Proverbs 8

The Excellence of Wisdom

8 Does not wisdom cry out,
And understanding lift up her voice?
² She takes her stand on the top of the high hill,
Beside the way, where the paths meet.
³ She cries out by the gates, at the entry of the city,
At the entrance of the doors:
⁴ “To you, O men, I call,
And my voice is to the sons of men.
⁵ O you simple ones, understand prudence,
And you fools, be of an understanding heart.
⁶ Listen, for I will speak of excellent things,
And from the opening of my lips will come right things;
⁷ For my mouth will speak truth;
Wickedness is an abomination to my lips.
⁸ All the words of my mouth are with righteousness;
Nothing crooked or perverse is in them.
⁹ They are all plain to him who understands,
And right to those who find knowledge.
¹⁰ Receive my instruction, and not silver,
And knowledge rather than choice gold;
¹¹ For wisdom is better than rubies,
And all the things one may desire cannot be compared with her.

¹² “I, wisdom, dwell with prudence,
And find out knowledge and discretion.
¹³ The fear of the Lord is to hate evil;
Pride and arrogance and the evil way
And the perverse mouth I hate.
¹⁴ Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom;
I am understanding, I have strength.
¹⁵ By me kings reign,
And rulers decree justice.
¹⁶ By me princes rule, and nobles,
All the judges of the earth.^[a]
17 I love those who love me,
And those who seek me diligently will find me.
¹⁸ Riches and honor are with me,
Enduring riches and righteousness.
¹⁹ My fruit is better than gold, yes, than fine gold,
And my revenue than choice silver.
²⁰ I traverse the way of righteousness,
In the midst of the paths of justice,
²¹ That I may cause those who love me to inherit wealth,
That I may fill their treasuries.

²² “The Lord possessed me at the beginning of His way,
Before His works of old.
²³ I have been established from everlasting,
From the beginning, before there was ever an earth.
²⁴ When there were no depths I was brought forth,
When there were no fountains abounding with water.
²⁵ Before the mountains were settled,
Before the hills, I was brought forth;
²⁶ While as yet He had not made the earth or the fields,
Or the primal dust of the world.
²⁷ When He prepared the heavens, I was there,
When He drew a circle on the face of the deep,
²⁸ When He established the clouds above,
When He strengthened the fountains of the deep,
²⁹ When He assigned to the sea its limit,
So that the waters would not transgress His command,
When He marked out the foundations of the earth,
³⁰ Then I was beside Him as a master craftsman;^[b]
And I was daily His delight,
Rejoicing always before Him,
³¹ Rejoicing in His inhabited world,
And my delight was with the sons of men.

³² “Now therefore, listen to me, my children,
For blessed are those who keep my ways.
³³ Hear instruction and be wise,
And do not disdain it.
³⁴ Blessed is the man who listens to me,
Watching daily at my gates,
Waiting at the posts of my doors.
³⁵ For whoever finds me finds life,
And obtains favor from the Lord;
³⁶ But he who sins against me wrongs his own soul;
All those who hate me love death.”

My Heartfelt Prayer Today

 Then King David went in and sat before the Lord; and he said: “Who am I, O Lord God? And what is my house, that You have brought me this far? ¹⁷ And yet this was a small thing in Your sight, O God; and You have also spoken of Your servant’s house for a great while to come, and have regarded me according to the rank of a man of high degree, O Lord God. ¹⁸ What more can David say to You for the honor of Your servant? For You know Your servant. ¹⁹ O Lord, for Your servant’s sake, and according to Your own heart, You have done all this greatness, in making known all these great things. ²⁰ O Lord, there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears. ²¹ And who is like Your people Israel, the one nation on the earth whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people—to make for Yourself a name by great and awesome deeds, by driving out nations from before Your people whom You redeemed from Egypt? ²² For You have made Your people Israel Your very own people forever; and You, Lord, have become their God.
²³ “And now, O Lord, the word which You have spoken concerning Your servant and concerning his house, let it be established forever, and do as You have said. ²⁴ So let it be established, that Your name may be magnified forever, saying, ‘The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, is Israel’s God.’ And let the house of Your servant David be established before You. ²⁵ For You, O my God, have revealed to Your servant that You will build him a house. Therefore Your servant has found it in his heart to pray before You. ²⁶ And now, Lord, You are God, and have promised this goodness to Your servant. ²⁷ Now You have been pleased to bless the house of Your servant, that it may continue before You forever; for You have blessed it, O Lord, and it shall be blessed forever.”

Psalms 32:1-2

Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered.
² Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity,
And in whose spirit there is no deceit.

James 1:17

¹⁷ Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

Proverbs 7

Proverbs 7

New International Version (NIV)

Warning Against the Adulterous Woman

7 My son, keep my words
    and store up my commands within you.
² Keep my commands and you will live;
    guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.
³ Bind them on your fingers;
    write them on the tablet of your heart.
⁴ Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
    and to insight, “You are my relative.”
⁵ They will keep you from the adulterous woman,
    from the wayward woman with her seductive words.

⁶ At the window of my house
    I looked down through the lattice.
⁷ I saw among the simple,
    I noticed among the young men,
    a youth who had no sense.
⁸ He was going down the street near her corner,
    walking along in the direction of her house
⁹ at twilight, as the day was fading,
    as the dark of night set in.

¹⁰ Then out came a woman to meet him,
    dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent.
¹¹ (She is unruly and defiant,
    her feet never stay at home;
¹² now in the street, now in the squares,
    at every corner she lurks.)
¹³ She took hold of him and kissed him
    and with a brazen face she said:

¹⁴ “Today I fulfilled my vows,
    and I have food from my fellowship offering at home.
¹⁵ So I came out to meet you;
    I looked for you and have found you!
¹⁶ I have covered my bed
    with colored linens from Egypt.
¹⁷ I have perfumed my bed
    with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon.
¹⁸ Come, let’s drink deeply of love till morning;
    let’s enjoy ourselves with love!
¹⁹ My husband is not at home;
    he has gone on a long journey.
²⁰ He took his purse filled with money
    and will not be home till full moon.”

²¹ With persuasive words she led him astray;
    she seduced him with her smooth talk.
²² All at once he followed her
    like an ox going to the slaughter,
like a deer^[a] stepping into a noose^[b]
23     till an arrow pierces his liver,
like a bird darting into a snare,
    little knowing it will cost him his life.

²⁴ Now then, my sons, listen to me;
    pay attention to what I say.
²⁵ Do not let your heart turn to her ways
    or stray into her paths.
²⁶ Many are the victims she has brought down;
    her slain are a mighty throng.
²⁷ Her house is a highway to the grave,
    leading down to the chambers of death.

Psalm 130

Psalm 130

A song of ascents.

¹ Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord;
²     Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
    to my cry for mercy.

³ If you, Lord, kept a record of sins,
    Lord, who could stand?
⁴ But with you there is forgiveness,
    so that we can, with reverence, serve you.

⁵ I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits,
    and in his word I put my hope.
⁶ I wait for the Lord
    more than watchmen wait for the morning,
    more than watchmen wait for the morning.

⁷ Israel, put your hope in the Lord,
    for with the Lord is unfailing love
    and with him is full redemption.
⁸ He himself will redeem Israel
    from all their sins.

Porverbs 6

1My child,^a if you have put up security for a friend’s debt

or agreed to guarantee the debt of a stranger—

2if you have trapped yourself by your agreement

and are caught by what you said—

3follow my advice and save yourself,

for you have placed yourself at your friend’s mercy.

Now swallow your pride;

go and beg to have your name erased.

4Don’t put it off; do it now!

Don’t rest until you do.

5Save yourself like a gazelle escaping from a hunter,

like a bird fleeing from a net.

6Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones.

Learn from their ways and become wise!

7Though they have no prince

or governor or ruler to make them work,

8they labor hard all summer,

gathering food for the winter.

9But you, lazybones, how long will you sleep?

When will you wake up?

10A little extra sleep, a little more slumber,

a little folding of the hands to rest—

11then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit;

scarcity will attack you like an armed robber.

12What are worthless and wicked people like?

They are constant liars,

13signaling their deceit with a wink of the eye,

a nudge of the foot, or the wiggle of fingers.

14Their perverted hearts plot evil,

and they constantly stir up trouble.

15But they will be destroyed suddenly,

broken in an instant beyond all hope of healing.

16There are six things the Lord hates—

no, seven things he detests:

17haughty eyes,

a lying tongue,

hands that kill the innocent,

18a heart that plots evil,

feet that race to do wrong,

19a false witness who pours out lies,

a person who sows discord in a family.

20My son, obey your father’s commands,

and don’t neglect your mother’s instruction.

21Keep their words always in your heart.

Tie them around your neck.

22When you walk, their counsel will lead you.

When you sleep, they will protect you.

When you wake up, they will advise you.

23For their command is a lamp

and their instruction a light;

their corrective discipline

is the way to life.

24It will keep you from the immoral woman,

from the smooth tongue of a promiscuous woman.

25Don’t lust for her beauty.

Don’t let her coy glances seduce you.

26For a prostitute will bring you to poverty,^b

but sleeping with another man’s wife will cost you your life.

27Can a man scoop a flame into his lap

and not have his clothes catch on fire?

28Can he walk on hot coals

and not blister his feet?

29So it is with the man who sleeps with another man’s wife.

He who embraces her will not go unpunished.

30Excuses might be found for a thief

who steals because he is starving.

31But if he is caught, he must pay back seven times what he stole,

even if he has to sell everything in his house.

32But the man who commits adultery is an utter fool,

for he destroys himself.

33He will be wounded and disgraced.

His shame will never be erased.

34For the woman’s jealous husband will be furious,

and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.

35He will accept no compensation,

nor be satisfied with a payoff of any size.