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

Proverbs 30

1 The words of Gatherer the son of Vomiter. The vision which the man spoke, with whom God is, and who being strengthened by God, abiding with him, said:

2 I am the most foolish of men, and the wisdom of men is not with me.

3 I have not learned wisdom, and have not known the science of saints.

4 Who hath ascended up into heaven, and descended? who hath held the wind in his hands? who hath bound up the waters together as in a garment? who hath raised up all the borders of the earth? what is his name, and what is the name of his son, if thou knowest?

5 Every word of God is fire tried: he is a buckler to them that hope in him.

6 Add not any thing to his words, lest thou be reproved and found a liar:

7 Two things I have asked of thee, deny them not to me before I die.

8 Remove far from me vanity, and lying words. Give me neither beggary, nor riches: give me only the necessaries of life:

9 Lest perhaps being filled, I should be tempted to deny, and say: Who is the Lord? or being compelled by poverty, I should steal, and forswear the name of my God.

10 Accuse not a servant to his master, lest he curse thee, and thou fall.

11 There is a generation that curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother.

12 A generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet are not washed from their filthiness.

13 A generation, whose eyes are lofty, and their eyelids lifted up on high.

14 A generation that for teeth hath swords, and grindeth with their jaw teeth, to devour the needy from off the earth, and the poor from among men.

15 The horseleech hath two daughters that say: Bring, bring. There are three things that never are satisfied, and the fourth never saith: It is enough.

16 Hell and the mouth of the womb, and the earth which is not satisfied with water: and the fire never saith: It is enough.

17 The eye that mocketh at his father, and that despiseth the labour of his mother in bearing him, let the ravens of the brooks pick it out, and the young eagles eat it.

18 Three things are hard to me, and the fourth I am utterly ignorant of.

19 The way of an eagle in the air, the way of a serpent upon a rock, the way of a ship in the midst of the sea, and the way of a man in youth.

20 Such also is the way of an adulterous woman, who eateth and wipeth her mouth, and saith: I have done no evil.

21 By three things the earth is disturbed, and the fourth it cannot bear.

22 By a slave when he reigneth: by a fool when be is filled with meat:

23 By an odious woman when she is married: and by a bondwoman when she is heir to her mistress.

24 There are four very little things of the earth, and they are wiser than the wise.

25 The ants, a feeble people, which provide themselves food in the harvest:

26 The rabbit, a weak people, which maketh its bed in the rock:

27 The locust hath no king, yet they all go out by their bands:

28 The stellio supporteth itself on hands, and dwelleth in kings’ houses.

29 There are three things, which go well, and the fourth that walketh happily:

30 A lion, the strongest of beasts, who hath no fear of any thing he meeteth:

31 A cock girded about the loins: and a ram: and a king, whom none can resist.

32 There is that hath appeared a fool after he was lifted up on high: for if he had understood, he would have laid his hand upon his mouth.

33 And he that strongly squeezeth the paps to bring out milk, straineth out butter: and he that violently bloweth his nose, bringeth out blood: and he that provoketh wrath, bringeth forth strife.

Proverbs 31

1 The words of king Lamuel. The vision wherewith his mother instructed him.

2 What, O my beloved, what, O the beloved of my womb, what, O the beloved of my vows?

3 Give not thy substance to women, and thy riches to destroy kings.

4 Give not to kings, O Lamuel, give not wine to kings: because there is no secret where drunkenness reigneth:

5 And lest they drink and forget judgments, and pervert the cause of the children of the poor.

6 Give strong drink to them that are sad; and wine to them that are grieved in mind:

7 Let them drink, and forget their want, and remember their sorrow no more.

8 Open thy mouth for the dumb, and for the causes of all the children that pass.

9 Open thy mouth, decree that which is just, and do justice to the needy and poor.

10 Who shall find a valiant woman? far, and from the uttermost coasts is the price of her.

11 The heart of her husband trusteth in her, and he shall have no need of spoils.

12 She will render him good, and not evil all the days of her life.

13 She hath sought wool and flax, and hath wrought by the counsel of her hands.

14 She is like the merchant’s ship, she bringeth her bread from afar.

15 And she hath risen in the night, and given a prey to her household, and victuals to her maidens.

16 She hath considered a field, and bought it: with the fruit of her hands she hath planted a vineyard.

17 She hath girded her loins with strength, and hath strengthened her arm.

18 She hath tasted, and seen that her traffic is good: her lamp shall not be put out in the night.

19 She hath put out her hand to strong things, and her fingers have taken hold of the spindle.

20 She hath opened her hand to the needy, and stretched out her hands to the poor.

21 She shall not fear for her house in the cold of snow: for all her domestics are clothed with double garments.

22 She hath made for herself clothing of tapestry: fine linen, and purple, is her covering.

23 Her husband is honourable in the gates, when he sitteth among the senators of the land.

24 She made fine linen, and sold it, and delivered a girdle to the Chanaanite.

25 Strength and beauty are her clothing, and she shall laugh in the latter day.

26 She hath opened her mouth to wisdom, and the law of clemency is on her tongue.

27 She hath looked well on the paths of her house, and hath not eaten her bread idle.

28 Her children rose up, and called her blessed: her husband, and he praised her.

29 Many daughters have gathered together riches: thou hast surpassed them all.

30 Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: the woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.

31 Give her of the fruit of her hands: and let her works praise her in the gates.

2 Corinthians 11:1-15

1 Would to God you could bear with some little of my folly! But do bear with me.

2 For I am jealous of you with the jealousy of God. For I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

3 But I fear lest, as the serpent seduced Eve by his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted and fall from the simplicity that is in Christ.

4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Christ, whom we have not preached; or if you receive another Spirit, whom you have not received; or another gospel, which you have not received: you might well bear with him.

5 For I suppose that I have done nothing less than the great apostles.

6 For although I be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge: but in all things we have been made manifest to you.

7 Or did I commit a fault, humbling myself that you might be exalted, because I preached unto you the Gospel of God freely?

8 I have taken from other churches, receiving wages of them for your ministry.

9 And, when I was present with you and wanted, I was chargeable to no man: for that which was wanting to me, the brethren supplied who came from Macedonia. And in all things I have kept myself from being burthensome to you: and so I will keep myself.

10 The truth of Christ is in me, that this glorying shall not be broken off in me in the regions of Achaia.

11 Wherefore? Because I love you not? God knoweth it.

12 But what I do, that I will do: that I may cut off the occasion from them that desire occasion: that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we.

13 For such false apostles are deceitful workmen, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.

14 And no wonder: for Satan himself transformeth himself into an angel of light.

15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers be transformed as the ministers of justice, whose end shall be according to their works.