Proverbs 3:27-4:19
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
27 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,[a]
when it is in your power to do it.(A)
28 Do not say to your neighbor, “Go and come again;
tomorrow I will give it,” when you have it with you.(B)
29 Do not plan harm against your neighbor
who lives trustingly beside you.(C)
30 Do not quarrel with anyone without cause,
when no harm has been done to you.(D)
31 Do not envy the violent,
and do not choose any of their ways,(E)
32 for the perverse are an abomination to the Lord,
but the upright are in his confidence.(F)
33 The Lord’s curse is on the house of the wicked,
but he blesses the abode of the righteous.(G)
34 Toward the scorners he is scornful,
but to the humble he shows favor.(H)
35 The wise will inherit honor,
but stubborn fools, disgrace.
Parental Advice
4 Listen, children, to a father’s instruction,
and be attentive, that you may gain[b] insight,(I)
2 for I give you good precepts:
do not forsake my teaching.
3 When I was a son with my father,
tender and my mother’s favorite,(J)
4 he taught me and said to me,
“Let your heart hold fast my words;
keep my commandments and live.(K)
5 Get wisdom; get insight: do not forget nor turn away
from the words of my mouth.(L)
6 Do not forsake her, and she will keep you;
love her, and she will guard you.(M)
7 The beginning of wisdom is this: get wisdom,
and whatever else you get, get insight.(N)
8 Prize her highly, and she will exalt you;
she will honor you if you embrace her.(O)
9 She will place on your head a fair garland;
she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.”(P)
Admonition to Keep to the Right Path
10 Hear, my child, and accept my words,
that the years of your life may be many.
11 I have taught you the way of wisdom;
I have led you in the paths of uprightness.(Q)
12 When you walk, your step will not be hampered,
and if you run, you will not stumble.(R)
13 Keep hold of instruction; do not let go;
guard her, for she is your life.
14 Do not enter the path of the wicked,
and do not walk in the way of evildoers.(S)
15 Avoid it; do not go on it;
turn away from it and pass on.
16 For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong;
they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble.(T)
17 For they eat the bread of wickedness
and drink the wine of violence.
18 But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,
which shines brighter and brighter until full day.(U)
19 The way of the wicked is like deep darkness;
they do not know what they stumble over.(V)
1 John 4:7-21
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
God Is Love
7 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.(A) 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him.(B) 10 In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.(C) 11 Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another.(D) 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us, and his love is perfected in us.(E)
13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. 15 God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God.(F) 16 So we have known and believe the love that God has for us.
God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. 17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world.(G) 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. 19 We love[a] because he first loved us. 20 Those who say, “I love God,” and hate a brother or sister are liars, for those who do not love a brother or sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.(H) 21 The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 4.19 Other ancient authorities add him or God
Proverbs 4:20-5:14
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
20 My child, be attentive to my words;
incline your ear to my sayings.
21 Do not let them escape from your sight;
keep them within your heart.(A)
22 For they are life to those who find them
and healing to all their flesh.(B)
23 Keep your heart with all vigilance,
for from it flow the springs of life.(C)
24 Put away from you crooked speech,
and put devious talk far from you.(D)
25 Let your eyes look directly forward
and your gaze be straight before you.
26 Keep straight the path of your feet,
and all your ways will be sure.(E)
27 Do not swerve to the right or to the left;
turn your foot away from evil.(F)
Warning against Impurity and Infidelity
5 My child, be attentive to my wisdom;
incline your ear to my understanding,(G)
2 so that you may hold on to prudence,
and your lips may guard knowledge.
3 For the lips of a loose woman[a] drip honey,
and her speech is smoother than oil,(H)
4 but in the end she is bitter as wormwood,
sharp as a two-edged sword.(I)
5 Her feet go down to death;
her steps follow the path to Sheol.
6 She does not keep straight to the path of life;
her ways wander, and she does not know it.
7 And now, my child,[b] listen to me,
and do not depart from the words of my mouth.(J)
8 Keep your way far from her,
and do not go near the door of her house,(K)
9 lest you give your honor to others
and your years to the merciless,
10 and strangers take their fill of your wealth,
and your labors go to the house of an alien,
11 and at the end of your life you groan,
when your flesh and body are consumed,
12 and you say, “Oh, how I hated discipline,
and my heart despised reproof!(L)
13 I did not listen to the voice of my teachers
or incline my ear to my instructors.
14 Now I am at the point of utter ruin
in the public assembly.”
Mark 12:35-13:13
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Question about David’s Son
35 While Jesus was teaching in the temple, he said, “How can the scribes say that the Messiah[a] is the son of David?(A) 36 David himself, by the Holy Spirit, declared,
‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
until I put your enemies under your feet.” ’(B)
37 “David himself calls him Lord, so how can he be his son?” And the large crowd was listening to him with delight.(C)
Jesus Denounces the Scribes
38 As he taught, he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces(D) 39 and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets! 40 They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”
The Widow’s Offering
41 He sat down opposite the treasury and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums.(E) 42 A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. 43 Then he called his disciples and said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury.(F) 44 For all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”
The Destruction of the Temple Foretold
13 As he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!” 2 Then Jesus asked him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.”(G)
3 When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately,(H) 4 “Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?” 5 Then Jesus began to say to them, “Beware that no one leads you astray.(I) 6 Many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’[b] and they will lead many astray.(J) 7 When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. 8 For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birth pangs.
Persecution Foretold
9 “As for yourselves, beware, for they will hand you over to councils, and you will be beaten in synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them.(K) 10 And the good news[c] must first be proclaimed to all nations. 11 When they bring you to trial and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say, but say whatever is given you at that time, for it is not you who speak but the Holy Spirit.(L) 12 Sibling will betray sibling to death and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death,(M) 13 and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.(N)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.