Proverbs 6:6-19

New King James Version

The Folly of Indolence

⁶^(A)Go to the ant, you sluggard!
Consider her ways and be wise,
⁷Which, having no ^[a]captain,
Overseer or ruler,
⁸Provides her ^[b]supplies in the summer,
And gathers her food in the harvest.
⁹^(B)How long will you ^[c]slumber, O sluggard?
When will you rise from your sleep?
¹⁰A little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to sleep—
¹¹^(C)So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler,
And your need like an armed man.

The Wicked Man

¹²A worthless person, a wicked man,
Walks with a perverse mouth;
¹³^(D)He winks with his eyes,
He ^[d]shuffles his feet,
He points with his fingers;
¹⁴Perversity is in his heart,
^(E)He devises evil continually,
^(F)He sows discord.
¹⁵Therefore his calamity shall come ^(G)suddenly;
Suddenly he shall ^(H)be broken ^(I)without remedy.

¹⁶These six things the Lord hates,
Yes, seven are an abomination to ^[e]Him:
¹⁷^(J)A^[f] proud look,
^(K)A lying tongue,
^(L)Hands that shed innocent blood,
¹⁸^(M)A heart that devises wicked plans,
^(N)Feet that are swift in running to evil,
¹⁹^(O)A false witness who speaks lies,
And one who ^(P)sows discord among brethren.

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Footnotes

Proverbs 6:7 Lit. leader
Proverbs 6:8 Lit. bread
Proverbs 6:9 Lit. lie down
Proverbs 6:13 gives signals, lit. scrapes
Proverbs 6:16 Lit. His soul
Proverbs 6:17 Lit. Haughty eyes

Habakkuk 1:5-14

New King James Version

The Lord’s Reply

⁵“Look^(A) among the nations and watch—
Be utterly astounded!
For I will work a work in your days
Which you would not believe, though it were told you.
⁶For indeed I am ^(B)raising up the Chaldeans,
A bitter and hasty ^(C)nation
Which marches through the breadth of the earth,
To possess dwelling places that are not theirs.
⁷They are terrible and dreadful;
Their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves.
⁸Their horses also are ^(D)swifter than leopards,
And more fierce than evening wolves.
Their ^[a]chargers ^[b]charge ahead;
Their cavalry comes from afar;
They fly as the ^(E)eagle that hastens to eat.

⁹“They all come for violence;
Their faces are set like the east wind.
They gather captives like sand.
¹⁰They scoff at kings,
And princes are scorned by them.
They deride every stronghold,
For they heap up earthen mounds and seize it.
¹¹Then his ^[c]mind changes, and he transgresses;
He commits offense,
^(F)Ascribing this power to his god.”

The Prophet’s Second Question

¹²Are You not ^(G)from everlasting,
O Lord my God, my Holy One?
We shall not die.
O Lord, ^(H)You have appointed them for judgment;
O Rock, You have marked them for ^(I)correction.
¹³You are of purer eyes than to behold evil,
And cannot look on wickedness.
Why do You look on those who deal treacherously,
And hold Your tongue when the wicked devours
A person more righteous than he?
¹⁴Why do You make men like fish of the sea,
Like creeping things that have no ruler over them?

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Footnotes

Habakkuk 1:8 Lit. horsemen
Habakkuk 1:8 Lit. spring about
Habakkuk 1:11 Lit. spirit or wind

Luke 14:12-24

New King James Version

¹²Then He also said to him who invited Him, “When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid. ¹³But when you give a feast, invite ^(A)the poor, the ^[a]maimed, the lame, the blind. ¹⁴And you will be ^(B)blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”

The Parable of the Great Supper^(C)

¹⁵Now when one of those who sat at the table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, ^(D)“Blessed is he who shall eat ^[b]bread in the kingdom of God!”

¹⁶^(E)Then He said to him, “A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, ¹⁷and ^(F)sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, ‘Come, for all things are now ready.’ ¹⁸But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.’ ¹⁹And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.’ ²⁰Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ ²¹So that servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the ^[c]maimed and the lame and the blind.’ ²²And the servant said, ‘Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.’ ²³Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. ²⁴For I say to you ^(G)that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.’ ”