Proverbs 30; Proverbs 31; 2 Corinthians 11:1-15

1 These are the words of Agur son of Jakeh.

2 "I am the most stupid person there is, and I have no understanding.

3 I have not learned to be wise, and I don't know much about God, the Holy One.

4 Who has gone up to heaven and come back down? Who can hold the wind in his hand? Who can gather up the waters in his coat? Who has set in place the ends of the earth? What is his name or his son's name? Tell me, if you know!

5 "Every word of God is true. He guards those who come to him for safety.

6 Do not add to his words, or he will correct you and prove you are a liar.

7 "I ask two things from you, Lord. Don't refuse me before I die.

8 Keep me from lying and being dishonest. And don't make me either rich or poor; just give me enough food for each day.

9 If I have too much, I might reject you and say, 'I don't know the Lord.' If I am poor, I might steal and disgrace the name of my God.

10 "Do not say bad things about servants to their masters, or they will curse you, and you will suffer for it.

11 "Some people curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers.

12 Some people think they are pure, but they are not really free from evil.

13 Some people have such a proud look! They look down on others.

14 Some people have teeth like swords; their jaws seem full of knives. They want to remove the poor from the earth and the needy from the land.

15 "Greed has two daughters named 'Give' and 'Give.' There are three things that are never satisfied, really four that never say, 'I've had enough!':

16 the cemetery, the childless mother, the land that never gets enough rain, and fire that never says, 'I've had enough!'

17 "If you make fun of your father and refuse to obey your mother, the birds of the valley will peck out your eyes, and the vultures will eat them.

18 "There are three things that are too hard for me, really four I don't understand:

19 the way an eagle flies in the sky, the way a snake slides over a rock, the way a ship sails on the sea, and the way a man and a woman fall in love.

20 "This is the way of a woman who takes part in adultery: She acts as if she had eaten and washed her face; she says, 'I haven't done anything wrong.'

21 "There are three things that make the earth tremble, really four it cannot stand:

22 a servant who becomes a king, a foolish person who has plenty to eat,

23 a hated woman who gets married, and a maid who replaces her mistress.

24 "There are four things on earth that are small, but they are very wise:

25 Ants are not very strong, but they store up food in the summer.

26 Rock badgers are not very powerful, but they can live among the rocks.

27 Locusts have no king, but they all go forward in formation.

28 Lizards can be caught in the hand, but they are found even in kings' palaces.

29 "There are three things that strut proudly, really four that walk as if they were important:

30 a lion, the proudest animal, which is strong and runs from nothing,

31 a rooster, a male goat, and a king when his army is around him.

32 "If you have been foolish and proud, or if you have planned evil, shut your mouth.

33 Just as stirring milk makes butter, and twisting noses makes them bleed, so stirring up anger causes trouble."

1 These are the words of King Lemuel, the mes- sage his mother taught him:

2 "My son, I gave birth to you. You are the son I prayed for.

3 Don't waste your strength on women or your time on those who ruin kings.

4 "Kings should not drink wine, Lemuel, and rulers should not desire beer.

5 If they drink, they might forget the law and keep the needy from getting their rights.

6 Give beer to people who are dying and wine to those who are sad.

7 Let them drink and forget their need and remember their misery no more.

8 "Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; defend the rights of all those who have nothing.

9 Speak up and judge fairly, and defend the rights of the poor and needy."

10 It is hard to find a good wife, because she is worth more than rubies.

11 Her husband trusts her completely. With her, he has everything he needs.

12 She does him good and not harm for as long as she lives.

13 She looks for wool and flax and likes to work with her hands.

14 She is like a trader's ship, bringing food from far away.

15 She gets up while it is still dark and prepares food for her family and feeds her servant girls.

16 She inspects a field and buys it. With money she earned, she plants a vineyard.

17 She does her work with energy, and her arms are strong.

18 She knows that what she makes is good. Her lamp burns late into the night.

19 She makes thread with her hands and weaves her own cloth.

20 She welcomes the poor and helps the needy.

21 She does not worry about her family when it snows, because they all have fine clothes to keep them warm.

22 She makes coverings for herself; her clothes are made of linen and other expensive material.

23 Her husband is known at the city meetings, where he makes decisions as one of the leaders of the land.

24 She makes linen clothes and sells them and provides belts to the merchants.

25 She is strong and is respected by the people. She looks forward to the future with joy.

26 She speaks wise words and teaches others to be kind.

27 She watches over her family and never wastes her time.

28 Her children speak well of her. Her husband also praises her,

29 saying, "There are many fine women, but you are better than all of them."

30 Charm can fool you, and beauty can trick you, but a woman who respects the Lord should be praised.

31 Give her the reward she has earned; she should be praised in public for what she has done.

1 I wish you would be patient with me even when I am a little foolish, but you are already doing that.

2 I am jealous over you with a jealousy that comes from God. I promised to give you to Christ, as your only husband. I want to give you as his pure bride.

3 But I am afraid that your minds will be led away from your true and pure following of Christ just as Eve was tricked by the snake with his evil ways.

4 You are very patient with anyone who comes to you and preaches a different Jesus from the one we preached. You are very willing to accept a spirit or gospel that is different from the Spirit and Good News you received from us.

5 I do not think that those "great apostles" are any better than I am.

6 I may not be a trained speaker, but I do have knowledge. We have shown this to you clearly in every way.

7 I preached God's Good News to you without pay. I made myself unimportant to make you important. Do you think that was wrong?

8 I accepted pay from other churches, taking their money so I could serve you.

9 If I needed something when I was with you, I did not trouble any of you. The brothers who came from Macedonia gave me all that I needed. I did not allow myself to depend on you in any way, and I will never depend on you.

10 No one in Southern Greece will stop me from bragging about that. I say this with the truth of Christ in me.

11 And why do I not depend on you? Do you think it is because I do not love you? God knows that I love you.

12 And I will continue doing what I am doing now, because I want to stop those people from having a reason to brag. They would like to say that the work they brag about is the same as ours.

13 Such men are not true apostles but are workers who lie. They change themselves to look like apostles of Christ.

14 This does not surprise us. Even Satan changes himself to look like an angel of light.

15 So it does not surprise us if Satan's servants also make themselves look like servants who work for what is right. But in the end they will be punished for what they do.