Proverbs 6; Proverbs 7; 2 Corinthians 2

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Proverbs 6

1 My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor or entered into an agreement with a stranger,
2 you have been trapped by the words of your lips- ensnared by the words of your mouth.
3 Do this, then, my son, and free yourself, for you have put yourself in your neighbor's power: Go, humble yourself, and plead with your neighbor.
4 Don't give sleep to your eyes or slumber to your eyelids.
5 Escape like a gazelle from a hunter, like a bird from a fowler's trap.
6 Go to the ant, you slacker! Observe its ways and become wise.
7 Without leader, administrator, or ruler,
8 it prepares its provisions in summer; it gathers its food during harvest.
9 How long will you stay in bed, you slacker? When will you get up from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the arms to rest,
11 and your poverty will come like a robber, your need, like a bandit.
12 A worthless person, a wicked man, who goes around speaking dishonestly,
13 who winks his eyes, signals with his feet, and gestures with his fingers,
14 who plots evil with perversity in his heart- he stirs up trouble constantly.
15 Therefore calamity will strike him suddenly; he will be shattered instantly-beyond recovery.
16 Six things the Lord hates; in fact, seven are detestable to Him:
17 arrogant eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,
18 a heart that plots wicked schemes, feet eager to run to evil,
19 a lying witness who gives false testimony, and one who stirs up trouble among brothers.
20 My son, keep your father's command, and don't reject your mother's teaching.
21 Always bind them to your heart; tie them around your neck.
22 When you walk here and there, they will guide you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; when you wake up, they will talk to you.
23 For a commandment is a lamp, teaching is a light, and corrective instructions are the way to life.
24 They will protect you from an evil woman, from the flattering tongue of a stranger.
25 Don't lust in your heart for her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyelashes.
26 For a prostitute's fee is only a loaf of bread, but an adulteress goes after [your] very life.
27 Can a man embrace fire and his clothes not be burned?
28 Can a man walk on coals without scorching his feet?
29 So it is with the one who sleeps with another man's wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished.
30 People don't despise the thief if he steals to satisfy himself when he is hungry.
31 Still, if caught, he must pay seven times as much; he must give up all the wealth in his house.
32 The one who commits adultery lacks sense; whoever does so destroys himself.
33 He will get a beating and dishonor, and his disgrace will never be removed.
34 For jealousy enrages a husband, and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.
35 He will not be appeased by anything or be persuaded by lavish gifts.
Holman Christian Standard Bible ® Copyright © 2003, 2002, 2000, 1999 by Holman Bible Publishers.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved.

Proverbs 7

1 My son, obey my words, and treasure my commands.
2 Keep my commands and live; protect my teachings as you would the pupil of your eye.
3 Tie them to your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Say to wisdom, "You are my sister," and call understanding [your] relative.
5 She will keep you from a forbidden woman, a stranger with her flattering talk.
6 At the window of my house I looked through my lattice.
7 I saw among the inexperienced, I noticed among the youths, a young man lacking sense.
8 Crossing the street near her corner, he strolled down the road to her house
9 at twilight, in the evening, in the dark of the night.
10 A woman came to meet him, dressed like a prostitute, having a hidden agenda.
11 She is loud and defiant; her feet do not stay at home.
12 Now in the street, now in the squares, she lurks at every corner.
13 She grabs him and kisses him; she brazenly says to him,
14 "I've made fellowship offerings; today I've fulfilled my vows.
15 So I came out to meet you, to search for you, and I've found you.
16 I've spread coverings on my bed- richly colored linen from Egypt.
17 I've perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
18 Come, let's drink deeply of lovemaking until morning. Let's feast on each other's love!
19 My husband isn't home; he went on a long journey.
20 He took a bag of money with him and will come home at the time of the full moon."
21 She seduces him with her persistent pleading; she lures with her flattering talk.
22 He follows her impulsively like an ox going to the slaughter, like a deer bounding toward a trap
23 until an arrow pierces its liver, like a bird darting into a snare- he doesn't know it will cost him his life.
24 Now, [my] sons, listen to me, and pay attention to the words of my mouth.
25 Don't let your heart turn aside to her ways; don't stray onto her paths.
26 For she has brought many down to death; her victims are countless.
27 Her house is the road to Sheol, descending to the chambers of death.
Holman Christian Standard Bible ® Copyright © 2003, 2002, 2000, 1999 by Holman Bible Publishers.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved.

2 Corinthians 2

1 In fact, I made up my mind about this: not to come to you on another painful visit.
2 For if I cause you pain, then who will cheer me other than the one hurt?
3 I wrote this very thing so that when I came I wouldn't have pain from those who ought to give me joy, because I am confident about all of you that my joy is yours.
4 For out of an extremely troubled and anguished heart I wrote to you with many tears-not that you should be hurt, but that you should know the abundant love I have for you.
5 If anyone has caused pain, he has not caused pain to me, but in some degree-not to exaggerate-to all of you.
6 The punishment by the majority is sufficient for such a person,
7 so now you should forgive and comfort him instead; otherwise, this one may be overwhelmed by excessive grief.
8 Therefore I urge you to confirm your love to him.
9 It was for this purpose I wrote: so I may know your proven character, if you are obedient in everything.
10 Now to whom you forgive anything, I do too. For what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, it is for you in the presence of Christ,
11 so that we may not be taken advantage of by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his intentions.
12 When I came to Troas for the gospel of Christ, a door was opened to me by the Lord.
13 I had no rest in my spirit because I did not find my brother Titus, but I said good-bye to them and left for Macedonia.
14 But thanks be to God, who always puts us on display in Christ, and spreads through us in every place the scent of knowing Him.
15 For to God we are the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.
16 To some we are a scent of death leading to death, but to others, a scent of life leading to life. And who is competent for this?
17 For we are not like the many who make a trade in God's message [for profit], but as those with sincerity, we speak in Christ, as from God and before God.
Holman Christian Standard Bible ® Copyright © 2003, 2002, 2000, 1999 by Holman Bible Publishers.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved.