Proverbs 3-4
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,
2 for (C)length of days and years of life
and (D)peace they will add to you.
3 Let not (E)steadfast love and (F)faithfulness forsake you;
(G)bind them around your neck;
(H)write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 So 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.
6 In 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.
8 It will be (Q)healing to your flesh[b]
and (R)refreshment[c] to your bones.
9 Honor the Lord with your wealth
and with (S)the firstfruits of all your produce;
10 then 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,
12 for 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.
15 She 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.
17 Her (AD)ways are ways of pleasantness,
and all her paths are peace.
18 She 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;
20 by his knowledge (AI)the deeps broke open,
and (AJ)the clouds drop down the dew.
21 My son, (AK)do not lose sight of these—
keep sound wisdom and discretion,
22 and 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,
26 for the Lord will be your confidence
and will (AT)keep your foot from being caught.
27 (AU)Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,[e]
when it is in your power to do it.
28 (AV)Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come again,
tomorrow I will give it”—when you have it with you.
29 (AW)Do not plan evil against your neighbor,
who (AX)dwells trustingly beside you.
30 (AY)Do not contend with a man for no reason,
when he has done you no harm.
31 (AZ)Do not envy (BA)a man of violence
and do not choose any of his ways,
32 for (BB)the devious person is an abomination to the Lord,
but the upright are (BC)in his confidence.
33 (BD)The Lord's curse is on the house of the wicked,
but he (BE)blesses the dwelling of the righteous.
34 Toward the (BF)scorners he (BG)is scornful,
(BH)but to the humble he gives favor.[f]
35 The wise will inherit honor,
but fools get[g] disgrace.
A Father's Wise Instruction
4 (BI)Hear, O sons, a father's instruction,
and be attentive, that you may (BJ)gain[h] insight,
2 for I give you good (BK)precepts;
do not forsake my teaching.
3 When I was a son with my father,
(BL)tender, (BM)the only one in the sight of my mother,
4 he (BN)taught me and said to me,
(BO)“Let your heart hold fast my words;
(BP)keep my commandments, and live.
5 (BQ)Get wisdom; get (BR)insight;
do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth.
6 Do not forsake her, and she will keep you;
(BS)love her, and she will guard you.
7 (BT)The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom,
and whatever you get, get (BU)insight.
8 Prize her highly, and she will exalt you;
she will (BV)honor you (BW)if you embrace her.
9 She will place on your head (BX)a graceful garland;
she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.”
10 (BY)Hear, (BZ)my son, and accept my words,
that (CA)the years of your life may be many.
11 I have (CB)taught you the way of wisdom;
I have led you in the paths of uprightness.
12 When you walk, (CC)your step will not be hampered,
and (CD)if you run, you will not stumble.
13 (CE)Keep hold of instruction; do not let go;
guard her, for she is your (CF)life.
14 (CG)Do not enter the path of the wicked,
and do not walk in the way of the evil.
15 Avoid it; do not go on it;
turn away from it and pass on.
16 For they (CH)cannot sleep unless they have done wrong;
they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble.
17 For they eat the bread of wickedness
(CI)and drink the wine of violence.
18 But (CJ)the path of the righteous is like (CK)the light of dawn,
which shines (CL)brighter and brighter until (CM)full day.
19 (CN)The way of the wicked is like deep (CO)darkness;
they do not know over what they (CP)stumble.
20 (CQ)My son, be attentive to my words;
incline your ear to my sayings.
21 (CR)Let them not escape from your sight;
(CS)keep them within your heart.
22 For they are (CT)life to those who find them,
and healing to all their[i] flesh.
23 Keep your heart with all vigilance,
for (CU)from it flow (CV)the springs of life.
24 Put away from you (CW)crooked speech,
and put (CX)devious talk far from you.
25 (CY)Let your eyes look directly forward,
and your gaze be straight before you.
26 (CZ)Ponder[j] the path of your feet;
(DA)then all your ways will be sure.
27 (DB)Do not swerve to the right or to the left;
turn your foot away from evil.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 3:4 Or repute
- Proverbs 3:8 Hebrew navel
- Proverbs 3:8 Or medicine
- Proverbs 3:25 Hebrew storm
- Proverbs 3:27 Hebrew Do not withhold good from its owners
- Proverbs 3:34 Or grace
- Proverbs 3:35 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain
- Proverbs 4:1 Hebrew know
- Proverbs 4:22 Hebrew his
- Proverbs 4:26 Or Make level
1 Corinthians 13
English Standard Version
The Way of Love
13 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have (A)prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, (B)so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 (C)If I give away all I have, and (D)if I deliver up my body to be burned,[a] but have not love, I gain nothing.
4 (E)Love is patient and (F)kind; love (G)does not envy or boast; it (H)is not arrogant 5 or rude. It (I)does not insist on its own way; it (J)is not irritable or resentful;[b] 6 it (K)does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but (L)rejoices with the truth. 7 (M)Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, (N)endures all things.
8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For (O)we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but (P)when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For (Q)now we see in a mirror dimly, but (R)then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as (S)I have been fully known.
13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
Footnotes
- 1 Corinthians 13:3 Some manuscripts deliver up my body [to death] that I may boast
- 1 Corinthians 13:5 Greek irritable and does not count up wrongdoing
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.