Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
To the director: A song from the Korah family.
49 Listen to this, all you nations.
Pay attention, all you people on earth.
2 Everyone, rich and poor, listen to me.
3 I have some very wise words for you.
My thoughts will give you understanding.
4 I listened to these sayings.
And now, with my harp, I will sing and make the hidden meaning clear.
5 Why should I be afraid when trouble comes?
There is no need to fear when evil enemies surround me.
6 They think their wealth will protect them.
They brag about how rich they are.
7 But no one has enough to buy back a life,
and you cannot bribe[a] God.
8 You will never get enough money
to pay for your own life.
9 You will never have enough
to buy the right to live forever
and keep your body out of the grave.
10 Look, the wise die the same as fools and stupid people.[b]
They die and leave their wealth to others.
11 The grave will be their new home forever.
And how much land they owned will not make any difference.
12 People might be wealthy, but they cannot stay here forever.
They will die like the animals.
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24 Don’t be jealous of evil people. Have no desire to be around them. 2 In their hearts they plan to do evil. All they talk about is making trouble.
— 20 —
3 Good homes are built on wisdom and understanding. 4 Knowledge fills the rooms with rare and beautiful treasures.
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5 Wisdom makes a man more powerful. Knowledge gives a man strength. 6 Get good advice before you start a war. To win, you must have many good advisors.
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7 Fools cannot understand wisdom. They have nothing to say when people are discussing important things.
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8 If you start planning ways to do wrong, people will learn that you are a troublemaker. 9 Such foolish plans are wrong, and people have no respect for someone who laughs at what is right.
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10 If you are weak in times of trouble, that is real weakness.
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11 If you see someone on their way to death or in danger of being killed, you must do something to save them. 12 You cannot say, “It’s none of my business.” The Lord knows everything, and he knows why you do things. He watches you, and he will pay you back for what you do.
The Way You Should Live
17 I have something from the Lord to tell you. I warn you: Don’t continue living like those who don’t believe. Their thoughts are worth nothing. 18 They have no understanding, and they know nothing because they refuse to listen. So they cannot have the life that God gives. 19 They have lost their feeling of shame and use their lives to do what is morally wrong. More and more they want to do all kinds of evil. 20 But that way of life is nothing like what you learned when you came to know Christ. 21 I know that you heard about him, and in him you were taught the truth. Yes, the truth is in Jesus. 22 You were taught to leave your old self. This means that you must stop living the evil way you lived before. That old self gets worse and worse, because people are fooled by the evil they want to do. 23 You must be made new in your hearts and in your thinking. 24 Be that new person who was made to be like God, truly good and pleasing to him.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International