Proverbs 7-8

English Standard Version

Warning Against the Adulteress

7 ^(A)My son, keep my words
    and ^(B)treasure up my commandments with you;
²^(C)keep my commandments and live;
    keep my teaching as ^(D)the apple of your eye;
³^(E)bind them on your fingers;
    ^(F)write them on the tablet of your heart.
⁴Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
    and call insight your intimate friend,
⁵to keep you from ^(G)the forbidden^[a] woman,
    from ^(H)the adulteress^[b] with her smooth words.

⁶For at ^(I)the window of my house
    I have looked out through my lattice,
⁷and I have seen among ^(J)the simple,
    I have perceived among the youths,
    a young man ^(K)lacking sense,
⁸passing along the street ^(L)near her corner,
    taking the road to her house
⁹in ^(M)the twilight, in the evening,
    at ^(N)the time of night and darkness.

¹⁰And behold, the woman meets him,
    ^(O)dressed as a prostitute, wily of heart.^[c]
¹¹She is ^(P)loud and ^(Q)wayward;
    ^(R)her feet do not stay at home;
¹²now in the street, now in the market,
    and ^(S)at every corner she ^(T)lies in wait.
¹³She seizes him and kisses him,
    and with ^(U)bold face she says to him,
¹⁴“I had to ^(V)offer sacrifices,^[d]
    and today I have ^(W)paid my vows;
¹⁵so now I have come out to meet you,
    to seek you eagerly, and I have found you.
¹⁶I have spread my couch with ^(X)coverings,
    colored linens from ^(Y)Egyptian linen;
¹⁷I have perfumed my bed with ^(Z)myrrh,
    aloes, and ^(AA)cinnamon.
¹⁸Come, let us take our fill of love till morning;
    let us delight ourselves with love.
¹⁹For ^(AB)my husband is not at home;
    he has gone on a long journey;
²⁰he took a bag of money with him;
    at full moon he will come home.”

²¹With much seductive speech she persuades him;
    with ^(AC)her smooth talk she compels him.
²²All at once he follows her,
    as an ox goes to the slaughter,
or as a stag is caught fast^[e]
²³    till an arrow pierces its liver;
as ^(AD)a bird rushes into a snare;
    he does not know that it will cost him his life.

²⁴And ^(AE)now, O sons, listen to me,
    and be attentive to the words of my mouth.
²⁵Let not your heart turn aside to her ways;
    do not stray into her paths,
²⁶for many a victim has she laid low,
    and all her slain are ^(AF)a mighty throng.
²⁷Her house is ^(AG)the way to Sheol,
    going down to the chambers of death.

The Blessings of Wisdom

8 Does not ^(AH)wisdom call?
    Does not ^(AI)understanding raise her voice?
²On ^(AJ)the heights beside the way,
    at the crossroads she takes her stand;
³beside ^(AK)the gates in front of ^(AL)the town,
    at the entrance of the portals she cries aloud:
⁴“To you, O ^(AM)men, I call,
    and my cry is to ^(AN)the children of man.
⁵O ^(AO)simple ones, learn ^(AP)prudence;
    O ^(AQ)fools, learn sense.
⁶Hear, for I will speak ^(AR)noble things,
    and from my lips will come ^(AS)what is right,
⁷for my ^(AT)mouth will utter truth;
    wickedness is an abomination to my lips.
⁸All the words of my mouth are righteous;
    there is nothing ^(AU)twisted or crooked in them.
⁹They are all ^(AV)straight to him who understands,
    and right to those who find knowledge.
¹⁰^(AW)Take my instruction instead of silver,
    and knowledge rather than choice gold,
¹¹^(AX)for wisdom is better than jewels,
    and ^(AY)all that you may desire cannot compare with her.

¹²“I, wisdom, dwell with prudence,
    and I find knowledge and ^(AZ)discretion.
¹³^(BA)The fear of the Lord is ^(BB)hatred of evil.
^(BC)Pride and arrogance and the way of evil
    and ^(BD)perverted speech I hate.
¹⁴I have ^(BE)counsel and ^(BF)sound wisdom;
    I have insight; ^(BG)I have strength.
¹⁵By me ^(BH)kings reign,
    and rulers decree what is just;
¹⁶by me princes rule,
    and nobles, all who govern justly.^[f]
¹⁷^(BI)I love those who love me,
    and ^(BJ)those who seek me diligently find me.
¹⁸^(BK)Riches and honor are with me,
    ^(BL)enduring wealth and ^(BM)righteousness.
¹⁹My fruit is ^(BN)better than ^(BO)gold, even fine gold,
    and my yield than ^(BP)choice silver.
²⁰I walk in the way of righteousness,
    in the paths of justice,
²¹granting an inheritance to those who love me,
    and filling their treasuries.

²²^(BQ)“The Lord ^(BR)possessed^[g] me at the beginning of his work,^[h]
    the first of his acts ^(BS)of old.
²³Ages ago I was ^(BT)set up,
    at the first, ^(BU)before the beginning of the earth.
²⁴When there were no ^(BV)depths I was ^(BW)brought forth,
    when there were no springs abounding with water.
²⁵Before the mountains ^(BX)had been shaped,
    ^(BY)before the hills, I was brought forth,
²⁶before he had made the earth with its fields,
    or the first of the dust of the world.
²⁷When he ^(BZ)established the heavens, I was there;
    when he drew ^(CA)a circle on the face of the deep,
²⁸when he ^(CB)made firm the skies above,
    when he established^[i] the fountains of the deep,
²⁹when he ^(CC)assigned to the sea its ^(CD)limit,
    so that the waters might not transgress his command,
when he marked out ^(CE)the foundations of the earth,
³⁰    then ^(CF)I was beside him, like a master workman,
and I was daily his^[j] ^(CG)delight,
    rejoicing before him always,
³¹^(CH)rejoicing in his ^(CI)inhabited world
    and delighting in the children of man.

³²“And now, ^(CJ)O sons, listen to me:
    ^(CK)blessed are those who keep my ways.
³³^(CL)Hear instruction and be wise,
    and do not neglect it.
³⁴^(CM)Blessed is the one who listens to me,
    watching daily at my gates,
    waiting beside my doors.
³⁵For ^(CN)whoever finds me ^(CO)finds life
    and ^(CP)obtains favor from the Lord,
³⁶but he who fails to find me ^(CQ)injures himself;
    all who ^(CR)hate me ^(CS)love death.”

Footnotes

Proverbs 7:5 Hebrew strange
Proverbs 7:5 Hebrew the foreign woman
Proverbs 7:10 Hebrew guarded in heart
Proverbs 7:14 Hebrew peace offerings
Proverbs 7:22 Probable reading (compare Septuagint, Vulgate, Syriac); Hebrew as a chain to discipline a fool
Proverbs 8:16 Most Hebrew manuscripts; many Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint govern the earth
Proverbs 8:22 Or fathered; Septuagint created
Proverbs 8:22 Hebrew way
Proverbs 8:28 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
Proverbs 8:30 Or daily filled with

1 Corinthians 14:21-40

English Standard Version

²¹^(A)In the Law it is written, ^(B)“By people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people, and even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord.” ²²Thus tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is a sign^[a] not for unbelievers but for believers. ²³If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, ^(C)will they not say that you are out of your minds? ²⁴But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, ²⁵^(D)the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, ^(E)falling on his face, he will worship God and ^(F)declare that God is really among you.

Orderly Worship

²⁶What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has ^(G)a hymn, ^(H)a lesson, ^(I)a revelation, ^(J)a tongue, or ^(K)an interpretation. ^(L)Let all things be done for building up. ²⁷If any speak in ^(M)a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret. ²⁸But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God. ²⁹Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others ^(N)weigh what is said. ³⁰If a revelation is made to another sitting there, ^(O)let the first be silent. ³¹For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged, ³²and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. ³³For God is not a God of ^(P)confusion but of peace.

As in ^(Q)all the churches of the saints, ³⁴^(R)the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but ^(S)should be in submission, as ^(T)the Law also says. ³⁵If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.

³⁶Or was it from you that the word of God came? Or are you the only ones it has reached? ³⁷^(U)If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord. ³⁸If anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized. ³⁹So, my brothers, ^(V)earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. ⁴⁰^(W)But all things should be done decently and ^(X)in order.