Old/New Testament
Trust in the Lord with All Your Heart
3 (A)My son, do not forget my teaching,
(B)but let your heart keep my commandments,
2 for (C)length of days and years of life
and (D)peace they will add to you.
3 Let not (E)steadfast love and (F)faithfulness forsake you;
(G)bind them around your neck;
(H)write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 So you will (I)find favor and (J)good success[a]
in the sight of God and man.
5 (K)Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and (L)do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways (M)acknowledge him,
and he (N)will make straight your paths.
7 (O)Be not wise in your own eyes;
(P)fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
8 It will be (Q)healing to your flesh[b]
and (R)refreshment[c] to your bones.
9 Honor the Lord with your wealth
and with (S)the firstfruits of all your produce;
10 then your (T)barns will be filled with plenty,
and your vats will be bursting with wine.
11 (U)My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline
or be weary of his reproof,
12 for the Lord reproves him whom he loves,
as (V)a father the son in whom he delights.
Blessed Is the One Who Finds Wisdom
13 (W)Blessed is the one who finds wisdom,
and the one who gets understanding,
14 (X)for the gain from her is better than gain from silver
and her profit better than (Y)gold.
15 She is more precious than (Z)jewels,
and (AA)nothing you desire can compare with her.
16 (AB)Long life is in her right hand;
in her left hand are (AC)riches and honor.
17 Her (AD)ways are ways of pleasantness,
and all her paths are peace.
18 She is (AE)a tree of life to those who (AF)lay hold of her;
those who hold her fast are called blessed.
19 (AG)The Lord by wisdom founded the earth;
by understanding (AH)he established the heavens;
20 by his knowledge (AI)the deeps broke open,
and (AJ)the clouds drop down the dew.
21 My son, (AK)do not lose sight of these—
keep sound wisdom and discretion,
22 and they will be (AL)life for your soul
and (AM)adornment for your neck.
23 (AN)Then you will walk on your way securely,
(AO)and your foot will not stumble.
24 (AP)If you lie down, you will not be afraid;
when you lie down, (AQ)your sleep will be sweet.
25 (AR)Do not be afraid of sudden terror
or of (AS)the ruin[d] of the wicked, when it comes,
26 for the Lord will be your confidence
and will (AT)keep your foot from being caught.
27 (AU)Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,[e]
when it is in your power to do it.
28 (AV)Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come again,
tomorrow I will give it”—when you have it with you.
29 (AW)Do not plan evil against your neighbor,
who (AX)dwells trustingly beside you.
30 (AY)Do not contend with a man for no reason,
when he has done you no harm.
31 (AZ)Do not envy (BA)a man of violence
and do not choose any of his ways,
32 for (BB)the devious person is an abomination to the Lord,
but the upright are (BC)in his confidence.
33 (BD)The Lord's curse is on the house of the wicked,
but he (BE)blesses the dwelling of the righteous.
34 Toward the (BF)scorners he (BG)is scornful,
(BH)but to the humble he gives favor.[f]
35 The wise will inherit honor,
but fools get[g] disgrace.
A Father's Wise Instruction
4 (BI)Hear, O sons, a father's instruction,
and be attentive, that you may (BJ)gain[h] insight,
2 for I give you good (BK)precepts;
do not forsake my teaching.
3 When I was a son with my father,
(BL)tender, (BM)the only one in the sight of my mother,
4 he (BN)taught me and said to me,
(BO)“Let your heart hold fast my words;
(BP)keep my commandments, and live.
5 (BQ)Get wisdom; get (BR)insight;
do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth.
6 Do not forsake her, and she will keep you;
(BS)love her, and she will guard you.
7 (BT)The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom,
and whatever you get, get (BU)insight.
8 Prize her highly, and she will exalt you;
she will (BV)honor you (BW)if you embrace her.
9 She will place on your head (BX)a graceful garland;
she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.”
10 (BY)Hear, (BZ)my son, and accept my words,
that (CA)the years of your life may be many.
11 I have (CB)taught you the way of wisdom;
I have led you in the paths of uprightness.
12 When you walk, (CC)your step will not be hampered,
and (CD)if you run, you will not stumble.
13 (CE)Keep hold of instruction; do not let go;
guard her, for she is your (CF)life.
14 (CG)Do not enter the path of the wicked,
and do not walk in the way of the evil.
15 Avoid it; do not go on it;
turn away from it and pass on.
16 For they (CH)cannot sleep unless they have done wrong;
they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble.
17 For they eat the bread of wickedness
(CI)and drink the wine of violence.
18 But (CJ)the path of the righteous is like (CK)the light of dawn,
which shines (CL)brighter and brighter until (CM)full day.
19 (CN)The way of the wicked is like deep (CO)darkness;
they do not know over what they (CP)stumble.
20 (CQ)My son, be attentive to my words;
incline your ear to my sayings.
21 (CR)Let them not escape from your sight;
(CS)keep them within your heart.
22 For they are (CT)life to those who find them,
and healing to all their[i] flesh.
23 Keep your heart with all vigilance,
for (CU)from it flow (CV)the springs of life.
24 Put away from you (CW)crooked speech,
and put (CX)devious talk far from you.
25 (CY)Let your eyes look directly forward,
and your gaze be straight before you.
26 (CZ)Ponder[j] the path of your feet;
(DA)then all your ways will be sure.
27 (DB)Do not swerve to the right or to the left;
turn your foot away from evil.
Warning Against Adultery
5 (DC)My son, be attentive to my wisdom;
(DD)incline your ear to my understanding,
2 that you may keep (DE)discretion,
and your lips may (DF)guard knowledge.
3 For the lips of (DG)a forbidden[k] woman drip honey,
and her speech[l] is (DH)smoother than oil,
4 but in the end she is (DI)bitter as (DJ)wormwood,
(DK)sharp as (DL)a two-edged sword.
5 Her feet (DM)go down to death;
her steps follow the path to[m] Sheol;
6 she (DN)does not ponder the path of life;
her ways wander, and she does not know it.
7 And (DO)now, O sons, listen to me,
and do not depart from the words of my mouth.
8 Keep your way far from her,
and do not go near the door of her house,
9 lest you give your honor to others
and your years to the merciless,
10 lest strangers take their fill of your strength,
and your (DP)labors go to the house of a foreigner,
11 and at the end of your life you (DQ)groan,
when your flesh and body are consumed,
12 and you say, (DR)“How I hated discipline,
and my heart (DS)despised reproof!
13 I did not listen to the voice of my teachers
or incline my ear to my instructors.
14 (DT)I am at the brink of utter ruin
in the assembled congregation.”
15 Drink (DU)water from your own cistern,
flowing water from your own well.
16 Should your (DV)springs be scattered abroad,
streams of water (DW)in the streets?
17 (DX)Let them be for yourself alone,
and not for strangers with you.
18 Let your (DY)fountain be blessed,
and (DZ)rejoice in (EA)the wife of your youth,
19 a lovely (EB)deer, a graceful doe.
Let her breasts (EC)fill you at all times with delight;
be intoxicated[n] always in her love.
20 Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with (ED)a forbidden woman
and embrace the bosom of (EE)an adulteress?[o]
21 For (EF)a man's ways are (EG)before the eyes of the Lord,
and he (EH)ponders[p] all his paths.
22 The (EI)iniquities of the wicked (EJ)ensnare him,
and he is held fast in the cords of his sin.
23 (EK)He dies for lack of discipline,
and because of his great folly he is (EL)led astray.
Greeting
1 Paul, (A)an apostle of Christ Jesus (B)by the will of God, and (C)Timothy our brother,
To the church of God that is at Corinth, (D)with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia:
2 (E)Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
God of All Comfort
3 (F)Blessed be the (G)God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and (H)God of all comfort, 4 (I)who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as we share abundantly in (J)Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.[a] 6 (K)If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. 7 Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you (L)share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.
8 For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers,[b] of (M)the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us (N)rely not on ourselves (O)but on God (P)who raises the dead. 10 (Q)He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. (R)On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. 11 (S)You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf (T)for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.
Paul's Change of Plans
12 For our boast is this, (U)the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity[c] and (V)godly sincerity, (W)not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you. 13 For we are not writing to you anything other than what you read and understand and I hope you will fully understand— 14 just as you did (X)partially understand us—that (Y)on the day of our Lord Jesus (Z)you will boast of us as (AA)we will boast of you.
15 Because I was sure of this, (AB)I wanted to come to you first, so that you might have (AC)a second (AD)experience of grace. 16 I wanted to visit you (AE)on my way to Macedonia, and to come back to you from Macedonia and have you send me on my way to Judea. 17 Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make my plans (AF)according to the flesh, ready to say “Yes, yes” and “No, no” at the same time? 18 As surely as (AG)God is faithful, (AH)our word to you has not been Yes and No. 19 For (AI)the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, (AJ)Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but (AK)in him it is always Yes. 20 For (AL)all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our (AM)Amen to God for his glory. 21 And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and (AN)has anointed us, 22 and who has also (AO)put his seal on us and (AP)given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.[d]
23 But (AQ)I call God to witness against me—it was (AR)to spare you that I refrained from coming again to Corinth. 24 Not that we (AS)lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm (AT)in your faith.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.