Proverbs 2

English Standard Version

The Value of Wisdom

2 ^(A)My son, ^(B)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 ^(C)for understanding,
⁴if you seek it like ^(D)silver
    and search for it as for ^(E)hidden treasures,
⁵then ^(F)you will understand the fear of the Lord
    and find the knowledge of God.
⁶For ^(G)the Lord gives wisdom;
    from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;
⁷he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
    he is ^(H)a shield to those who ^(I)walk in integrity,
⁸guarding the paths of justice
    and ^(J)watching over the way of his ^(K)saints.
⁹^(L)Then you will understand ^(M)righteousness and justice
    and equity, every good path;
¹⁰for wisdom will come into your heart,
    and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
¹¹^(N)discretion will ^(O)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 ^(P)walk in the ways of darkness,
¹⁴who ^(Q)rejoice in doing evil
    and ^(R)delight in the perverseness of evil,
¹⁵men whose ^(S)paths are crooked,
    ^(T)and who are ^(U)devious in their ways.

¹⁶So ^(V)you will be delivered from the forbidden^[a] woman,
    from ^(W)the adulteress^[b] with ^(X)her smooth words,
¹⁷who forsakes ^(Y)the companion of her youth
    and forgets ^(Z)the covenant of her God;
¹⁸^(AA)for her house sinks down to death,
    and her paths to the departed;^[c]
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 ^(AB)will inhabit the land,
    and those with integrity will remain in it,
²²but the wicked will be ^(AC)cut off from the land,
    and the treacherous will be ^(AD)rooted out of it.

Footnotes

Proverbs 2:16 Hebrew strange
Proverbs 2:16 Hebrew foreign woman
Proverbs 2:18 Hebrew to the Rephaim

1 John 3:13-4:6

English Standard Version

¹³Do not be surprised, brothers,^[a] ^(A)that the world hates you. ¹⁴We know that ^(B)we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. ¹⁵^(C)Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that ^(D)no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

¹⁶By this we know love, that ^(E)he laid down his life for us, and ^(F)we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. ¹⁷But ^(G)if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet ^(H)closes his heart against him, ^(I)how does God's love abide in him? ¹⁸Little children, let us not ^(J)love in word or talk but in deed and ^(K)in truth.

¹⁹By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; ²⁰for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. ²¹Beloved, ^(L)if our heart does not condemn us, ^(M)we have confidence before God; ²²and ^(N)whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and ^(O)do what pleases him. ²³And this is his commandment, ^(P)that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and ^(Q)love one another, ^(R)just as he has commanded us. ²⁴^(S)Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God,^[b] and God^[c] in him. And ^(T)by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.

Test the Spirits

4 Beloved, ^(U)do not believe every spirit, but ^(V)test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for ^(W)many ^(X)false prophets ^(Y)have gone out into the world. ²By this you know the Spirit of God: ^(Z)every spirit that confesses that ^(AA)Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, ³and every spirit ^(AB)that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and ^(AC)now is in the world already. ⁴Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for ^(AD)he who is in you is greater than ^(AE)he who is in the world. ⁵^(AF)They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and ^(AG)the world listens to them. ⁶We are from God. ^(AH)Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know ^(AI)the Spirit of truth and ^(AJ)the spirit of error.

Footnotes

1 John 3:13 Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters; also verses 14, 16
1 John 3:24 Greek him
1 John 3:24 Greek he

Proverbs 3:1-26

English Standard Version

Trust in the Lord with All Your Heart

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

³Let not ^(E)steadfast love and ^(F)faithfulness forsake you;
    ^(G)bind them around your neck;
    ^(H)write them on the tablet of your heart.
⁴So you will ^(I)find favor and ^(J)good success^[a]
    in the sight of God and man.

⁵^(K)Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
    and ^(L)do not lean on your own understanding.
⁶In all your ways ^(M)acknowledge him,
    and he ^(N)will make straight your paths.
⁷^(O)Be not wise in your own eyes;
    ^(P)fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
⁸It will be ^(Q)healing to your flesh^[b]
    and ^(R)refreshment^[c] to your bones.

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

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

Blessed Is the One Who Finds Wisdom

¹³^(W)Blessed is the one who finds wisdom,
    and the one who gets understanding,
¹⁴^(X)for the gain from her is better than gain from silver
    and her profit better than ^(Y)gold.
¹⁵She is more precious than ^(Z)jewels,
    and ^(AA)nothing you desire can compare with her.
¹⁶^(AB)Long life is in her right hand;
    in her left hand are ^(AC)riches and honor.
¹⁷Her ^(AD)ways are ways of pleasantness,
    and all her paths are peace.
¹⁸She is ^(AE)a tree of life to those who ^(AF)lay hold of her;
    those who hold her fast are called blessed.

¹⁹^(AG)The Lord by wisdom founded the earth;
by understanding ^(AH)he established the heavens;
²⁰by his knowledge ^(AI)the deeps broke open,
and ^(AJ)the clouds drop down the dew.

²¹My son, ^(AK)do not lose sight of these—
    keep sound wisdom and discretion,
²²and they will be ^(AL)life for your soul
    and ^(AM)adornment for your neck.
²³^(AN)Then you will walk on your way securely,
    ^(AO)and your foot will not stumble.
²⁴^(AP)If you lie down, you will not be afraid;
    when you lie down, ^(AQ)your sleep will be sweet.
²⁵^(AR)Do not be afraid of sudden terror
    or of ^(AS)the ruin^[d] of the wicked, when it comes,
²⁶for the Lord will be your confidence
    and will ^(AT)keep your foot from being caught.

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Footnotes

Proverbs 3:4 Or repute
Proverbs 3:8 Hebrew navel
Proverbs 3:8 Or medicine
Proverbs 3:25 Hebrew storm

Mark 12:13-34

English Standard Version

Paying Taxes to Caesar

¹³^(A)And they sent to him some of ^(B)the Pharisees and some of ^(C)the Herodians, to ^(D)trap him in his talk. ¹⁴And they came and said to him, “Teacher, ^(E)we know that you are true and do not care about anyone's opinion. For ^(F)you are not swayed by appearances,^[a] but truly teach ^(G)the way of God. Is it lawful to pay ^(H)taxes to ^(I)Caesar, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?” ¹⁵But, knowing ^(J)their hypocrisy, he said to them, “Why ^(K)put me to the test? Bring me ^(L)a denarius^[b] and let me look at it.” ¹⁶And they brought one. And he said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said to him, “Caesar's.” ¹⁷Jesus said to them, ^(M)“Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.” And they marveled at him.

The Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection

¹⁸And ^(N)Sadducees came to him, ^(O)who say that there is no resurrection. And they asked him a question, saying, ¹⁹“Teacher, Moses wrote for us that ^(P)if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife, but leaves no child, the man^[c] must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. ²⁰There were seven brothers; the first took a wife, and when he died left no offspring. ²¹And the second took her, and died, leaving no offspring. And the third likewise. ²²And the seven left no offspring. Last of all the woman also died. ²³In the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as wife.”

²⁴Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because ^(Q)you know neither the Scriptures nor ^(R)the power of God? ²⁵For when they rise from the dead, they neither ^(S)marry nor ^(T)are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. ²⁶And as for the dead being raised, ^(U)have you not read in ^(V)the book of Moses, in ^(W)the passage about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ^(X)‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? ²⁷He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong.”

The Great Commandment

²⁸^(Y)And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” ²⁹Jesus answered, “The most important is, ^(Z)‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, ^(AA)the Lord is one. ³⁰And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ ³¹^(AB)The second is this: ^(AC)‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment ^(AD)greater than these.” ³²And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that ^(AE)he is one, and ^(AF)there is no other besides him. ³³And to love him with all the heart and with all ^(AG)the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, ^(AH)is much more than all ^(AI)whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” ³⁴And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” ^(AJ)And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.