Wisdom 1:1-7

Common English Bible

Seek wisdom and justice

1 You who judge the earth, love what is right. Set your mind on the Lord in goodness. Seek him with a sincere heart.

²Those who don’t put the Lord to the test will find him. He makes himself known to those who trust him. ³Perverse reasoning separates people from God. His power exposes the foolish people who test him.

⁴Wisdom will avoid a deceptive soul that plans evil. Wisdom won’t make her home in a body that is devoted to sin. ⁵A holy, instructive spirit will flee deceit and leave when ignorant people start to plot. It is ashamed to be found in the presence of wrongdoing. ⁶Wisdom is a spirit that wants only what is best for humans.

Wisdom won’t declare blasphemers to be innocent because their own words convict them. God is witness to their thoughts. Truth examines the heart and hears what is said. ⁷The Lord’s Spirit fills the whole world. It holds everything together and knows what everyone says.

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Psalm 139:1-9

Common English Bible

Psalm 139

For the music leader. Of David. A song.

139 Lord, you have examined me.
    You know me.
²You know when I sit down and when I stand up.
    Even from far away, you comprehend my plans.
³You study my traveling and resting.
    You are thoroughly familiar with all my ways.
⁴There isn’t a word on my tongue, Lord,
    that you don’t already know completely.
⁵You surround me—front and back.
    You put your hand on me.
⁶That kind of knowledge is too much for me;
    it’s so high above me that I can’t reach it.

⁷Where could I go to get away from your spirit?
    Where could I go to escape your presence?
⁸If I went up to heaven, you would be there.
    If I went down to the grave,^[a] you would be there too!
⁹If I could fly on the wings of dawn,
    stopping to rest only on the far side of the ocean—

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Footnotes

Psalm 139:8 Heb Sheol

Luke 17:1-6

Common English Bible

Faithful service

17 Jesus said to his disciples, “Things that cause people to trip and fall into sin must happen, but how terrible it is for the person through whom they happen. ²It would be better for them to be thrown into a lake with a large stone hung around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to trip and fall into sin. ³Watch yourselves! If your brother or sister sins, warn them to stop. If they change their hearts and lives, forgive them. ⁴Even if someone sins against you seven times in one day and returns to you seven times and says, ‘I am changing my ways,’ you must forgive that person.”

⁵The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”

⁶The Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

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