Proverbs 1-3

English Standard Version

The Beginning of Knowledge

1 ^(A)The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:

²To know wisdom and instruction,
    to understand words of insight,
³to receive instruction in wise dealing,
    in ^(B)righteousness, justice, and equity;
⁴to give prudence to ^(C)the simple,
    knowledge and ^(D)discretion to the youth—
⁵Let the wise hear and ^(E)increase in learning,
    and the one who understands obtain guidance,
⁶to understand a proverb and a saying,
    ^(F)the words of the wise and their ^(G)riddles.

⁷^(H)The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction.

The Enticement of Sinners

⁸^(I)Hear, my son, your father's instruction,
    and forsake not your mother's teaching,
⁹for they are ^(J)a graceful garland for your head
    and ^(K)pendants for your neck.
¹⁰My son, if sinners ^(L)entice you,
    do not consent.
¹¹If they say, “Come with us, ^(M)let us lie in wait for blood;
    ^(N)let us ambush the innocent without reason;
¹²like Sheol let us ^(O)swallow them alive,
    and whole, like ^(P)those who go down to the pit;
¹³we shall find all precious goods,
    we shall fill our houses with plunder;
¹⁴throw in your lot among us;
    we will all have one purse”—
¹⁵my son, ^(Q)do not walk in the way with them;
    ^(R)hold back your foot from their paths,
¹⁶for ^(S)their feet run to evil,
    and they make haste to shed blood.
¹⁷^(T)For in vain is a net spread
    in the sight of any bird,
¹⁸but these men ^(U)lie in wait for their own blood;
    they ^(V)set an ambush for their own lives.
¹⁹^(W)Such are the ways of everyone who is ^(X)greedy for unjust gain;
    ^(Y)it takes away the life of its possessors.

The Call of Wisdom

²⁰^(Z)Wisdom cries aloud in the street,
    in the markets she raises her voice;
²¹at the head of the noisy streets she cries out;
    at ^(AA)the entrance of the city gates she speaks:
²²“How long, O ^(AB)simple ones, will you love being simple?
How long will ^(AC)scoffers delight in their scoffing
    and fools ^(AD)hate knowledge?
²³If you turn at my reproof,^[a]
behold, I will ^(AE)pour out my spirit to you;
    I will make my words known to you.
²⁴^(AF)Because I have called and ^(AG)you refused to listen,
    have ^(AH)stretched out my hand and no one has heeded,
²⁵because you have ^(AI)ignored all my counsel
    and ^(AJ)would have none of my reproof,
²⁶I also ^(AK)will laugh at your calamity;
    I will mock when ^(AL)terror strikes you,
²⁷when terror strikes you like ^(AM)a storm
    and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,
    when distress and anguish come upon you.
²⁸^(AN)Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer;
    they will seek me diligently but will not find me.
²⁹Because they ^(AO)hated knowledge
    and ^(AP)did not choose the fear of the Lord,
³⁰^(AQ)would have none of my counsel
    and ^(AR)despised all my reproof,
³¹therefore they shall eat ^(AS)the fruit of their way,
    and have ^(AT)their fill of their own devices.
³²For the simple are killed by ^(AU)their turning away,
    and ^(AV)the complacency of fools destroys them;
³³but ^(AW)whoever listens to me will dwell secure
    and will be ^(AX)at ease, without dread of disaster.”

The Value of Wisdom

2 ^(AY)My son, ^(AZ)if you receive my words
    and treasure up my commandments with you,
²making your ear attentive to wisdom
    and inclining your heart to understanding;
³yes, if you call out for insight
    and raise your voice ^(BA)for understanding,
⁴if you seek it like ^(BB)silver
    and search for it as for ^(BC)hidden treasures,
⁵then ^(BD)you will understand the fear of the Lord
    and find the knowledge of God.
⁶For ^(BE)the Lord gives wisdom;
    from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;
⁷he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
    he is ^(BF)a shield to those who ^(BG)walk in integrity,
⁸guarding the paths of justice
    and ^(BH)watching over the way of his ^(BI)saints.
⁹^(BJ)Then you will understand ^(BK)righteousness and justice
    and equity, every good path;
¹⁰for wisdom will come into your heart,
    and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
¹¹^(BL)discretion will ^(BM)watch over you,
    understanding will guard you,
¹²delivering you from the way of evil,
    from men of perverted speech,
¹³who forsake the paths of uprightness
    to ^(BN)walk in the ways of darkness,
¹⁴who ^(BO)rejoice in doing evil
    and ^(BP)delight in the perverseness of evil,
¹⁵men whose ^(BQ)paths are crooked,
    ^(BR)and who are ^(BS)devious in their ways.

¹⁶So ^(BT)you will be delivered from the forbidden^[b] woman,
    from ^(BU)the adulteress^[c] with ^(BV)her smooth words,
¹⁷who forsakes ^(BW)the companion of her youth
    and forgets ^(BX)the covenant of her God;
¹⁸^(BY)for her house sinks down to death,
    and her paths to the departed;^[d]
¹⁹none who go to her come back,
    nor do they regain the paths of life.

²⁰So you will walk in the way of the good
    and keep to the paths of the righteous.
²¹For the upright ^(BZ)will inhabit the land,
    and those with integrity will remain in it,
²²but the wicked will be ^(CA)cut off from the land,
    and the treacherous will be ^(CB)rooted out of it.

Trust in the Lord with All Your Heart

3 ^(CC)My son, do not forget my teaching,
^(CD)but let your heart keep my commandments,
²for ^(CE)length of days and years of life
and ^(CF)peace they will add to you.

³Let not ^(CG)steadfast love and ^(CH)faithfulness forsake you;
    ^(CI)bind them around your neck;
    ^(CJ)write them on the tablet of your heart.
⁴So you will ^(CK)find favor and ^(CL)good success^[e]
    in the sight of God and man.

⁵^(CM)Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
    and ^(CN)do not lean on your own understanding.
⁶In all your ways ^(CO)acknowledge him,
    and he ^(CP)will make straight your paths.
⁷^(CQ)Be not wise in your own eyes;
    ^(CR)fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
⁸It will be ^(CS)healing to your flesh^[f]
    and ^(CT)refreshment^[g] to your bones.

⁹Honor the Lord with your wealth
and with ^(CU)the firstfruits of all your produce;
¹⁰then your ^(CV)barns will be filled with plenty,
and your vats will be bursting with wine.

¹¹^(CW)My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline
or be weary of his reproof,
¹²for the Lord reproves him whom he loves,
as ^(CX)a father the son in whom he delights.

Blessed Is the One Who Finds Wisdom

¹³^(CY)Blessed is the one who finds wisdom,
    and the one who gets understanding,
¹⁴^(CZ)for the gain from her is better than gain from silver
    and her profit better than ^(DA)gold.
¹⁵She is more precious than ^(DB)jewels,
    and ^(DC)nothing you desire can compare with her.
¹⁶^(DD)Long life is in her right hand;
    in her left hand are ^(DE)riches and honor.
¹⁷Her ^(DF)ways are ways of pleasantness,
    and all her paths are peace.
¹⁸She is ^(DG)a tree of life to those who ^(DH)lay hold of her;
    those who hold her fast are called blessed.

¹⁹^(DI)The Lord by wisdom founded the earth;
by understanding ^(DJ)he established the heavens;
²⁰by his knowledge ^(DK)the deeps broke open,
and ^(DL)the clouds drop down the dew.

²¹My son, ^(DM)do not lose sight of these—
    keep sound wisdom and discretion,
²²and they will be ^(DN)life for your soul
    and ^(DO)adornment for your neck.
²³^(DP)Then you will walk on your way securely,
    ^(DQ)and your foot will not stumble.
²⁴^(DR)If you lie down, you will not be afraid;
    when you lie down, ^(DS)your sleep will be sweet.
²⁵^(DT)Do not be afraid of sudden terror
    or of ^(DU)the ruin^[h] of the wicked, when it comes,
²⁶for the Lord will be your confidence
    and will ^(DV)keep your foot from being caught.
²⁷^(DW)Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,^[i]
    when it is in your power to do it.

²⁸^(DX)Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come again,
    tomorrow I will give it”—when you have it with you.
²⁹^(DY)Do not plan evil against your neighbor,
    who ^(DZ)dwells trustingly beside you.
³⁰^(EA)Do not contend with a man for no reason,
    when he has done you no harm.
³¹^(EB)Do not envy ^(EC)a man of violence
    and do not choose any of his ways,
³²for ^(ED)the devious person is an abomination to the Lord,
    but the upright are ^(EE)in his confidence.
³³^(EF)The Lord's curse is on the house of the wicked,
    but he ^(EG)blesses the dwelling of the righteous.
³⁴Toward the ^(EH)scorners he ^(EI)is scornful,
    ^(EJ)but to the humble he gives favor.^[j]
³⁵The wise will inherit honor,
    but fools get^[k] disgrace.

Footnotes

Proverbs 1:23 Or Will you turn away at my reproof?
Proverbs 2:16 Hebrew strange
Proverbs 2:16 Hebrew foreign woman
Proverbs 2:18 Hebrew to the Rephaim
Proverbs 3:4 Or repute
Proverbs 3:8 Hebrew navel
Proverbs 3:8 Or medicine
Proverbs 3:25 Hebrew storm
Proverbs 3:27 Hebrew Do not withhold good from its owners
Proverbs 3:34 Or grace
Proverbs 3:35 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain

Romans 7

English Standard Version

Released from the Law

7 Or do you not know, brothers^[a]—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? ²For ^(A)a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage.^[b] ³Accordingly, ^(B)she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress.

⁴Likewise, my brothers, ^(C)you also have died ^(D)to the law ^(E)through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, ^(F)in order that we may bear fruit for God. ⁵For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work ^(G)in our members ^(H)to bear fruit for death. ⁶But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the ^(I)new way of ^(J)the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.^[c]

The Law and Sin

⁷What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, ^(K)I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if ^(L)the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” ⁸But sin, ^(M)seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. ^(N)For apart from the law, sin lies dead. ⁹I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. ¹⁰The very commandment ^(O)that promised life proved to be death to me. ¹¹For sin, ^(P)seizing an opportunity through the commandment, ^(Q)deceived me and through it killed me. ¹²So ^(R)the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

¹³Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. ¹⁴For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, ^(S)sold under sin. ¹⁵For I do not understand my own actions. For ^(T)I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. ¹⁶Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with ^(U)the law, that it is good. ¹⁷So now ^(V)it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. ¹⁸For I know that nothing good dwells ^(W)in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. ¹⁹^(X)For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. ²⁰Now if I do what I do not want, ^(Y)it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

²¹So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. ²²For ^(Z)I delight in the law of God, ^(AA)in my inner being, ²³but I see in my members ^(AB)another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. ²⁴Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from ^(AC)this body of death? ²⁵Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.