Proverbs 22; Proverbs 23; Proverbs 24; 2 Corinthians 8

Proverbs 22

1 A good name is to be more desired than great wealth, Favor is better than silver and gold.

2 The rich and the poor have a common bond, The LORD is the maker of them all.

3 The prudent sees the evil and hides himself, But the naive go on, and are punished for it.

4 The reward of humility and the fear of the LORD Are riches, honor and life.

5 Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse; He who guards himself will be far from them.

6 Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.

7 The rich rules over the poor, And the borrower becomes the lender's slave.

8 He who sows iniquity will reap vanity, And the rod of his fury will perish.

9 He who is generous will be blessed, For he gives some of his food to the poor.

10 Drive out the scoffer, and contention will go out, Even strife and dishonor will cease.

11 He who loves purity of heart And whose speech is gracious, the king is his friend.

12 The eyes of the LORD preserve knowledge, But He overthrows the words of the treacherous man.

13 The sluggard says, "There is a lion outside; I will be killed in the streets!"

14 The mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit; He who is cursed of the LORD will fall into it.

15 Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; The rod of discipline will remove it far from him.

16 He who oppresses the poor to make more for himself Or who gives to the rich, will only come to poverty.

17 Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise, And apply your mind to my knowledge;

18 For it will be pleasant if you keep them within you, That they may be ready on your lips.

19 So that your trust may be in the LORD , I have taught you today, even you.

20 Have I not written to you excellent things Of counsels and knowledge,

21 To make you know the certainty of the words of truth That you may correctly answer him who sent you?

22 Do not rob the poor because he is poor, Or crush the afflicted at the gate;

23 For the LORD will plead their case And take the life of those who rob them.

24 Do not associate with a man given to anger; Or go with a hot-tempered man,

25 Or you will learn his ways And find a snare for yourself.

26 Do not be among those who give pledges , Among those who become guarantors for debts.

27 If you have nothing with which to pay, Why should he take your bed from under you?

28 Do not move the ancient boundary Which your fathers have set.

29 Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will stand before kings; He will not stand before obscure men.

Proverbs 23

1 When you sit down to dine with a ruler, Consider carefully what is before you,

2 And put a knife to your throat If you are a man of great appetite.

3 Do not desire his delicacies, For it is deceptive food.

4 Do not weary yourself to gain wealth, Cease from your consideration of it

5 When you set your eyes on it, it is gone. For wealth certainly makes itself wings Like an eagle that flies toward the heavens.

6 Do not eat the bread of a selfish man, Or desire his delicacies;

7 For as he thinks within himself, so he is. He says to you, "Eat and drink!" But his heart is not with you.

8 You will vomit up the morsel you have eaten, And waste your compliments.

9 Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, For he will despise the wisdom of your words.

10 Do not move the ancient boundary Or go into the fields of the fatherless,

11 For their Redeemer is strong; He will plead their case against you.

12 Apply your heart to discipline And your ears to words of knowledge.

13 Do not hold back discipline from the child, although you strike him with the rod, he will not die.

14 You shall strike him with the rod and rescue his soul from Sheol

15 My son, if your heart is wise, My own heart also will be glad;

16 And my inmost being will rejoice When your lips speak what is right.

17 Do not let your heart envy sinners, But live in the fear of the LORD always .

18 Surely there is a future, And your hope will not be cut off.

19 Listen, my son, and be wise, And direct your heart in the way

20 Do not be with heavy drinkers of wine, Or with gluttonous eaters of meat;

21 For the heavy drinker and the glutton will come to poverty, And drowsiness will clothe one with rags

22 Listen to your father who begot you, And do not despise your mother when she is old.

23 Buy truth, and do not sell it, Get wisdom and instruction and understanding.

24 The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice, And he who sires a wise son will be glad in him.

25 Let your father and your mother be glad, And let her rejoice who gave birth to you.

26 Give me your heart, my son, And let your eyes delight in my ways.

27 For a harlot is a deep pit And an adulterous woman is a narrow well.

28 Surely she lurks as a robber, And increases the faithless among men.

29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes?

30 Those who linger long over wine, Those who go to taste mixed wine.

31 Do not look on the wine when it is red, When it sparkles in the cup, When it goes down smoothly;

32 At the last it bites like a serpent And stings like a viper.

33 Your eyes will see strange things And your mind will utter perverse things.

34 And you will be like one who lies down in the middle of the sea, Or like one who lies down on the top of a mast.

35 "They struck me, but I did not become ill; They beat me, but I did not know it. When shall I awake? I will seek another drink."

Proverbs 24

1 Do not be envious of evil men, Nor desire to be with them;

2 For their minds devise violence, And their lips talk of trouble.

3 By wisdom a house is built, And by understanding it is established;

4 And by knowledge the rooms are filled With all precious and pleasant riches.

5 A wise man is strong, And a man of knowledge increases power.

6 For by wise guidance you will wage war, And in abundance of counselors there is victory.

7 Wisdom is too exalted for a fool, He does not open his mouth in the gate.

8 One who plans to do evil, Men will call a schemer .

9 The devising of folly is sin, And the scoffer is an abomination to men.

10 If you are slack in the day of distress, Your strength is limited.

11 Deliver those who are being taken away to death, And those who are staggering to slaughter, Oh hold them back.

12 If you say, "See, we did not know this," Does He not consider it who weighs the hearts? And does He not know it who keeps your soul? And will He not render to man according to his work?

13 My son, eat honey, for it is good, Yes, the honey from the comb is sweet to your taste;

14 Know that wisdom is thus for your soul; If you find it, then there will be a future, And your hope will not be cut off.

15 Do not lie in wait, O wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous; Do not destroy his resting place;

16 For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again, But the wicked stumble in time of calamity.

17 Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles;

18 Or the LORD will see it and be displeased , And turn His anger away from him.

19 Do not fret because of evildoers Or be envious of the wicked;

20 For there will be no future for the evil man; The lamp of the wicked will be put out.

21 My son, fear the LORD and the king; Do not associate with those who are given to change,

22 For their calamity will rise suddenly, And who knows the ruin that comes from both of them?

23 These also are sayings of the wise. To show partiality in judgment is not good.

24 He who says to the wicked, "You are righteous," Peoples will curse him, nations will abhor him;

25 But to those who rebuke the wicked will be delight, And a good blessing will come upon them.

26 He kisses the lips Who gives a right answer.

27 Prepare your work outside And make it ready for yourself in the field; Afterwards, then, build your house.

28 Do not be a witness against your neighbor without cause, And do not deceive with your lips.

29 Do not say, "Thus I shall do to him as he has done to me; I will render to the man according to his work."

30 I passed by the field of the sluggard And by the vineyard of the man lacking sense,

31 And behold, it was completely overgrown with thistles; Its surface was covered with nettles, And its stone wall was broken down.

32 When I saw, I reflected upon it; I looked, and received instruction.

33 "A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to rest,"

34 Then your poverty will come as a robber And your want like an armed man.

2 Corinthians 8

1 Now, brethren, we wish to make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia,

2 that in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality.

3 For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord,

4 begging us with much urging for the favor of participation in the support of the saints,

5 and this, not as we had expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God.

6 So we urged Titus that as he had previously made a beginning, so he would also complete in you this gracious work as well.

7 But just as you abound in everything, in faith and utterance and knowledge and in all earnestness and in the love we inspired in you, see that you abound in this gracious work also.

8 I am not speaking this as a command, but as proving through the earnestness of others the sincerity of your love also.

9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.

10 I give my opinion in this matter, for this is to your advantage, who were the first to begin a year ago not only to do this, but also to desire to do it.

11 But now finish doing it also, so that just as there was the readiness to desire it, so there may be also the completion of it by your ability.

12 For if the readiness is present, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have.

13 For this is not for the ease of others and for your affliction, but by way of equality -

14 at this present time your abundance being a supply for their need, so that their abundance also may become a supply for your need, that there may be equality;

15 as it is written, "HE WHO gathered MUCH DID NOT HAVE TOO MUCH, AND HE WHO gathered LITTLE HAD NO LACK."

16 But thanks be to God who puts the same earnestness on your behalf in the heart of Titus.

17 For he not only accepted our appeal, but being himself very earnest, he has gone to you of his own accord.

18 We have sent along with him the brother whose fame in the things of the gospel has spread through all the churches;

19 and not only this, but he has also been appointed by the churches to travel with us in this gracious work, which is being administered by us for the glory of the Lord Himself, and to show our readiness,

20 taking precaution so that no one will discredit us in our administration of this generous gift;

21 for we have regard for what is honorable, not only in the sight of the Lord , but also in the sight of men.

22 We have sent with them our brother, whom we have often tested and found diligent in many things, but now even more diligent because of his great confidence in you.

23 As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker among you; as for our brethren, they are messengers of the churches, a glory to Christ.

24 Therefore openly before the churches, show them the proof of your love and of our reason for boasting about you.