Proverbs 4

New King James Version

Security in Wisdom

4 Hear, ^(A)my children, the instruction of a father,
And give attention to know understanding;
²For I give you good doctrine:
Do not forsake my law.
³When I was my father’s son,
^(B)Tender and the only one in the sight of my mother,
⁴^(C)He also taught me, and said to me:
“Let your heart retain my words;
^(D)Keep my commands, and live.
⁵^(E)Get wisdom! Get understanding!
Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth.
⁶Do not forsake her, and she will preserve you;
^(F)Love her, and she will keep you.
⁷^(G)Wisdom is the principal thing;
Therefore get wisdom.
And in all your getting, get understanding.
⁸^(H)Exalt her, and she will promote you;
She will bring you honor, when you embrace her.
⁹She will place on your head ^(I)an ornament of grace;
A crown of glory she will deliver to you.”

¹⁰Hear, my son, and receive my sayings,
^(J)And the years of your life will be many.
¹¹I have ^(K)taught you in the way of wisdom;
I have led you in right paths.
¹²When you walk, ^(L)your steps will not be hindered,
^(M)And when you run, you will not stumble.
¹³Take firm hold of instruction, do not let go;
Keep her, for she is your life.

¹⁴^(N)Do not enter the path of the wicked,
And do not walk in the way of evil.
¹⁵Avoid it, do not travel on it;
Turn away from it and pass on.
¹⁶^(O)For they do not sleep unless they have done evil;
And their sleep is ^[a]taken away unless they make someone fall.
¹⁷For they eat the bread of wickedness,
And drink the wine of violence.

¹⁸^(P)But the path of the just ^(Q)is like the shining ^[b]sun,
That shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.
¹⁹^(R)The way of the wicked is like darkness;
They do not know what makes them stumble.

²⁰My son, give attention to my words;
Incline your ear to my sayings.
²¹Do not let them depart from your eyes;
Keep them in the midst of your heart;
²²For they are life to those who find them,
And health to all their flesh.
²³Keep your heart with all diligence,
For out of it spring the issues of ^(S)life.
²⁴Put away from you a ^[c]deceitful mouth,
And put perverse lips far from you.
²⁵Let your eyes look straight ahead,
And your eyelids look right before you.
²⁶Ponder the path of your ^(T)feet,
And let all your ways be established.
²⁷Do not turn to the right or the left;
Remove your foot from evil.

Footnotes

Proverbs 4:16 Lit. robbed
Proverbs 4:18 Lit. light
Proverbs 4:24 devious

Hebrews 12-13

New King James Version

The Race of Faith

12 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, ^(A)let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and ^(B)let us run ^(C)with endurance the race that is set before us, ²looking unto Jesus, the ^[a]author and ^[b]finisher of our faith, ^(D)who for the joy that was set before Him ^(E)endured the cross, despising the shame, and ^(F)has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

The Discipline of God^(G)

³^(H)For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, ^(I)lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. ⁴^(J)You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. ⁵And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons:

^(K)“My son, do not despise the ^[c]chastening of the Lord,
Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;
⁶For ^(L)whom the Lord loves He chastens,
And scourges every son whom He receives.”

⁷^(M)If^[d] you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what ^(N)son is there whom a father does not chasten? ⁸But if you are without chastening, ^(O)of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. ⁹Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to ^(P)the Father of spirits and live? ¹⁰For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, ^(Q)that we may be partakers of His holiness. ¹¹Now no ^[e]chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields ^(R)the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Renew Your Spiritual Vitality^(S)

¹²Therefore ^(T)strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, ¹³and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.

¹⁴^(U)Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, ^(V)without which no one will see the Lord: ¹⁵looking carefully lest anyone ^(W)fall short of the grace of God; lest any ^(X)root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled; ¹⁶lest there be any ^(Y)fornicator or ^[f]profane person like Esau, ^(Z)who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. ¹⁷For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was ^(AA)rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.

The Glorious Company

¹⁸For you have not come ^[g]to ^(AB)the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and ^[h]darkness and tempest, ¹⁹and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard it ^(AC)begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore. ²⁰(For they could not endure what was commanded: ^(AD)“And if so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned ^[i]or shot with an arrow.” ²¹And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, ^(AE)“I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.”)

²²But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, ²³to the ^[j]general assembly and church of ^(AF)the firstborn ^(AG)who are registered in heaven, to God ^(AH)the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men ^(AI)made perfect, ²⁴to Jesus ^(AJ)the Mediator of the new covenant, and to ^(AK)the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things ^(AL)than that of Abel.

Hear the Heavenly Voice

²⁵See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For ^(AM)if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, ²⁶whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, ^(AN)“Yet once more I ^[k]shake not only the earth, but also heaven.” ²⁷Now this, “Yet once more,” indicates the ^(AO)removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.

²⁸Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we ^[l]may ^(AP)serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. ²⁹For ^(AQ)our God is a consuming fire.

Concluding Moral Directions

13 Let ^(AR)brotherly love continue. ²^(AS)Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing ^(AT)some have unwittingly entertained angels. ³^(AU)Remember the prisoners as if chained with them—those who are mistreated—since you yourselves are in the body also.

⁴^(AV)Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; ^(AW)but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.

⁵Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, ^(AX)“I will never leave you nor forsake you.” ⁶So we may boldly say:

^(AY)“The Lord is my helper;
I will not fear.
What can man do to me?”

Concluding Religious Directions

⁷Remember those who ^[m]rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct. ⁸Jesus Christ is ^(AZ)the same yesterday, today, and forever. ⁹Do not be carried ^[n]about with various and strange doctrines. For it is good that the heart be established by grace, not with foods which have not profited those who have been occupied with them.

¹⁰We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. ¹¹For the bodies of those animals, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned outside the camp. ¹²Therefore Jesus also, that He might ^[o]sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate. ¹³Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing ^(BA)His reproach. ¹⁴For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come. ¹⁵^(BB)Therefore by Him let us continually offer ^(BC)the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, ^(BD)the fruit of our lips, ^[p]giving thanks to His name. ¹⁶^(BE)But do not forget to do good and to share, for ^(BF)with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

¹⁷^(BG)Obey those who ^[q]rule over you, and be submissive, for ^(BH)they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.

Prayer Requested

¹⁸^(BI)Pray for us; for we are confident that we have ^(BJ)a good conscience, in all things desiring to live honorably. ¹⁹But I especially urge you to do this, that I may be restored to you the sooner.

Benediction, Final Exhortation, Farewell

²⁰Now may ^(BK)the God of peace ^(BL)who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, ^(BM)that great Shepherd of the sheep, ^(BN)through the blood of the everlasting covenant, ²¹make you ^[r]complete in every good work to do His will, ^(BO)working in ^[s]you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

²²And I appeal to you, brethren, bear with the word of exhortation, for I have written to you in few words. ²³Know that our brother Timothy has been set free, with whom I shall see you if he comes shortly.

²⁴Greet all those who ^[t]rule over you, and all the saints. Those from Italy greet you.

²⁵Grace be with you all. Amen.