Old/New Testament

8 ^1-3 Can’t you hear the voice of wisdom? She is standing at the city gates and at every fork in the road, and at the door of every house. Listen to what she says: ^4-5 “Listen, men!” she calls. “How foolish and naive you are! Let me give you understanding. O foolish ones, let me show you common sense! ^6-7 Listen to me! For I have important information for you. Everything I say is right and true, for I hate lies and every kind of deception. ⁸ My advice is wholesome and good. There is nothing of evil in it. ⁹ My words are plain and clear to anyone with half a mind—if it is only open! ¹⁰ My instruction is far more valuable than silver or gold.”

¹¹ For the value of wisdom is far above rubies; nothing can be compared with it. ¹² Wisdom and good judgment live together, for wisdom knows where to discover knowledge and understanding. ¹³ If anyone respects and fears God, he will hate evil. For wisdom hates pride, arrogance, corruption, and deceit of every kind.

^14-16 “I, Wisdom, give good advice and common sense. Because of my strength, kings reign in power, and rulers make just laws. ¹⁷ I love all who love me. Those who search for me shall surely find me. ¹⁸ Unending riches, honor, justice, and righteousness are mine to distribute. ¹⁹ My gifts are better than the purest gold or sterling silver! ²⁰ My paths are those of justice and right. ²¹ Those who love and follow me are indeed wealthy. I fill their treasuries. ²² The Lord formed me in the beginning, before he created anything else.^{[a] 23} From ages past, I am. I existed before the earth began. ²⁴ I lived before the oceans were created, before the springs bubbled forth their waters onto the earth, ²⁵ before the mountains and the hills were made. ²⁶ Yes, I was born before God made the earth and fields and the first handfuls of soil.

^27-29 “I was there when he established the heavens and formed the great springs in the depths of the oceans. I was there when he set the limits of the seas and gave them his instructions not to spread beyond their boundaries. I was there when he made the blueprint for the earth and oceans. ³⁰ I was the craftsman at his side. I was his constant delight, rejoicing always in his presence. ³¹ And how happy I was with what he created—his wide world and all his family of mankind! ³² And so, young men, listen to me, for how happy are all who follow my instructions.

³³ “Listen to my counsel—oh, don’t refuse it—and be wise. ³⁴ Happy is the man who is so anxious to be with me that he watches for me daily at my gates, or waits for me outside my home! ³⁵ For whoever finds me finds life and wins approval from the Lord. ³⁶ But the one who misses me has injured himself irreparably. Those who refuse me show that they love death.”

9 Wisdom has built a palace supported on seven pillars, ² and has prepared a great banquet, and mixed the wines, ³ and sent out her maidens inviting all to come. She calls from the busiest intersections in the city, ⁴ “Come, you simple ones without good judgment; ⁵ come to wisdom’s banquet and drink the wines that I have mixed. ⁶ Leave behind your foolishness and begin to live; learn how to be wise.”

^7-8 If you rebuke a mocker, you will only get a smart retort; yes, he will snarl at you. So don’t bother with him; he will only hate you for trying to help him. But a wise man, when rebuked, will love you all the more. ⁹ Teach a wise man, and he will be the wiser; teach a good man, and he will learn more. ¹⁰ For the reverence and fear of God are basic to all wisdom. Knowing God results in every other kind of understanding. ¹¹ “I, Wisdom, will make the hours of your day more profitable and the years of your life more fruitful.” ¹² Wisdom is its own reward, and if you scorn her, you hurt only yourself.

¹³ A prostitute is loud and brash and never has enough of lust and shame. ¹⁴ She sits at the door of her house or stands at the street corners of the city, ¹⁵ whispering to men going by and to those minding their own business. ¹⁶ “Come home with me,” she urges simpletons. ¹⁷ “Stolen melons^[b] are the sweetest; stolen apples taste the best!” ¹⁸ But they don’t realize that her former guests are now citizens of hell.

3 Are we beginning to be like those false teachers of yours who must tell you all about themselves and bring long letters of recommendation with them? I think you hardly need someone’s letter to tell you about us, do you? And we don’t need a recommendation from you, either! ² The only letter I need is you yourselves! By looking at the good change in your hearts, everyone can see that we have done a good work among you. ³ They can see that you are a letter from Christ, written by us. It is not a letter written with pen and ink, but by the Spirit of the living God; not one carved on stone, but in human hearts.

⁴ We dare to say these good things about ourselves only because of our great trust in God through Christ, that he will help us to be true to what we say, ⁵ and not because we think we can do anything of lasting value by ourselves. Our only power and success comes from God. ⁶ He is the one who has helped us tell others about his new agreement to save them. We do not tell them that they must obey every law of God or die; but we tell them there is life for them from the Holy Spirit. The old way, trying to be saved by keeping the Ten Commandments, ends in death; in the new way, the Holy Spirit gives them life.

⁷ Yet that old system of law that led to death began with such glory that people could not bear to look at Moses’ face. For as he gave them God’s law to obey, his face shone out with the very glory of God—though the brightness was already fading away. ⁸ Shall we not expect far greater glory in these days when the Holy Spirit is giving life? ⁹ If the plan that leads to doom was glorious, much more glorious is the plan that makes men right with God. ¹⁰ In fact, that first glory as it shone from Moses’ face is worth nothing at all in comparison with the overwhelming glory of the new agreement. ¹¹ So if the old system that faded into nothing was full of heavenly glory, the glory of God’s new plan for our salvation is certainly far greater, for it is eternal.

¹² Since we know that this new glory will never go away, we can preach with great boldness, ¹³ and not as Moses did, who put a veil over his face so that the Israelis could not see the glory fade away.

¹⁴ Not only Moses’ face was veiled, but his people’s minds and understanding were veiled and blinded too. Even now when the Scripture is read it seems as though Jewish hearts and minds are covered by a thick veil, because they cannot see and understand the real meaning of the Scriptures. For this veil of misunderstanding can be removed only by believing in Christ. ¹⁵ Yes, even today when they read Moses’ writings their hearts are blind and they think that obeying the Ten Commandments is the way to be saved.

¹⁶ But whenever anyone turns to the Lord from his sins, then the veil is taken away. ¹⁷ The Lord is the Spirit who gives them life, and where he is there is freedom from trying to be saved by keeping the laws of God.^{[a] 18} But we Christians have no veil over our faces; we can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of the Lord. And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him.