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Proverbs 6; Proverbs 7; 2 Corinthians 2

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Proverbs 6

1 My child, be careful about giving a guarantee for somebody else's loan, about promising to pay what someone else owes.
2 You might get trapped by what you say; you might be caught by your own words.
3 My child, if you have done this and are under your neighbor's control, here is how to get free. Don't be proud. Go to your neighbor and beg to be free from your promise.
4 Don't go to sleep or even rest your eyes,
5 but free yourself like a deer running from a hunter, like a bird flying away from a trapper.
6 Go watch the ants, you lazy person. Watch what they do and be wise.
7 Ants have no commander, no leader or ruler,
8 but they store up food in the summer and gather their supplies at harvest.
9 How long will you lie there, you lazy person? When will you get up from sleeping?
10 You sleep a little; you take a nap. You fold your hands and lie down to rest.
11 So you will be as poor as if you had been robbed; you will have as little as if you had been held up.
12 Some people are wicked and no good. They go around telling lies,
13 winking with their eyes, tapping with their feet, and making signs with their fingers.
14 They make evil plans in their hearts and are always starting arguments.
15 So trouble will strike them in an instant; suddenly they will be so hurt no one can help them.
16 There are six things the Lord hates. There are seven things he cannot stand:
17 a proud look, a lying tongue, hands that kill innocent people,
18 a mind that thinks up evil plans, feet that are quick to do evil,
19 a witness who lies, and someone who starts arguments among families.
20 My son, keep your father's commands, and don't forget your mother's teaching.
21 Keep their words in mind forever as though you had them tied around your neck.
22 They will guide you when you walk. They will guard you when you sleep. They will speak to you when you are awake.
23 These commands are like a lamp; this teaching is like a light. And the correction that comes from them will help you have life.
24 They will keep you from sinful women and from the pleasing words of another man's unfaithful wife.
25 Don't desire her because she is beautiful. Don't let her capture you by the way she looks at you.
26 A prostitute will treat you like a loaf of bread, and a woman who takes part in adultery may cost you your life.
27 You cannot carry hot coals against your chest without burning your clothes,
28 and you cannot walk on hot coals without burning your feet.
29 The same is true if you have sexual relations with another man's wife. Anyone who does so will be punished.
30 People don't hate a thief when he steals because he is hungry.
31 But if he is caught, he must pay back seven times what he stole, and it may cost him everything he owns.
32 A man who takes part in adultery has no sense; he will destroy himself.
33 He will be beaten up and disgraced, and his shame will never go away.
34 Jealousy makes a husband very angry, and he will have no pity when he gets revenge.
35 He will accept no payment for the wrong; he will take no amount of money.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Proverbs 7

1 My son, remember what I say, and treasure my commands.
2 Obey my commands, and you will live. Guard my teachings as you would your own eyes.
3 Remind yourself of them; write them on your heart as if on a tablet.
4 Treat wisdom as a sister, and make understanding your closest friend.
5 Wisdom and understanding will keep you away from adultery, away from the unfaithful wife and her pleasing words.
6 Once while I was at the window of my house I looked out through the shutters
7 and saw some foolish, young men. I noticed one of them had no wisdom.
8 He was walking down the street near the corner on the road leading to her house.
9 It was the twilight of the evening; the darkness of the night was just beginning.
10 Then the woman approached him, dressed like a prostitute and planning to trick him.
11 She was loud and stubborn and never stayed at home.
12 She was always out in the streets or in the city squares, waiting around on the corners of the streets.
13 She grabbed him and kissed him. Without shame she said to him,
14 "I made my fellowship offering and took some of the meat home. Today I have kept my special promises.
15 So I have come out to meet you; I have been looking for you and have found you.
16 I have covered my bed with colored sheets from Egypt.
17 I have made my bed smell sweet with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
18 Come, let's make love until morning. Let's enjoy each other's love.
19 My husband is not home; he has gone on a long trip.
20 He took a lot of money with him and won't be home for weeks."
21 By her clever words she made him give in; by her pleasing words she led him into doing wrong.
22 All at once he followed her, like an ox led to the butcher, like a deer caught in a trap
23 and shot through the liver with an arrow. Like a bird caught in a trap, he didn't know what he did would kill him.
24 Now, my sons, listen to me; pay attention to what I say.
25 Don't let yourself be tricked by such a woman; don't go where she leads you.
26 She has ruined many good men, and many have died because of her.
27 Her house is on the road to death, the road that leads down to the grave.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

2 Corinthians 2

1 So I decided that my next visit to you would not be another one to make you sad.
2 If I make you sad, who will make me glad? Only you can make me glad -- particularly the person whom I made sad.
3 I wrote you a letter for this reason: that when I came to you I would not be made sad by the people who should make me happy. I felt sure of all of you, that you would share my joy.
4 When I wrote to you before, I was very troubled and unhappy in my heart, and I wrote with many tears. I did not write to make you sad, but to let you know how much I love you.
5 Someone there among you has caused sadness, not to me, but to all of you. I mean he caused sadness to all in some way. (I do not want to make it sound worse than it really is.)
6 The punishment that most of you gave him is enough for him.
7 But now you should forgive him and comfort him to keep him from having too much sadness and giving up completely.
8 So I beg you to show that you love him.
9 I wrote you to test you and to see if you obey in everything.
10 If you forgive someone, I also forgive him. And what I have forgiven -- if I had anything to forgive -- I forgave it for you, as if Christ were with me.
11 I did this so that Satan would not win anything from us, because we know very well what Satan's plans are.
12 When I came to Troas to preach the Good News of Christ, the Lord gave me a good opportunity there.
13 But I had no peace, because I did not find my brother Titus. So I said good-bye to them at Troas and went to Macedonia.
14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us in victory through Christ. God uses us to spread his knowledge everywhere like a sweet-smelling perfume.
15 Our offering to God is this: We are the sweet smell of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are being lost.
16 To those who are lost, we are the smell of death that brings death, but to those who are being saved, we are the smell of life that brings life. So who is able to do this work?
17 We do not sell the word of God for a profit as many other people do. But in Christ we speak the truth before God, as messengers of God.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.