The Excellence of Wisdom

Does not (A)wisdom cry out,
And understanding lift up her voice?
She takes her stand on the top of the [a]high hill,
Beside the way, where the paths meet.
She cries out by the gates, at the entry of the city,
At the entrance of the doors:
“To you, O men, I call,
And my voice is to the sons of men.
O you [b]simple ones, understand prudence,
And you fools, be of an understanding heart.
Listen, for I will speak of (B)excellent things,
And from the opening of my lips will come right things;
For my mouth will speak truth;
Wickedness is an abomination to my lips.
All the words of my mouth are with righteousness;
Nothing crooked or perverse is in them.
They are all plain to him who understands,
And right to those who find knowledge.
10 Receive my instruction, and not silver,
And knowledge rather than choice gold;
11 (C)For wisdom is better than rubies,
And all the things one may desire cannot be compared with her.

12 “I, wisdom, dwell with prudence,
And find out knowledge and discretion.
13 (D)The fear of the Lord is to hate evil;
(E)Pride and arrogance and the evil way
And (F)the perverse mouth I hate.
14 Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom;
I am understanding, (G)I have strength.
15 (H)By me kings reign,
And rulers decree justice.
16 By me princes rule, and nobles,
All the judges of [c]the earth.
17 (I)I love those who love me,
And (J)those who seek me diligently will find me.
18 (K)Riches and honor are with me,
Enduring riches and righteousness.
19 My fruit is better than gold, yes, than fine gold,
And my revenue than choice silver.
20 I [d]traverse the way of righteousness,
In the midst of the paths of justice,
21 That I may cause those who love me to inherit wealth,
That I may fill their treasuries.

22 “The(L) Lord possessed me at the beginning of His way,
Before His works of old.
23 (M)I have been established from everlasting,
From the beginning, before there was ever an earth.
24 When there were no depths I was brought forth,
When there were no fountains abounding with water.
25 (N)Before the mountains were settled,
Before the hills, I was brought forth;
26 While as yet He had not made the earth or the [e]fields,
Or the [f]primal dust of the world.
27 When He prepared the heavens, I was there,
When He drew a circle on the face of the deep,
28 When He established the clouds above,
When He strengthened the fountains of the deep,
29 (O)When He assigned to the sea its limit,
So that the waters would not transgress His command,
When (P)He marked out the foundations of the earth,
30 (Q)Then I was beside Him as [g]a master craftsman;
(R)And I was daily His delight,
Rejoicing always before Him,
31 Rejoicing in His inhabited world,
And (S)my delight was with the sons of men.

32 “Now therefore, listen to me, my children,
For (T)blessed are those who keep my ways.
33 Hear instruction and be wise,
And do not disdain it.
34 (U)Blessed is the man who listens to me,
Watching daily at my gates,
Waiting at the posts of my doors.
35 For whoever finds me finds life,
And (V)obtains favor from the Lord;
36 But he who sins against me (W)wrongs his own soul;
All those who hate me love death.”

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 8:2 Lit. heights
  2. Proverbs 8:5 naive
  3. Proverbs 8:16 MT, Syr., Tg., Vg. righteousness; LXX, Bg., some mss. and editions earth
  4. Proverbs 8:20 walk about on
  5. Proverbs 8:26 outer places
  6. Proverbs 8:26 Lit. beginning of the dust
  7. Proverbs 8:30 A Jewish tradition one brought up

Greeting the Elect Lady

The Elder,

To the [a]elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all those who have known (A)the truth, because of the truth which abides in us and will be with us forever:

(B)Grace, mercy, and peace will be with [b]you from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.

Walk in Christ’s Commandments

I (C)rejoiced greatly that I have found some of your children walking in truth, as we received commandment from the Father. And now I plead with you, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment to you, but that which we have had from the beginning: (D)that we love one another. (E)This is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, that (F)as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it.

Beware of Antichrist Deceivers

For (G)many deceivers have gone out into the world (H)who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. (I)This is a deceiver and an antichrist. (J)Look to yourselves, (K)that [c]we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward.

(L)Whoever [d]transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and (M)does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; 11 for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds.

John’s Farewell Greeting

12 (N)Having many things to write to you, I did not wish to do so with paper and ink; but I hope to come to you and speak face to face, (O)that our joy may be full.

13 (P)The children of your elect sister greet you. Amen.

Footnotes

  1. 2 John 1:1 chosen
  2. 2 John 1:3 NU, M us
  3. 2 John 1:8 NU you
  4. 2 John 1:9 NU goes ahead

Wise Sayings of Solomon

10 The proverbs of (A)Solomon:

(B)A wise son makes a glad father,
But a foolish son is the grief of his mother.

(C)Treasures of wickedness profit nothing,
(D)But righteousness delivers from death.
(E)The Lord will not allow the righteous soul to famish,
But He casts away the desire of the wicked.

(F)He who has a slack hand becomes poor,
But (G)the hand of the diligent makes rich.
He who gathers in (H)summer is a wise son;
He who sleeps in harvest is (I)a son who causes shame.

Blessings are on the head of the righteous,
But violence covers the mouth of the wicked.
(J)The memory of the righteous is blessed,
But the name of the wicked will rot.

The wise in heart will receive commands,
(K)But [a]a prating fool will [b]fall.

(L)He who walks with integrity walks securely,
But he who perverts his ways will become known.

10 He who winks with the eye causes trouble,
But a prating fool will fall.

11 The mouth of the righteous is a well of life,
But violence covers the mouth of the wicked.

12 Hatred stirs up strife,
But (M)love covers all sins.

13 Wisdom is found on the lips of him who has understanding,
But (N)a rod is for the back of him who [c]is devoid of understanding.

14 Wise people store up knowledge,
But (O)the mouth of the foolish is near destruction.

15 The (P)rich man’s wealth is his strong city;
The destruction of the poor is their poverty.

16 The labor of the righteous leads to (Q)life,
The wages of the wicked to sin.

17 He who keeps instruction is in the way of life,
But he who refuses correction [d]goes astray.

18 Whoever (R)hides hatred has lying lips,
And (S)whoever spreads slander is a fool.

19 (T)In the multitude of words sin is not lacking,
But (U)he who restrains his lips is wise.
20 The tongue of the righteous is choice silver;
The heart of the wicked is worth little.
21 The lips of the righteous feed many,
But fools die for lack of [e]wisdom.

22 (V)The blessing of the Lord makes one rich,
And He adds no sorrow with it.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 10:8 Lit. the foolish of lips
  2. Proverbs 10:8 be thrust down or ruined
  3. Proverbs 10:13 Lit. lacks heart
  4. Proverbs 10:17 leads
  5. Proverbs 10:21 Lit. heart

The Plot to Kill Jesus(A)

14 After (B)two days it was the Passover and (C)the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take Him by [a]trickery and put Him to death. But they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar of the people.”

The Anointing at Bethany(D)

(E)And being in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, as He sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster flask of very costly [b]oil of spikenard. Then she broke the flask and poured it on His head. But there were some who were indignant among themselves, and said, “Why was this fragrant oil wasted? For it might have been sold for more than three hundred (F)denarii and given to the poor.” And they (G)criticized[c] her sharply.

But Jesus said, “Let her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a good work for Me. (H)For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good; (I)but Me you do not have always. She has done what she could. She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial. Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is (J)preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.”

Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus(K)

10 (L)Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Him to them. 11 And when they heard it, they were glad, and promised to give him money. So he sought how he might conveniently betray Him.

Jesus Celebrates the Passover with His Disciples(M)

12 (N)Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they [d]killed the Passover lamb, His disciples said to Him, “Where do You want us to go and prepare, that You may eat the Passover?”

13 And He sent out two of His disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him. 14 Wherever he goes in, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?” ’ 15 Then he will show you a large upper room, furnished and prepared; there make ready for us.”

16 So His disciples went out, and came into the city, and found it just as He had said to them; and they prepared the Passover.

17 (O)In the evening He came with the twelve. 18 Now as they sat and ate, Jesus said, “Assuredly, I say to you, (P)one of you who eats with Me will betray Me.”

19 And they began to be sorrowful, and to say to Him one by one, “Is it I?” [e]And another said,Is it I?”

20 He answered and said to them, It is one of the twelve, who dips with Me in the dish. 21 (Q)The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had never been born.”

Jesus Institutes the Lord’s Supper(R)

22 (S)And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them and said, “Take, [f]eat; this is My (T)body.”

23 Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. 24 And He said to them, “This is My blood of the [g]new covenant, which is shed for many. 25 Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

26 (U)And when they had sung [h]a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

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Footnotes

  1. Mark 14:1 deception
  2. Mark 14:3 Perfume of pure nard
  3. Mark 14:5 scolded
  4. Mark 14:12 sacrificed
  5. Mark 14:19 NU omits the rest of v. 19.
  6. Mark 14:22 NU omits eat
  7. Mark 14:24 NU omits new
  8. Mark 14:26 Or hymns

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