^(BP)commission from God granted to me for your benefit, so that I might ^[aj]fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, ²⁶that is, ^(BQ)the mystery which had been hidden from the past ages and generations, but now has been revealed to His ^[ak]saints, ²⁷to whom ^(BR)God willed to make known what ^(BS)the wealth of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles is, the mystery that is ^(BT)Christ in you, the ^(BU)hope of glory. ²⁸We proclaim Him, ^(BV)admonishing every person and teaching every person ^[al]with all ^(BW)wisdom, so that we may ^(BX)present every person ^[am]^(BY)complete in Christ. ²⁹For this purpose I also ^(BZ)labor, ^(CA)striving ^(CB)according to His ^[an]power which ^[ao]works mightily within me.