Proverbs 6:1-19
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Practical Admonitions
6 My child, if you have given your pledge to your neighbor,
if you have bound yourself to another,[a](A)
2 you are snared by the utterance of your lips,[b]
caught by the words of your mouth.
3 So do this, my child, and save yourself,
for you have come into your neighbor’s power:
go, hurry,[c] and plead with your neighbor.
4 Give your eyes no sleep
and your eyelids no slumber;(B)
5 save yourself like a gazelle from the hunter,[d]
like a bird from the hand of the fowler.(C)
6 Go to the ant, you lazybones;
consider its ways and be wise.(D)
7 Without having any chief
or officer or ruler,
8 it prepares its food in summer
and gathers its sustenance in harvest.(E)
9 How long will you lie there, O lazybones?
When will you rise from your sleep?(F)
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest,
11 and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
and want, like an armed warrior.(G)
12 A scoundrel and a villain
goes around with crooked speech,(H)
13 winking the eyes, shuffling the feet,
pointing the fingers,(I)
14 with perverted mind devising evil,
continually sowing discord;(J)
15 on such a one calamity will descend suddenly,
in a moment, damage beyond repair.(K)
16 There are six things that the Lord hates,
seven that are an abomination to him:
17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood,(L)
18 a heart that devises wicked plans,
feet that hurry to run to evil,(M)
19 a lying witness who testifies falsely,
and one who sows discord in a family.(N)
1 John 5
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Faith Conquers the World
5 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ[a] has been born of God, and everyone who loves the parent loves the child.(A) 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3 For the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome,(B) 4 for whatever is born of God conquers the world. And this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith.(C) 5 Who is it who conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?(D)
Testimony concerning the Son of God
6 This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only but with the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one that testifies, for the Spirit is the truth.(E) 7 There are three that testify:[b](F) 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood, and these three agree. 9 If we receive human testimony, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has testified to his Son.(G) 10 Those who believe in the Son of God have the testimony in their hearts. Those who do not believe in God[c] have made him a liar by not believing in the testimony that God has given concerning his Son.(H) 11 And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.(I)
Epilogue
13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.[d](J)
14 And this is the boldness we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests made of him. 16 If you see your brother or sister committing what is not a deadly sin, you will ask, and God[e] will give life to such a one—to those whose sin is not deadly. There is sin that is deadly; I do not say that you should pray about that.(K) 17 All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not deadly.
18 We know that those who are born of God do not sin, but the one who was born of God protects them, and the evil one does not touch them.[f](L) 19 We know that we are God’s children and that the whole world lies under the power of the evil one.(M) 20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know him who is true;[g] and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.(N)
21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols.[h]
Footnotes
- 5.1 Or the Messiah
- 5.7 Other ancient authorities read (with variations)
There are three that testify in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one. And there are three that testify on earth: - 5.10 Other ancient authorities read in the Son
- 5.13 Other ancient authorities add and that you may believe in the name of the Son of God
- 5.16 Gk he
- 5.18 Other ancient authorities read protects himself, and the evil one does not touch him
- 5.20 Other ancient authorities read know the true God
- 5.21 Other ancient authorities add Amen
Proverbs 8
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Gifts of Wisdom
8 Does not wisdom call
and understanding raise her voice?(A)
2 On the heights, beside the way,
at the crossroads she takes her stand;
3 beside the gates in front of the town,
at the entrance of the portals she cries out:(B)
4 “To you, O people, I call,
and my cry is to all who live.
5 O simple ones, learn prudence;
acquire intelligence, you who lack it.(C)
6 Hear, for I will speak noble things,
and from my lips will come what is right,(D)
7 for my mouth will utter truth;
wickedness is an abomination to my lips.(E)
8 All the words of my mouth are righteous;
there is nothing twisted or crooked in them.
9 They are all straight to one who understands
and right to those who find knowledge.(F)
10 Take my instruction instead of silver
and knowledge rather than choice gold,(G)
11 for wisdom is better than jewels,
and all that you may desire cannot compare with her.(H)
12 I, wisdom, live with prudence,
and I attain knowledge and discretion.(I)
13 The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil.
Pride and arrogance and the way of evil
and perverted speech I hate.(J)
14 I have good advice and sound wisdom;
I have insight; I have strength.(K)
15 By me kings reign,
and rulers decree what is just;(L)
16 by me rulers rule,
and nobles, all who govern rightly.
17 I love those who love me,
and those who seek me diligently find me.(M)
18 Riches and honor are with me,
enduring wealth and prosperity.(N)
19 My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold,
and my yield than choice silver.(O)
20 I walk in the way of righteousness,
along the paths of justice,
21 endowing with wealth those who love me
and filling their treasuries.
Wisdom’s Part in Creation
22 “The Lord created me at the beginning[a] of his work,[b]
the first of his acts of long ago.(P)
23 Ages ago I was set up,
at the first, before the beginning of the earth.(Q)
24 When there were no depths I was brought forth,
when there were no springs abounding with water.
25 Before the mountains had been shaped,
before the hills, I was brought forth,(R)
26 when he had not yet made earth and fields[c]
or the world’s first bits of soil.
27 When he established the heavens, I was there;
when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,(S)
28 when he made firm the skies above,
when he established the fountains of the deep,
29 when he assigned to the sea its limit,
so that the waters might not transgress his command,
when he marked out the foundations of the earth,(T)
30 then I was beside him, like a master worker,[d]
and I was daily his[e] delight,
playing before him always,(U)
31 playing in his inhabited world
and delighting in the human race.(V)
32 “And now, my children, listen to me:
happy are those who keep my ways.(W)
33 Hear instruction and be wise,
and do not neglect it.
34 Happy is the one who listens to me,
watching daily at my gates,
waiting beside my doors.(X)
35 For whoever finds me finds life
and obtains favor from the Lord,(Y)
36 but those who miss me injure themselves;
all who hate me love death.”(Z)
Mark 13:14-37
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Desolating Sacrilege
14 “But when you see the desolating sacrilege set up where it ought not to be (let the reader understand), then those in Judea must flee to the mountains;(A) 15 the one on the housetop must not go down or enter to take anything from the house; 16 the one in the field must not turn back to get a coat. 17 Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing infants in those days!(B) 18 Pray that it may not be in winter. 19 For in those days there will be suffering, such as has not been from the beginning of the creation that God created until now and never will be.(C) 20 And if the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would be saved, but for the sake of the elect, whom he chose, he has cut short those days. 21 And if anyone says to you at that time, ‘Look! Here is the Messiah!’[a] or ‘Look! There he is!’—do not believe it.(D) 22 False messiahs[b] and false prophets will appear and produce signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect.(E) 23 But be alert; I have already told you everything.(F)
The Coming of the Son of Man
24 “But in those days, after that suffering,
the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light,(G)
25 and the stars will be falling from heaven,
and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.
26 “Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in clouds’ with great power and glory.(H) 27 Then he will send out the angels and gather the[c] elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.
The Lesson of the Fig Tree
28 “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. 29 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he[d] is near, at the very gates. 30 Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place.(I) 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.(J)
The Necessity for Watchfulness
32 “But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven nor the Son, but only the Father.(K) 33 Beware, keep alert,[e] for you do not know when the time will come.(L) 34 It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch.(M) 35 Therefore, keep awake, for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening or at midnight or at cockcrow or at dawn,(N) 36 or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. 37 And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.”
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