Psalm 119:9
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9 How can young people keep their way pure?
By guarding it according to your word.(A)
2 Timothy 2:22
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22 Shun youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.(A)
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James 1:21-25
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21 Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls.(A)
22 But be doers of the word and not merely hearers who deceive themselves.(B) 23 For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves[a] in a mirror;(C) 24 for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. 25 But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act—they will be blessed in their doing.(D)
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- 1.23 Gk at the face of his birth
2 Timothy 3:15-17
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15 and how from childhood you have known sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All scripture is inspired by God and is[a] useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,(A) 17 so that the person of God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.(B)
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- 3.16 Or Every scripture inspired by God is also
Joshua 1:7
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7 Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to act in accordance with all the law that my servant Moses commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, so that you may be successful wherever you go.(A)
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Psalm 25:7
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7 Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
according to your steadfast love remember me,
for the sake of your goodness, O Lord!(A)
Psalm 119:11
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11 I treasure your word in my heart,
so that I may not sin against you.(A)
Titus 2:4-6
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4 so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, 5 to be self-controlled, chaste, good managers of the household, kind, submissive to their husbands, so that the word of God may not be discredited.(A)
6 Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled
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Psalm 1:1-3
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Book I
(Psalms 1–41)
Psalm 1
The Two Ways
1 Happy are those
who do not follow the advice of the wicked
or take the path that sinners tread
or sit in the seat of scoffers,(A)
2 but their delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law they meditate day and night.(B)
3 They are like trees
planted by streams of water,
which yield their fruit in its season,
and their leaves do not wither.
In all that they do, they prosper.(C)
Psalm 34:11
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11 Come, O children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.(A)
Proverbs 1:10
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10 My child, if sinners entice you,
do not consent.(A)
Psalm 119:97-105
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97 Oh, how I love your law!
It is my meditation all day long.(A)
98 Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies,
for it is always with me.
99 I have more understanding than all my teachers,
for your decrees are my meditation.
100 I understand more than the aged,
for I keep your precepts.(B)
101 I hold back my feet from every evil way,
in order to keep your word.(C)
102 I do not turn away from your ordinances,
for you have taught me.
103 How sweet are your words to my taste,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!(D)
104 Through your precepts I get understanding;
therefore I hate every false way.(E)
105 Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path.(F)
Psalm 19:7-11
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7 The law of the Lord is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the decrees of the Lord are sure,
making wise the simple;(A)
8 the precepts of the Lord are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is clear,
enlightening the eyes;(B)
9 the fear of the Lord is pure,
enduring forever;
the ordinances of the Lord are true
and righteous altogether.(C)
10 More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
and drippings of the honeycomb.(D)
11 Moreover, by them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.(E)
Proverbs 6:20-35
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20 My child, keep your father’s commandment,
and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.(A)
21 Bind them upon your heart always;
tie them around your neck.(B)
22 When you walk, they[a] will lead you;
when you lie down, they[b] will watch over you;
and when you awake, they[c] will talk with you.(C)
23 For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light,
and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,(D)
24 to preserve you from the wife of another,[d]
from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.[e](E)
25 Do not desire her beauty in your heart,
and do not let her capture you with her eyelashes,(F)
26 for a prostitute’s fee is only a loaf of bread,[f]
but the wife of another stalks a man’s precious life.(G)
27 Can fire be carried in the bosom
without burning one’s clothes?
28 Or can one walk on hot coals
without scorching the feet?
29 So is he who sleeps with his neighbor’s wife;
no one who touches her will go unpunished.(H)
30 Thieves are not despised who steal only
to satisfy their appetite when they are hungry.
31 Yet if they are caught, they will pay sevenfold;
they will forfeit all the goods of their house.(I)
32 But he who commits adultery has no sense;
he who does it destroys himself.(J)
33 He will get wounds and dishonor,
and his disgrace will not be wiped away.
34 For jealousy arouses a husband’s fury,
and he will show no restraint when he takes revenge.(K)
35 He will accept no compensation
and will refuse a bribe no matter how great.
Proverbs 4:10-17
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Admonition to Keep to the Right Path
10 Hear, my child, and accept my words,
that the years of your life may be many.
11 I have taught you the way of wisdom;
I have led you in the paths of uprightness.(A)
12 When you walk, your step will not be hampered,
and if you run, you will not stumble.(B)
13 Keep hold of instruction; do not let go;
guard her, for she is your life.
14 Do not enter the path of the wicked,
and do not walk in the way of evildoers.(C)
15 Avoid it; do not go on it;
turn away from it and pass on.
16 For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong;
they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble.(D)
17 For they eat the bread of wickedness
and drink the wine of violence.
Deuteronomy 6:6-9
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6 Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. 7 Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise.(A) 8 Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem[a] on your forehead,(B) 9 and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.(C)
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- 6.8 Or as a frontlet
John 15:3
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3 You have already been cleansed[a] by the word that I have spoken to you.(A)
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- 15.3 The same Greek root refers to pruning and cleansing
Proverbs 4:1
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Ecclesiastes 11:9-12:1
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9 Rejoice, young man, while you are young, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Follow the inclination of your heart and the desire of your eyes, but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.(A)
10 Banish anxiety from your mind, and put away pain from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.(B)
12 Remember your creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years draw near when you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”;
Proverbs 5:7-23
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7 And now, my child,[a] listen to me,
and do not depart from the words of my mouth.(A)
8 Keep your way far from her,
and do not go near the door of her house,(B)
9 lest you give your honor to others
and your years to the merciless,
10 and strangers take their fill of your wealth,
and your labors go to the house of an alien,
11 and at the end of your life you groan,
when your flesh and body are consumed,
12 and you say, “Oh, how I hated discipline,
and my heart despised reproof!(C)
13 I did not listen to the voice of my teachers
or incline my ear to my instructors.
14 Now I am at the point of utter ruin
in the public assembly.”
15 Drink water from your own cistern,
flowing water from your own well.
16 Should your springs be scattered abroad,
streams of water in the streets?(D)
17 Let them be for yourself alone
and not for sharing with strangers.
18 Let your fountain be blessed,
and rejoice in the wife of your youth,(E)
19 a lovely deer, a graceful doe.
May her breasts satisfy you at all times;
may you be intoxicated always by her love.(F)
20 Why should you be intoxicated, my son, by another woman
and embrace the bosom of an adulteress?[b](G)
21 For human ways are under the eyes of the Lord,
and he examines all their paths.(H)
22 The iniquities of the wicked ensnare them,
and they are caught in the coils of their sin.(I)
23 They die for lack of discipline,
and because of their great folly they are lost.(J)
Proverbs 1:4
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
4 to teach shrewdness to the simple,
knowledge and prudence to the young—(A)
Psalm 78:4-8
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
4 We will not hide them from their children;
we will tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the Lord and his might
and the wonders that he has done.(A)
5 He established a decree in Jacob
and appointed a law in Israel,
which he commanded our ancestors
to teach to their children,(B)
6 that the next generation might know them,
the children yet unborn,
and rise up and tell them to their children,(C)
7 so that they should set their hope in God,
and not forget the works of God,
but keep his commandments;(D)
8 and that they should not be like their ancestors,
a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation whose heart was not steadfast,
whose spirit was not faithful to God.(E)
Luke 15:13
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13 A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant region, and there he squandered his wealth in dissolute living.
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Job 13:26
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Footnotes
- 13.26 Heb inherit
Job 1:5
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5 And when the feast days had run their course, Job would send and sanctify them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all, for Job said, “It may be that my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This is what Job always did.(A)
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