Proverbs 1:1-19

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.

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1 John 3:1-12

English Standard Version

3 See ^(A)what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called ^(B)children of God; and so we are. The reason why ^(C)the world does not know us is that ^(D)it did not know him. ²Beloved, we are ^(E)God's children ^(F)now, and what we will be ^(G)has not yet appeared; but we know that ^(H)when he appears^[a] ^(I)we shall be like him, because ^(J)we shall see him as he is. ³And everyone who ^(K)thus hopes in him ^(L)purifies himself as he is pure.

⁴Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; ^(M)sin is lawlessness. ⁵You know that ^(N)he appeared in order to ^(O)take away sins, and ^(P)in him there is no sin. ⁶No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; ^(Q)no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. ⁷Little children, ^(R)let no one deceive you. ^(S)Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. ⁸^(T)Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was ^(U)to destroy the works of the devil. ⁹^(V)No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's^[b] seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. ¹⁰By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, ^(W)nor is the one who ^(X)does not love his brother.

Love One Another

¹¹For ^(Y)this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, ^(Z)that we should love one another. ¹²We should not be like ^(AA)Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? ^(AB)Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous.

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Footnotes

1 John 3:2 Or when it appears
1 John 3:9 Greek his

Proverbs 1:20-33

English Standard Version

The Call of Wisdom

²⁰^(A)Wisdom cries aloud in the street,
    in the markets she raises her voice;
²¹at the head of the noisy streets she cries out;
    at ^(B)the entrance of the city gates she speaks:
²²“How long, O ^(C)simple ones, will you love being simple?
How long will ^(D)scoffers delight in their scoffing
    and fools ^(E)hate knowledge?
²³If you turn at my reproof,^[a]
behold, I will ^(F)pour out my spirit to you;
    I will make my words known to you.
²⁴^(G)Because I have called and ^(H)you refused to listen,
    have ^(I)stretched out my hand and no one has heeded,
²⁵because you have ^(J)ignored all my counsel
    and ^(K)would have none of my reproof,
²⁶I also ^(L)will laugh at your calamity;
    I will mock when ^(M)terror strikes you,
²⁷when terror strikes you like ^(N)a storm
    and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,
    when distress and anguish come upon you.
²⁸^(O)Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer;
    they will seek me diligently but will not find me.
²⁹Because they ^(P)hated knowledge
    and ^(Q)did not choose the fear of the Lord,
³⁰^(R)would have none of my counsel
    and ^(S)despised all my reproof,
³¹therefore they shall eat ^(T)the fruit of their way,
    and have ^(U)their fill of their own devices.
³²For the simple are killed by ^(V)their turning away,
    and ^(W)the complacency of fools destroys them;
³³but ^(X)whoever listens to me will dwell secure
    and will be ^(Y)at ease, without dread of disaster.”

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Footnotes

Proverbs 1:23 Or Will you turn away at my reproof?

Mark 11:27-12:12

English Standard Version

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

²⁷^(A)And they came again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him, ²⁸and they said to him, ^(B)“By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do them?” ²⁹Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. ³⁰Was the baptism of John ^(C)from heaven or from man? Answer me.” ³¹And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ^(D)‘Why then did you not believe him?’ ³²But shall we say, ‘From man’?”—^(E)they were afraid of the people, for they all held that John really was ^(F)a prophet. ³³So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

The Parable of the Tenants

12 ^(G)And he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted ^(H)a vineyard ^(I)and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and ^(J)leased it to tenants and ^(K)went into another country. ²When the season came, he sent a servant^[a] to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. ³^(L)And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. ⁴^(M)Again ^(N)he sent to them another servant, and ^(O)they struck him on the head and ^(P)treated him shamefully. ⁵^(Q)And he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed. ⁶He had still one other, ^(R)a beloved son. ^(S)Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ⁷But those tenants said to one another, ^(T)‘This is the heir. Come, ^(U)let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ ⁸And they took him and killed him and ^(V)threw him out of the vineyard. ⁹What will the owner of the vineyard do? ^(W)He will ^(X)come and destroy the tenants and ^(Y)give the vineyard to others. ¹⁰^(Z)Have you not read ^(AA)this Scripture:

^(AB)“‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;^[b]
¹¹this was the Lord's doing,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”

¹²And ^(AC)they were seeking to arrest him ^(AD)but feared the people, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them. So they ^(AE)left him and went away.