23 When you sit down to eat with a ruler,
    observe carefully what[a] is before you,
and put a knife to your throat
    if you are given to appetite.
(A)Do not desire his delicacies,
    for they are deceptive food.
(B)Do not toil to acquire wealth;
    (C)be discerning enough to desist.
When your eyes light on it, it is gone,
    (D)for suddenly it sprouts wings,
    flying like an eagle toward heaven.
(E)Do not eat the bread of a man who is (F)stingy;[b]
    (G)do not desire his delicacies,
for he is like one who is inwardly calculating.[c]
    “Eat and drink!” he says to you,
    but his (H)heart is not with you.
You will vomit up the morsels that you have eaten,
    and waste your pleasant words.
Do not speak in the hearing of a fool,
    for he will despise the good sense of your words.
10 (I)Do not move an ancient landmark
    or enter the fields of the fatherless,
11 for their (J)Redeemer is strong;
    he will (K)plead their cause against you.
12 Apply your heart to instruction
    and your ear to words of knowledge.
13 Do not withhold (L)discipline from a child;
    (M)if you strike him with a rod, he will not die.
14 If you strike him with the rod,
    you will (N)save his soul from Sheol.
15 (O)My son, if your heart is wise,
    my heart too will be glad.
16 My (P)inmost being[d] will exult
    when your lips speak (Q)what is right.
17 Let not your heart (R)envy sinners,
    but continue in (S)the fear of the Lord all the day.
18 Surely (T)there is a future,
    and your (U)hope will not be cut off.

19 Hear, my son, and (V)be wise,
    and (W)direct your heart in the way.
20 Be not among (X)drunkards[e]
    or among (Y)gluttonous eaters of meat,
21 for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty,
    and (Z)slumber will clothe them with rags.

22 (AA)Listen to your father who gave you life,
    (AB)and do not despise your mother when she is old.
23 (AC)Buy truth, and do not sell it;
    buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
24 (AD)The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice;
    he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him.
25 (AE)Let your father and mother be glad;
    let (AF)her who bore you rejoice.

26 My son, give me your heart,
    and let your eyes observe[f] my ways.
27 For a prostitute is (AG)a deep pit;
    (AH)an adulteress[g] is a narrow (AI)well.
28 (AJ)She lies in wait like a robber
    and increases the traitors among mankind.

29 (AK)Who has woe? Who has sorrow?
    Who has strife? Who has complaining?
Who has (AL)wounds without cause?
    Who has (AM)redness of eyes?
30 Those who (AN)tarry long over wine;
    those who go to try (AO)mixed wine.
31 Do not look at wine when it is red,
    when it sparkles in the cup
    and goes down smoothly.
32 In the end it (AP)bites like a serpent
    and stings like an adder.
33 Your eyes will see strange things,
    and your heart utter (AQ)perverse things.
34 You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea,
    like one who lies on the top of a mast.[h]
35 “They (AR)struck me,” you will say,[i] “but I was not hurt;
    they beat me, but I did not feel it.
When shall I awake?
    I (AS)must have another drink.”

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 23:1 Or who
  2. Proverbs 23:6 Hebrew whose eye is evil
  3. Proverbs 23:7 Or for as he calculates in his soul, so is he
  4. Proverbs 23:16 Hebrew My kidneys
  5. Proverbs 23:20 Hebrew those who drink too much wine
  6. Proverbs 23:26 Or delight in
  7. Proverbs 23:27 Hebrew a foreign woman
  8. Proverbs 23:34 Or of the rigging
  9. Proverbs 23:35 Hebrew lacks you will say

23 When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee:

And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.

Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat.

Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.

Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.

Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats:

For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.

The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.

Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.

10 Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless:

11 For their redeemer is mighty; he shall plead their cause with thee.

12 Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.

13 Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.

14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.

15 My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.

16 Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things.

17 Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long.

18 For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.

19 Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.

20 Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:

21 For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.

22 Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.

23 Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.

24 The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him.

25 Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice.

26 My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.

27 For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.

28 She also lieth in wait as for a prey, and increaseth the transgressors among men.

29 Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?

30 They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.

31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.

32 At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.

33 Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.

34 Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.

35 They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.

The Lord's Coming Salvation

52 (A)Awake, awake,
    put on your strength, O Zion;
(B)put on your beautiful garments,
    O Jerusalem, (C)the holy city;
(D)for there shall no more come into you
    the uncircumcised and the unclean.
(E)Shake yourself from the dust and arise;
    be seated, O Jerusalem;
(F)loose the bonds from your neck,
    O captive daughter of Zion.

For thus says the Lord: (G)“You were sold for nothing, and (H)you shall be redeemed without money.” For thus says the Lord God: (I)“My people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there, and the Assyrian oppressed them for nothing.[a] Now therefore what have I here,” declares the Lord, “seeing that my people are taken away for nothing? Their rulers wail,” declares the Lord, “and (J)continually all the day my name is despised. Therefore my people shall know my name. (K)Therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here I am.”

(L)How beautiful upon the mountains
    are the feet of him who brings good news,
who publishes peace, (M)who brings good news of happiness,
    who publishes salvation,
    who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”
The voice of (N)your watchmen—they lift up their voice;
    together they sing for joy;
(O)for eye to eye they see
    the return of the Lord to Zion.
(P)Break forth together into singing,
    (Q)you waste places of Jerusalem,
for (R)the Lord has comforted his people;
    he has redeemed Jerusalem.
10 (S)The Lord has bared his holy arm
    before the eyes of all the nations,
(T)and all the ends of the earth shall see
    the salvation of our God.

11 (U)Depart, depart, go out from there;
    touch no unclean thing;
go out from the midst of her; purify yourselves,
    (V)you who bear the vessels of the Lord.
12 For you shall not (W)go out in haste,
    and you shall not go in flight,
(X)for the Lord will go before you,
    (Y)and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.

He Was Pierced for Our Transgressions

13 Behold, (Z)my servant shall act wisely;[b]
    he shall be high and lifted up,
    and shall be exalted.
14 As many were astonished at you—
    (AA)his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,
    and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—
15 so (AB)shall he sprinkle[c] many nations.
    (AC)Kings shall shut their mouths because of him,
(AD)for that which has not been told them they see,
    and that which they have not heard they understand.
53 (AE)Who has believed what he has heard from us?[d]
    And to whom has (AF)the arm of the Lord been revealed?
For he grew up before him like a young plant,
    (AG)and like a root out of dry ground;
(AH)he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
    and no beauty that we should desire him.
(AI)He was despised and rejected[e] by men,
    a man of sorrows[f] and acquainted with[g] grief;[h]
and as one from whom men hide their faces[i]
    he was despised, and (AJ)we esteemed him not.

(AK)Surely he has borne our griefs
    and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
    (AL)smitten by God, and afflicted.
(AM)But he was pierced for our transgressions;
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
    (AN)and with his wounds we are healed.
(AO)All we like sheep have gone astray;
    we have turned—every one—to his own way;
(AP)and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
    (AQ)yet he opened not his mouth;
(AR)like a (AS)lamb that is led to the slaughter,
    and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
    so he opened not his mouth.
By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
    and as for his generation, (AT)who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
    stricken for the transgression of my people?
And they made his grave with the wicked
    (AU)and with a rich man in his death,
although (AV)he had done no violence,
    and there was no deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet (AW)it was the will of the Lord to crush him;
    he has put him to grief;[j]
(AX)when his soul makes[k] an offering for guilt,
    he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
(AY)the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see[l] and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall (AZ)the righteous one, my servant,
    (BA)make many to be accounted righteous,
    (BB)and he shall bear their iniquities.
12 (BC)Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,[m]
    (BD)and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,[n]
because he poured out his soul to death
    and was numbered with the transgressors;
(BE)yet he bore the sin of many,
    and makes intercession for the transgressors.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 52:4 Or the Assyrian has oppressed them of late
  2. Isaiah 52:13 Or shall prosper
  3. Isaiah 52:15 Or startle
  4. Isaiah 53:1 Or Who has believed what we have heard?
  5. Isaiah 53:3 Or forsaken
  6. Isaiah 53:3 Or pains; also verse 4
  7. Isaiah 53:3 Or and knowing
  8. Isaiah 53:3 Or sickness; also verse 4
  9. Isaiah 53:3 Or as one who hides his face from us
  10. Isaiah 53:10 Or he has made him sick
  11. Isaiah 53:10 Or when you make his soul
  12. Isaiah 53:11 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scroll he shall see light
  13. Isaiah 53:12 Or with the great
  14. Isaiah 53:12 Or with the numerous

52 Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.

Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.

For thus saith the Lord, Ye have sold yourselves for nought; and ye shall be redeemed without money.

For thus saith the Lord God, My people went down aforetime into Egypt to sojourn there; and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause.

Now therefore, what have I here, saith the Lord, that my people is taken away for nought? they that rule over them make them to howl, saith the Lord; and my name continually every day is blasphemed.

Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that doth speak: behold, it is I.

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!

Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion.

Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem.

10 The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.

11 Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord.

12 For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the Lord will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your reward.

13 Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.

14 As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:

15 So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.

53 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?

For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Greeting

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who are elect exiles of (A)the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to (B)the foreknowledge of God the Father, (C)in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and (D)for sprinkling with his blood:

May (E)grace and (F)peace be multiplied to you.

Born Again to a Living Hope

(G)Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! (H)According to his great mercy, (I)he has caused us to be born again to a living hope (J)through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to (K)an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and (L)unfading, (M)kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded (N)through faith for a salvation (O)ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by (P)various trials, so that (Q)the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes (R)though it is tested by (S)fire—may be found to result in (T)praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (U)Though you have not seen him, you love him. (V)Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining (W)the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

10 Concerning this salvation, (X)the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, 11 inquiring (Y)what person or time[a] (Z)the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating (AA)when he predicted (AB)the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. 12 (AC)It was revealed to them that (AD)they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you (AE)by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, (AF)things into which angels long to look.

Called to Be Holy

13 Therefore, (AG)preparing your minds for action,[b] and (AH)being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As obedient children, (AI)do not be conformed to the passions (AJ)of your former ignorance, 15 but (AK)as he who called you is holy, you also be holy (AL)in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, (AM)“You shall be holy, for I am holy.” 17 And if you (AN)call on him as Father who (AO)judges (AP)impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves (AQ)with fear throughout the time of your exile, 18 knowing that you (AR)were ransomed from (AS)the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but (AT)with the precious blood of Christ, like that of (AU)a lamb (AV)without blemish or spot. 20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but (AW)was made manifest (AX)in the last times for the sake of you 21 (AY)who through him are believers in God, (AZ)who raised him from the dead and (BA)gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for (BB)a sincere brotherly love, (BC)love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23 (BD)since you have been born again, (BE)not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through (BF)the living and abiding word of God; 24 for

(BG)“All flesh is like grass
    and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
    and the flower falls,
25 (BH)but the word of the Lord remains forever.”

And this word (BI)is the good news that was preached to you.

Footnotes

  1. 1 Peter 1:11 Or what time or circumstances
  2. 1 Peter 1:13 Greek girding up the loins of your mind

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,

Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,

Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:

That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:

Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

10 Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:

11 Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.

12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

14 As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:

15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;

16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

17 And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:

18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;

19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,

21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.

22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:

23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:

25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.