Proverbs 3; Proverbs 4; Proverbs 5; 2 Corinthians 1

1 My son, do not forget my teaching. Keep my commands in your heart.

2 They will help you live for many years. They will bring you success.

3 Don't let love and truth ever leave you. Tie them around your neck. Write them on the tablet of your heart.

4 Then you will find favor and a good name in the eyes of God and people.

5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart. Do not depend on your own understanding.

6 In all your ways remember him. Then he will make your paths smooth and straight.

7 Don't be wise in your own eyes. Have respect for the LORD and avoid evil.

8 That will bring health to your body. It will make your bones strong.

9 Honor the LORD with your wealth. Give him the first share of all your crops.

10 Then your storerooms will be so full they can't hold everything. Your huge jars will spill over with fresh wine.

11 My son, do not hate the LORD's training. Do not object when he corrects you.

12 The LORD trains those he loves. He is like a father who trains the son he is pleased with.

13 Blessed is the one who finds wisdom. Blessed is the one who gains understanding.

14 Wisdom pays better than silver does. She earns more than gold does.

15 She is worth more than rubies. Nothing you want can compare with her.

16 Long life is in her right hand. In her left hand are riches and honor.

17 Her ways are pleasant ways. All her paths lead to peace.

18 She is a tree of life to those who hold her close. Those who hold on to her will be blessed.

19 By wisdom the LORD laid the earth's foundations. Through understanding he set the heavens in place.

20 By his knowledge the seas were separated, and the clouds dropped their dew.

21 My son, hold on to good sense and the understanding of what is right. Don't let them out of your sight.

22 They will be life for you. They will be like a gracious necklace around your neck.

23 Then you will go on your way in safety. You will not trip and fall.

24 When you lie down, you won't be afraid. When you lie down, you will sleep soundly.

25 Don't be terrified by sudden trouble. Don't be afraid when sinners are destroyed.

26 The LORD is the one you will trust in. He will keep your feet from being caught in a trap.

27 Don't hold back good from those who are worthy of it. Don't hold it back when you can help.

28 Suppose you have something to give. Don't say to your neighbor, "Come back later. I'll give it to you tomorrow."

29 Don't plan to harm your neighbor. He lives near you and trusts you.

30 Don't bring charges against a man without any reason. He has not harmed you.

31 Don't be jealous of a man who hurts others. Don't choose any of his ways.

32 The LORD really hates sinful people. But he makes honest people his closest friends.

33 The LORD puts a curse on the houses of sinners. But he blesses the homes of those who do what is right.

34 He laughs at proud people who make fun of others. But he gives grace to those who are not proud.

35 Wise people receive honor. But the LORD puts foolish people to shame.

1 My children, listen to a father's teaching. Pay attention and gain understanding.

2 I give you good advice. So don't turn away from what I teach you.

3 I was once a young boy in my father's house. I was my mother's only child.

4 My father taught me. He said, "Hold on to my words with all your heart. Keep my commands. Then you will live.

5 Get wisdom. Get understanding. Don't forget my words. Don't turn away from them.

6 Stay close to wisdom, and she will keep you safe. Love her, and she will watch over you.

7 Wisdom is best. So get wisdom. No matter what it costs, get understanding.

8 Value wisdom, and she will lift you up. Hold her close, and she will honor you.

9 She will set a beautiful crown on your head. She will give you a glorious crown."

10 My son, listen. Accept what I say. Then you will live for many years.

11 I guide you in the way of wisdom. I lead you along straight paths.

12 When you walk, nothing will slow you down. When you run, you won't trip and fall.

13 Hold on to my teaching. Don't let it go. Guard it well. It is your life.

14 Don't take the path of evil people. Don't live the way sinners do.

15 Stay away from their path. Don't travel on it. Turn away from it. Go on your way.

16 Sinners can't sleep until they do what is evil. They can't rest until they make someone fall.

17 They do evil just as easily as they eat food. They hurt others as easily as they drink wine.

18 The path of those who do what is right is like the first gleam of dawn. It shines brighter and brighter until the full light of day.

19 But the way of those who do what is wrong is like deep darkness. They don't know what makes them trip and fall.

20 My son, pay attention to what I say. Listen closely to my words.

21 Don't let them out of your sight. Keep them in your heart.

22 They are life to those who find them. They are health to your whole body.

23 Above everything else, guard your heart. It is where your life comes from.

24 Don't speak with twisted words. Keep evil talk away from your lips.

25 Let your eyes look straight ahead. Keep looking right in front of you.

26 Make level paths for your feet to walk on. Only go on ways that are firm.

27 Don't turn to the right or left. Keep your feet from the path of evil.

1 My son, pay attention to my wisdom. Listen carefully to my wise sayings.

2 Then you will continue to have good sense. Your lips will keep on speaking words of knowledge.

3 A woman who commits adultery has lips that drip honey. What she says is smoother than oil.

4 But in the end she is like bitter poison. She cuts like a sword that has two edges.

5 Her feet go down to death. Her steps lead straight to the grave.

6 She doesn't give any thought to her way of life. Her paths are crooked, but she doesn't realize it.

7 My sons, listen to me. Don't turn away from what I say.

8 Stay on a path far away from that evil woman. Don't even go near the door of her house.

9 If you do, you will give your best strength to others. You will give the best years of your life to someone who is mean.

10 Strangers will use up all of your wealth. Your hard work will make someone else rich.

11 At the end of your life you will groan. Your skin and your body will be worn out.

12 You will say, "How I hated to take advice! How my heart refused to be corrected!

13 I would not obey my teachers. I wouldn't listen to those who taught me.

14 I was almost totally destroyed. It happened right in front of the whole community."

15 Drink water from your own well. Drink running water from your own spring.

16 Should your springs pour out into the streets? Should your streams of water pour out in public places?

17 No! Let them belong to you alone. Never share them with strangers.

18 May your fountain be blessed. May the wife you married when you were young make you happy.

19 She is like a loving doe, a graceful deer. May her breasts always satisfy you. May you always be captured by her love.

20 My son, why be captured by a woman who commits adultery? Why hug the wife of another man?

21 The LORD watches a man's ways. He studies all of his paths.

22 A sinner is trapped by his own evil acts. He is held tight by the ropes of his sins.

23 He will die because he refused to be corrected. His sins will capture him because he was very foolish.

1 I, Paul, am writing this letter. I am an apostle of Christ Jesus just as God planned. Timothy our brother joins me in writing. We are sending this letter to you, the members of God's church in Corinth. It is also for all of God's people everywhere in Achaia.

2 May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

3 Give praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! He is the Father who gives tender love. All comfort comes from him.

4 He comforts us in all our troubles. Now we can comfort others when they are in trouble. We ourselves have received comfort from God.

5 We share the sufferings of Christ. We also share his comfort.

6 If we are having trouble, it is so that you will be comforted and renewed. If we are comforted, it is so that you will be comforted. Then you will be able to put up with the same suffering we have gone through.

7 Our hope for you remains firm. We know that you suffer just as we do. In the same way, God comforts you just as he comforts us.

8 Brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the hard times we suffered in Asia Minor. We were having a lot of trouble. It was far more than we could stand. We even thought we were going to die.

9 In fact, in our hearts we felt as if we were under the sentence of death. But that happened so that we would not depend on ourselves but on God. He raises the dead to life.

10 God has saved us from deadly dangers. And he will continue to do it. We have put our hope in him. He will continue to save us.

11 You must help us by praying for us. Then many people will give thanks because of what will happen to us. They will thank God for his kindness to us in answer to the prayers of many.

12 Here is what we take pride in. Our sense of what is right and wrong gives witness that we have acted in God's holy and honest ways. That is how we live in the world. We live that way most of all when we are dealing with you. Our way of living is not wise in the eyes of the world. But it is in keeping with God's grace.

13 We are writing only what you can read and understand. And here is what I hope.

14 Up to this point you have understood some of the things we have said. But now I hope that someday you will be able to take pride in us, just as we will take pride in you on the day the Lord Jesus returns. When you are able to do that, you will understand us completely.

15 I was sure of those things. So I planned to visit you first. Here is how I thought you would be helped twice.

16 I planned to visit you on my way to Macedonia. I would have come back to you from there. Then you would have sent me on my way to Judea.

17 When I planned all of that, did I do it without much thought? No. I don't make my plans the way the world makes theirs. In the same breath the world says, "Yes! Yes!" and "No! No!"

18 But just as sure as God is faithful, our message to you is not "Yes" and "No."

19 Silas, Timothy and I preached to you about the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Our message did not say "Yes" and "No" at the same time. The message of Christ has always been "Yes."

20 God has made a great many promises. They are all "Yes" because of what Christ has done. So through Christ we say "Amen." We want God to receive glory.

21 He makes both us and you stand firm because we belong to Christ. He anointed us.

22 He put his Spirit in our hearts and marked us as his own. We can now be sure that he will give us everything he promised us.

23 I call God as my witness. I wanted to spare you. So I didn't return to Corinth.

24 Your faith is not under our control. You stand firm in your own faith. But we work together with you for your joy.