Proverbs 4

New American Standard Bible

A Father’s Instruction

4 Listen, my sons, to the ^(A)instruction of a father,
And ^(B)pay attention so that you may ^[a]gain understanding,
²For I give you good ^(C)teaching;
^(D)Do not abandon my ^[b]instruction.
³When I was a son to my father,
^(E)Tender and ^(F)the only son in the sight of my mother,
⁴He ^(G)taught me and said to me,
“Let your heart ^(H)take hold of my words;
^(I)Keep my commandments and live;
⁵^(J)Acquire wisdom! ^(K)Acquire understanding!
Do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth.
⁶Do not abandon her, and she will guard you;
^(L)Love her, and she will watch over you.
⁷^(M)The ^[c]beginning of wisdom is: ^(N)Acquire wisdom;
And with all your possessions, acquire understanding.
⁸^(O)Prize her, and she will exalt you;
She will honor you if you embrace her.
⁹She will place ^(P)on your head a garland of grace;
She will present you with a crown of beauty.”

¹⁰Listen, my son, and ^(Q)accept my sayings,
And the ^(R)years of your life will be many.
¹¹I have ^(S)instructed you in the way of wisdom;
I have led you in upright paths.
¹²When you walk, your ^(T)steps will not be hampered;
And if you run, you ^(U)will not stumble.
¹³^(V)Take hold of instruction; do not let go.
Guard her, for she is your ^(W)life.
¹⁴^(X)Do not enter the path of the wicked
And do not proceed in the way of evil people.
¹⁵Avoid it, do not pass by it;
Turn away from it and pass on.
¹⁶For they ^(Y)cannot sleep unless they do evil;
And ^[d]they are robbed of sleep unless they make someone stumble.
¹⁷For they ^(Z)eat the bread of wickedness,
And drink the wine of violence.
¹⁸But the ^(AA)path of the righteous is like the ^(AB)light of dawn
That ^(AC)shines brighter and brighter until the ^(AD)full day.
¹⁹The ^(AE)way of the wicked is like darkness;
They do not know over what they ^[e]^(AF)stumble.

²⁰My son, ^(AG)pay attention to my words;
^(AH)Incline your ear to my sayings.
²¹^(AI)They are not to escape from your sight;
^(AJ)Keep them in the midst of your heart.
²²For they are ^(AK)life to those who find them,
And ^(AL)healing to all ^[f]their body.
²³Watch over your heart with all diligence,
For ^(AM)from it flow the springs of life.
²⁴Rid yourself of a ^(AN)deceitful mouth
And ^(AO)keep devious ^[g]speech far from you.
²⁵Let your eyes look directly ahead
And let your ^[h]gaze be fixed straight in front of you.
²⁶^(AP)^[i]Watch the path of your feet,
And all your ^(AQ)ways will be established.
²⁷^(AR)Do not turn to the right or to the left;
^(AS)Turn your foot from evil.

Footnotes

Proverbs 4:1 Lit know
Proverbs 4:2 Or law
Proverbs 4:7 Or primary thing is wisdom
Proverbs 4:16 Lit their sleep is robbed
Proverbs 4:19 Or may stumble
Proverbs 4:22 Lit his
Proverbs 4:24 Or lips
Proverbs 4:25 Or eyelids
Proverbs 4:26 I.e., prob. stay on the path

Galatians 3

New American Standard Bible

Faith Brings Righteousness

3 ^[a]You foolish ^(A)Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ ^(B)was publicly portrayed as crucified? ²This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by works of ^[b]the Law, or by ^(C)hearing ^[c]with faith? ³Are you so foolish? Having begun ^[d]by the Spirit, are you now ^[e]being perfected by the flesh? ⁴Did you ^[f]suffer so many things in vain—^(D)if indeed it was in vain? ⁵So then, does He who ^(E)provides you with the Spirit and ^(F)works ^[g]miracles among you, do it by works of ^[h]the Law, or by ^(G)hearing ^[i]with faith?

⁶Just as ^(H)Abraham ^(I)believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. ⁷Therefore, recognize that ^(J)it is those who are of faith who are ^(K)sons of Abraham. ⁸The Scripture, foreseeing that God ^[j]would justify the ^[k]Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “^(L)All the nations will be blessed in you.” ⁹So then, ^(M)those who are of faith are blessed with ^[l]Abraham, the believer.

¹⁰For all who are of works of ^[m]the Law are under a curse; for it is written: “^(N)Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all the things written in the book of the Law, to do them.” ¹¹Now, that ^(O)no one is justified ^[n]by ^[o]the Law before God is evident; for, “^[p]^(P)the righteous one will live by faith.” ¹²^[q]However, the Law is not ^[r]of faith; on the contrary, “^(Q)The person who performs ^[s]them will live by ^[t]them.” ¹³Christ ^(R)redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written: “^(S)Cursed is everyone who hangs on ^(T)a ^[u]tree”— ¹⁴in order that ^(U)in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles, so that we ^(V)would receive ^(W)the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Intent of the Law

¹⁵^(X)Brothers and sisters, ^(Y)I speak ^[v]in terms of human relations: ^(Z)even though it is only a man’s ^[w]covenant, yet when it has been ratified, no one sets it aside or adds ^[x]conditions to it. ¹⁶Now the promises were spoken ^(AA)to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as one would in referring to many, but rather as in referring to one, “^(AB)And to your seed,” that is, Christ. ¹⁷What I am saying is this: the Law, which came ^(AC)430 years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise. ¹⁸For ^(AD)if the inheritance is ^[y]based on law, it is no longer ^[z]based on a promise; but ^(AE)God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise.

¹⁹^(AF)Why the Law then? It was added on account of the ^[aa]violations, having been ^(AG)ordered through angels ^(AH)at the hand of a ^[ab]mediator, until ^(AI)the Seed would come to whom the promise had been made. ²⁰Now ^(AJ)a mediator is not ^[ac]for one party only; but God is only one. ²¹Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? ^[ad]^(AK)Far from it! For ^(AL)if a law had been given that was able to impart life, then righteousness ^[ae]would indeed have been ^[af]based on law. ²²But the Scripture has ^(AM)confined ^[ag]everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

²³But before faith came, ^[ah]we were kept in custody under the Law, ^(AN)being confined for the faith that was destined to be revealed. ²⁴Therefore the Law has become our ^[ai]^(AO)guardian to lead us to Christ, so that ^(AP)we may be justified by faith. ²⁵But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a ^[aj]^(AQ)guardian. ²⁶For you are all ^(AR)sons and daughters of God through faith in ^(AS)Christ Jesus. ²⁷For all of you who were ^(AT)baptized into Christ have ^(AU)clothed yourselves with Christ. ²⁸^(AV)There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is ^[ak]neither male nor female; for ^(AW)you are all one in ^(AX)Christ Jesus. ²⁹And if ^(AY)you ^[al]belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s ^[am]descendants, heirs according to ^(AZ)promise.