Along The Way (April 19 - 25, 2024)
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Proverbs 5
Warning against Impurity and Infidelity
My child, be attentive to my wisdom;
incline your ear to my understanding,
so that you may hold on to prudence,
and your lips may guard knowledge.
For the lips of a loose woman drip honey,
and her speech is smoother than oil,
but in the end she is bitter as wormwood,
sharp as a two-edged sword.
Her feet go down to death;
her steps follow the path to Sheol.
She does not keep straight to the path of life;
her ways wander, and she does not know it.
And now, my child, listen to me,
and do not depart from the words of my mouth.
Keep your way far from her,
and do not go near the door of her house,
lest you give your honor to others
and your years to the merciless,
and strangers take their fill of your wealth,
and your labors go to the house of an alien,
and at the end of your life you groan,
when your flesh and body are consumed,
and you say, “Oh, how I hated discipline,
and my heart despised reproof!
I did not listen to the voice of my teachers
or incline my ear to my instructors.
Now I am at the point of utter ruin
in the public assembly.”
Drink water from your own cistern,
flowing water from your own well.
Should your springs be scattered abroad,
streams of water in the streets?
Let them be for yourself alone
and not for sharing with strangers.
Let your fountain be blessed,
and rejoice in the wife of your youth,
a lovely deer, a graceful doe.
May her breasts satisfy you at all times;
may you be intoxicated always by her love.
Why should you be intoxicated, my son, by another woman
and embrace the bosom of an adulteress?
For human ways are under the eyes of the Lord,
and he examines all their paths.
The iniquities of the wicked ensnare them,
and they are caught in the coils of their sin.
They die for lack of discipline,
and because of their great folly they are lost.
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Proverbs 6
Practical Admonitions
My child, if you have given your pledge to your neighbor,
if you have bound yourself to another,
you are snared by the utterance of your lips,
caught by the words of your mouth.
So do this, my child, and save yourself,
for you have come into your neighbor’s power:
go, hurry, and plead with your neighbor.
Give your eyes no sleep
and your eyelids no slumber;
save yourself like a gazelle from the hunter,
like a bird from the hand of the fowler.
Go to the ant, you lazybones;
consider its ways and be wise.
Without having any chief
or officer or ruler,
it prepares its food in summer
and gathers its sustenance in harvest.
How long will you lie there, O lazybones?
When will you rise from your sleep?
A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest,
and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
and want, like an armed warrior.
A scoundrel and a villain
goes around with crooked speech,
winking the eyes, shuffling the feet,
pointing the fingers,
with perverted mind devising evil,
continually sowing discord;
on such a one calamity will descend suddenly,
in a moment, damage beyond repair.
There are six things that the Lord hates,
seven that are an abomination to him:
haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked plans,
feet that hurry to run to evil,
a lying witness who testifies falsely,
and one who sows discord in a family.
My child, keep your father’s commandment,
and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
Bind them upon your heart always;
tie them around your neck.
When you walk, they will lead you;
when you lie down, they will watch over you;
and when you awake, they will talk with you.
For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light,
and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,
to preserve you from the wife of another,
from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.
Do not desire her beauty in your heart,
and do not let her capture you with her eyelashes,
for a prostitute’s fee is only a loaf of bread,
but the wife of another stalks a man’s precious life.
Can fire be carried in the bosom
without burning one’s clothes?
Or can one walk on hot coals
without scorching the feet?
So is he who sleeps with his neighbor’s wife;
no one who touches her will go unpunished.
Thieves are not despised who steal only
to satisfy their appetite when they are hungry.
Yet if they are caught, they will pay sevenfold;
they will forfeit all the goods of their house.
But he who commits adultery has no sense;
he who does it destroys himself.
He will get wounds and dishonor,
and his disgrace will not be wiped away.
For jealousy arouses a husband’s fury,
and he will show no restraint when he takes revenge.
He will accept no compensation
and will refuse a bribe no matter how great.
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Proverbs 7
The False Attractions of Adultery
My child, keep my words
and store up my commandments with you;
keep my commandments and live;
keep my teachings as the apple of your eye;
bind them on your fingers;
write them on the tablet of your heart.
Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
and call insight your intimate friend,
that they may keep you from the loose woman,
from the adulteress with her smooth words.
For at the window of my house
I looked out through my lattice,
and I saw among the simple ones,
I observed among the youths,
a young man without sense,
passing along the street near her corner,
taking the road to her house
in the twilight, in the evening,
at the time of night and darkness.
Then a woman comes toward him
decked out like a prostitute, with hidden intent.
She is loud and wayward;
her feet do not stay at home;
now in the street, now in the squares,
and at every corner she lies in wait.
She seizes him and kisses him,
and with impudent face she says to him:
“I had to offer sacrifices,
and today I have paid my vows;
so now I have come out to meet you,
to seek you eagerly, and I have found you!
I have decked my couch with coverings,
colored spreads of Egyptian linen;
I have perfumed my bed with myrrh,
aloes, and cinnamon.
Come, let us take our fill of love until morning;
let us delight ourselves with love.
For my husband is not at home;
he has gone on a long journey.
He took a bag of money with him;
he will not come home until full moon.”
With much seductive speech she persuades him;
with her smooth talk she compels him.
Right away he follows her
and goes like an ox to the slaughter
or bounds like a stag toward the trap
until an arrow pierces its entrails.
He is like a bird rushing into a snare,
not knowing that it will cost him his life.
And now, my children, listen to me,
and be attentive to the words of my mouth.
Do not let your hearts turn aside to her ways;
do not stray into her paths.
For many are those she has laid low,
and numerous are her victims.
Her house is the way to Sheol,
going down to the chambers of death.
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Proverbs 8 & 9
The Gifts of Wisdom
Does not wisdom call
and understanding raise her voice?
On the heights, beside the way,
at the crossroads she takes her stand;
beside the gates in front of the town,
at the entrance of the portals she cries out:
“To you, O people, I call,
and my cry is to all who live.
O simple ones, learn prudence;
acquire intelligence, you who lack it.
Hear, for I will speak noble things,
and from my lips will come what is right,
for my mouth will utter truth;
wickedness is an abomination to my lips.
All the words of my mouth are righteous;
there is nothing twisted or crooked in them.
They are all straight to one who understands
and right to those who find knowledge.
Take my instruction instead of silver
and knowledge rather than choice gold,
for wisdom is better than jewels,
and all that you may desire cannot compare with her.
I, wisdom, live with prudence,
and I attain knowledge and discretion.
The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil.
Pride and arrogance and the way of evil
and perverted speech I hate.
I have good advice and sound wisdom;
I have insight; I have strength.
By me kings reign,
and rulers decree what is just;
by me rulers rule,
and nobles, all who govern rightly.
I love those who love me,
and those who seek me diligently find me.
Riches and honor are with me,
enduring wealth and prosperity.
My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold,
and my yield than choice silver.
I walk in the way of righteousness,
along the paths of justice,
endowing with wealth those who love me
and filling their treasuries.
Wisdom’s Part in Creation
“The Lord created me at the beginning of his work,
the first of his acts of long ago.
Ages ago I was set up,
at the first, before the beginning of the earth.
When there were no depths I was brought forth,
when there were no springs abounding with water.
Before the mountains had been shaped,
before the hills, I was brought forth,
when he had not yet made earth and fields
or the world’s first bits of soil.
When he established the heavens, I was there;
when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,
when he made firm the skies above,
when he established the fountains of the deep,
when he assigned to the sea its limit,
so that the waters might not transgress his command,
when he marked out the foundations of the earth,
then I was beside him, like a master worker,
and I was daily his delight,
playing before him always,
playing in his inhabited world
and delighting in the human race.
“And now, my children, listen to me:
happy are those who keep my ways.
Hear instruction and be wise,
and do not neglect it.
Happy is the one who listens to me,
watching daily at my gates,
waiting beside my doors.
For whoever finds me finds life
and obtains favor from the Lord,
but those who miss me injure themselves;
all who hate me love death.”
Wisdom’s Feast
Wisdom has built her house;
she has hewn her seven pillars.
She has slaughtered her animals; she has mixed her wine;
she has also set her table.
She has sent out her female servants; she calls
from the highest places in the town,
“You who are simple, turn in here!”
To those without sense she says,
“Come, eat of my bread
and drink of the wine I have mixed.
Lay aside immaturity and live,
and walk in the way of insight.”
General Maxims
Whoever corrects a scoffer wins abuse;
whoever rebukes the wicked gets hurt.
Do not rebuke a scoffer, lest he hate you;
rebuke the wise, and he will love you.
Give instruction to the wise, and they will become wiser still;
teach the righteous, and they will gain in learning.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.
For by me your days will be multiplied,
and years will be added to your life.
If you are wise, you are wise for yourself;
if you scoff, you alone will bear it.
Folly’s Invitation and Promise
The foolish woman is loud;
she is ignorant and knows nothing.
She sits at the door of her house,
on a seat at the high places of the town,
calling to those who pass by,
who are going straight on their way,
“You who are simple, turn in here!”
And to those without sense she says,
“Stolen water is sweet,
and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.”
But they do not know that the dead are there,
that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.
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Proverbs 10
Wise Sayings of Solomon
The proverbs of Solomon.
A wise child makes a glad father,
but a foolish child is a mother’s grief.
Treasures gained by wickedness do not profit,
but righteousness delivers from death.
The Lord does not let the righteous go hungry,
but he thwarts the craving of the wicked.
A slack hand causes poverty,
but the hand of the diligent makes rich.
A child who gathers in summer is prudent,
but a child who sleeps in harvest brings shame.
Blessings are on the head of the righteous,
but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.
The memory of the righteous is a blessing,
but the name of the wicked will rot.
The wise of heart will heed commandments,
but one with foolish lips will come to ruin.
Whoever walks in integrity walks securely,
but whoever follows perverse ways will be found out.
Whoever winks the eye causes trouble,
but one who rebukes boldly makes peace.
The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life,
but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.
Hatred stirs up strife,
but love covers all offenses.
On the lips of one who has understanding wisdom is found,
but a rod is for the back of one who lacks sense.
The wise lay up knowledge,
but the mouth of a fool brings ruin near.
The wealth of the rich is their fortress;
the poverty of the poor is their ruin.
The wage of the righteous leads to life,
the gain of the wicked to sin.
Whoever heeds instruction is on the path to life,
but one who rejects a rebuke goes astray.
Lying lips conceal hatred,
and whoever utters slander is a fool.
When words are many, transgression is not lacking,
but the prudent are restrained in speech.
The tongue of the righteous is choice silver;
the mind of the wicked is of little worth.
The lips of the righteous feed many,
but fools die for lack of sense.
The blessing of the Lord makes rich,
and toil adds nothing to it.
Doing wrong is like sport to a fool,
but wise conduct is pleasure to a person of understanding.
What the wicked dread will come upon them,
but the desire of the righteous will be granted.
When the tempest passes, the wicked are no more,
but the righteous are established forever.
Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes,
so are the lazy to their employers.
The fear of the Lord prolongs life,
but the years of the wicked will be short.
The hope of the righteous ends in gladness,
but the expectation of the wicked comes to nothing.
The way of the Lord is a stronghold for the upright
but destruction for evildoers.
The righteous will never totter,
but the wicked will not remain on the earth.
The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom,
but the perverse tongue will be cut off.
The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable,
but the mouth of the wicked what is perverse.
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Proverbs 11
A false balance is an abomination to the Lord,
but an accurate weight is his delight.
When pride comes, then comes disgrace,
but wisdom is with the humble.
The integrity of the upright guides them,
but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them.
Riches do not profit in the day of wrath,
but righteousness delivers from death.
The righteousness of the blameless keeps their ways straight,
but the wicked fall by their own wickedness.
The righteousness of the upright saves them,
but the treacherous are taken captive by their schemes.
When the wicked die, hope perishes,
and the expectation of strength comes to nothing.
The righteous are delivered from trouble,
and the wicked come into it instead.
With their mouths the godless would destroy their neighbors,
but by knowledge the righteous are delivered.
When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices,
and when the wicked perish, there is jubilation.
By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted,
but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked.
Whoever belittles another lacks sense,
but an intelligent person remains silent.
A gossip goes about telling secrets,
but one who is trustworthy in spirit keeps a confidence.
Where there is no guidance, a nation falls,
but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.
To guarantee loans for a stranger brings trouble,
but there is safety in refusing to do so.
A gracious woman gets honor,
but she who hates virtue is covered with shame.
The timid become destitute,
but the aggressive gain riches.
Those who are kind reward themselves,
but the cruel do themselves harm.
The wicked earn no real gain,
but those who sow righteousness get a true reward.
Whoever is steadfast in righteousness will live,
but whoever pursues evil will die.
Crooked minds are an abomination to the Lord,
but those of blameless ways are his delight.
Be assured, the wicked will not go unpunished,
but those who are righteous will escape.
Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout
is a beautiful woman without good sense.
The desire of the righteous ends only in good,
the expectation of the wicked in wrath.
Some give freely yet grow all the richer;
others withhold what is due and only suffer want.
A generous person will be enriched,
and one who gives water will get water.
The people curse those who hold back grain,
but a blessing is on the head of those who sell it.
Whoever diligently seeks good seeks favor,
but evil comes to the one who searches for it.
Those who trust in their riches will wither,
but the righteous will flourish like green leaves.
Those who trouble their households will inherit wind,
and the fool will be servant to the wise.
The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,
and the wise capture souls.
If the righteous are repaid on earth,
how much more the wicked and the sinner!
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Proverbs 12
Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge,
but those who hate to be rebuked are stupid.
The good obtain favor from the Lord,
but those who devise evil he condemns.
No one finds security by wickedness,
but the root of the righteous will never be moved.
A good wife is the crown of her husband,
but she who brings shame is like rottenness in his bones.
The thoughts of the righteous are just;
the advice of the wicked is treacherous.
The words of the wicked are a deadly ambush,
but the speech of the upright delivers them.
The wicked are overthrown and are no more,
but the house of the righteous will stand.
One is commended for good sense,
but a perverse mind is despised.
Better to be despised and have produce
than to be self-important and lack food.
The righteous know the needs of their animals,
but the mercy of the wicked is cruel.
Those who till their land will have plenty of food,
but those who follow worthless pursuits have no sense.
The wicked covet the proceeds of wickedness,
but the root of the righteous bears fruit.
The evil are ensnared by the transgression of their lips,
but the righteous escape from trouble.
From the fruit of the mouth one is filled with good things,
and manual labor has its reward.
Fools think their own way is right,
but the wise listen to advice.
Fools show their anger at once,
but the prudent ignore an insult.
Whoever speaks the truth gives honest evidence,
but a false witness speaks deceitfully.
Rash words are like sword thrusts,
but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
Truthful lips endure forever,
but a lying tongue lasts only a moment.
Deceit is in the mind of those who plan evil,
but those who counsel peace have joy.
No harm happens to the righteous,
but the wicked are filled with trouble.
Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord,
but those who act faithfully are his delight.
One who is clever conceals knowledge,
but the mind of a fool broadcasts folly.
The hand of the diligent will rule,
while the lazy will be put to forced labor.
Anxiety weighs down the human heart,
but a good word cheers it up.
The righteous are released from misfortune,
but the way of the wicked leads them astray.
The lazy do not roast their game,
but the diligent obtain precious wealth.
In the path of righteousness there is life;
in walking its path there is no death.