Old/New Testament
Listen to Wisdom![a]
8 Listen! Wisdom is calling out. She wants you to understand what is right, so she speaks in a loud voice. 2 She stands where people will hear her, on the hills along the road. She stands where different paths meet. 3 She stands near the gates where people go into the city. This is what she says:
4 ‘I call out to all of you, wherever you live on earth.
5 You who are silly, learn to be wise!
You who are fools, learn to understand what is right.
6 Listen! I have important things to tell you.
Everything that I will speak is right.
7 I say only things that are true.
I hate all wicked lies.
8 Everything that I say is right and true.
I say nothing that will deceive you.
9 If you understand what is right, you will understand all my words.
If you have knowledge, you will know that they are true.
10 Receive my wise teaching and knowledge as valuable things.
They are more valuable than silver or the best gold.
11 Wisdom is more valuable than jewels.
Nothing that you might ever want is equal to it.
12 I, wisdom, live with an honest mind as my friend.
I have knowledge and I understand what is right.
13 If you respect the Lord with fear, then you will hate anything that is evil.
I hate proud people who boast.
I hate people who live evil lives.
I hate people who say things to deceive others.
14 I tell people how to do wise things that are right.
I understand what is right and I am strong.
15 I help kings to rule well.
I help rulers to make fair laws.
16 I help leaders, officers and all judges to lead people in a good way.
17 I love those people who love me.
Whoever looks for me will find me.
18 I am able to give people riches and honour.
I help people to use their money well and to do what is right.
19 What you receive from me is better than the best gold.
It is better than the best silver.
20 I walk along the way that is righteous.
I follow the path of justice.
21 In that way, people who love me will receive riches.
I fill their houses with valuable things.
22 The Lord created me as the first thing that he did.
That was the first of his acts long ago.
23 He chose me as his servant from the beginning of time.
That was before the world began.
24 I was born before the deep seas were there.
There were not yet springs that poured out water.
25 I was born before the mountains or the hills appeared in their places.
26 I was born before the Lord made the earth and its fields,
before there was soil on the earth.
27 I was there when he put the heavens in their place.
I was there when he made the border of the sea where it meets the sky.
28 I was there when he put the clouds in the sky.
I was there when he made streams of water fill the seas.
29 He gave his command to the seas, that they should obey him.
The waters of the sea must stay inside its borders.
I was there when he built the foundations of the earth.
30 When the Lord made all that happen,
I was beside him as his faithful helper.
I pleased him every day, and I was happy to be with him.
31 The world that he had made gave me great joy.
The people who lived on it made me happy.
32 So listen to me, my children.
Anyone who obeys my teaching will be happy.
33 Listen when I tell you what is right for you to do.
Then you will be wise.
Do not forget what I tell you.
34 Anyone who listens to me is in a happy place.
You can wait outside my home each day, and I will teach you.
35 Anyone who finds me, wisdom, finds true life.
The Lord will bless that person.
36 But anyone who does not find me brings trouble on himself.
Everybody who hates me loves death.’
Two women[b]
9 The woman who is called ‘Wisdom’ has built her house with seven pillars to make it strong.
2 She has killed an animal for a big meal. She has mixed her wine. She has also prepared her table. 3 She has sent her servants to shout a message from the highest places in the town.
4 She says to foolish people, ‘Come here to me.’
She says to people who do not understand what is right, 5 ‘Come here and eat my food. Drink the wine that I have mixed. 6 Leave foolish ways so that you may live. Learn to understand what is right, so that you can do it.’
7 If you warn a person who is proud, he will insult you. If you tell a wicked person that he is wrong, he will hurt you. 8 So do not warn proud people. They will only hate you.
But if you warn a wise person, he will love you. 9 If you teach a wise person, he will become even more wise. If you teach a righteous person, he will learn whatever you tell him.
10 If you want to be wise in the way that you live, first you must respect the Lord with fear. If you know God, the Holy One, you will understand what is right.
11 Wisdom will add more days and years to your life.
12 If you are wise, it will help you in many ways. But if you think that you do not need wisdom, you will bring trouble on yourself.
13 The woman who is called ‘Fool’ speaks in a loud voice. She is silly and she does not know anything. 14 She sits at the door of her house. She also has a seat at the highest part of the city. 15 She shouts her message to people as they pass along the road to do their work.
16 She says to people who do not understand what is right, ‘Anyone who is foolish should come in here. 17 If you drink water that belongs to someone else, it tastes very sweet! If you eat food secretly, it tastes better than anything! So come and enjoy my meal!’
18 But those foolish people do not realize that her home is a place for dead people. Her visitors are already in their graves.
God's Holy Spirit gives us new life
3 We do not need any more to show that our work is good. Some people need to have letters from other people to say that they do good work. We do not need to show you letters like that. Nor do we need you to write a letter like that for us. 2 You yourselves show that we have done good work. You are like a letter that is written on our lives. Everybody can read that letter and they can understand it. 3 It is clear that you are a like a letter that Christ himself has written. We are the people who brought God's message to you. Now people see what God has done in your lives. That is like a letter that they read. But it is not a letter written on paper with ink. It is the Spirit of the living God who wrote it. He did not write it on pieces of stone. Instead, he wrote it deep inside you.[a]
4 We know that these things are true. Because of what Christ has done, we trust God to help us. 5 We know that we cannot do this work by ourselves. We never think that. But God makes us able to do it. 6 God has made us his servants. So we are able to tell people the message of his new agreement. This new agreement is not about rules. Rules tell people what they must do and they bring death. But God's new agreement comes from his Spirit. And the Spirit brings new life to us, not death.[b]
7 Moses wrote the words of the old agreement on pieces of stone. It showed how great and powerful God was. Moses' face shone brightly after God spoke to him. It did not stay bright, but the Israelite people still could not look at Moses' face. The old agreement that brought death was powerful. 8 So the new agreement, which comes from God's Spirit, will show the power of God even more. 9 The old agreement showed people that they were guilty. God's new agreement makes people right with him. So surely the new agreement shows God's power even more than the old one did!
10 The old agreement was great and powerful at one time. But now God's new agreement has come in its place. The great power of the new agreement shows that the old agreement is no longer powerful. 11 The old agreement was powerful, but it came to an end. God's new agreement will continue always. So it surely shows the power of God even more!
12 So, because we know all this, we speak God's message bravely. 13 We are not like Moses. His face did not continue to be bright with the light from God. So he covered his face with a cloth. He did not want the Israelite people to see that the light was coming to an end. 14 But those Israelite people could not think properly. Even today, they still do not understand the message of God's old agreement. When they read it, they are like people who have a cloth that covers their minds. It continues like that unless they believe in Christ. Then Christ removes the cloth so that they understand. 15 Even today, when the Israelite people read Moses' books, a cloth still covers their minds. 16 But when a person turns to trust the Lord, then God takes the cloth away.[c]
17 The Lord is the same as the Spirit. And when the Lord's Spirit is with anyone, that person is free. 18 We show the power of the Lord to other people. It is like God has removed a cloth from over our faces. He is changing us so that we become more and more like him. We show how great God is more and more clearly. It is the Lord who does all this, by the work of his Spirit.
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