Proverbs 9 Cross References - ISV

¹ Wisdom’s Invitation Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn out her seven pillars. ² She has prepared her food, she has spiced her wine, and she also has set her dining table. ³ She has sent out her young women, while calling out from the heights of the city, ⁴ “Let whoever is naïve, turn in here.” To anyone lacking sense, she says, ⁵ “Come! Eat my food, and drink the wine that I have mixed. ⁶ Leave your naïve ways, and live. Walk in the path of understanding.”
⁷ Wisdom Extends LifeWhoever corrects a mocker invites only insult, and whoever rebukes the wicked will himself become stained. ⁸ Don’t rebuke a mocker or he will hate you. Rebuke a wise person, and he will love you. ⁹ Counsel a wise man, and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man, and he will add to his learning. ¹⁰ The fear of the LORD is where wisdom begins, and knowing holiness demonstrates understanding. ¹¹ For because of me you will live a long life, and years will be added to your life. ¹² If you are wise, your wisdom will assist you. If you mock, you alone will be held responsible.
¹³ Folly’s EntrapmentThe foolish woman is loud, undisciplined, and without knowledge. ¹⁴ She sits at the entrance of her house, on a seat high above the city. ¹⁵ She calls out to those passing by on the road, who are minding their own business, ¹⁶ “Whoever is naïve, turn in here!” And to anyone lacking sense, she says, ¹⁷ “Stolen waters are sweet, and food eaten in secret is delicious.” ¹⁸ But he does not realize that the dead lurk there, and her invited guests wind up in the depths of Sheol.

² He built his own palace out of timber supplied from the forest of Lebanon. It was 100 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, 20 cubits tall, and was constructed on four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams interlocking the pillars. ³ There were 45 pillars paneled with cedar above the side chambers, with rows of fifteen pillars,

⁶ There was also a hall of pillars 50 cubits long and 30 cubits wide, and a porch in front with pillars, and a canopy in front of the pillars.

²¹ That’s how he designed the pillars at the portico of the sanctuary. When he set up the right pillar, he named it Jachin. When he set up the left pillar, he named it Boaz.

¹⁸ I tell you that you are Peter, and it is on this rock that I will build my congregation, and the powers of hell will not conquer it.

⁹ For we are God’s co-workers. You are God’s farmland and God’s building.
¹⁰ The Messiah is Our FoundationAs an expert builder using the grace that God gave me, I laid the foundation, and someone else is building on it. But each person must be careful how he builds on it. ¹¹ After all, no one can lay any other foundation than the one that is already laid, and that is Jesus the Messiah. ¹² Whether a person builds on this foundation with gold, silver, expensive stones, wood, hay, or straw, ¹³ the workmanship of each person will become evident, for the day of judgment will show what it is, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s action. ¹⁴ If what a person has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. ¹⁵ If his work is burned up, he will suffer loss. However, he himself will be saved, but it will be like going through fire.

⁹ So when James, Cephas, and John (who were reputed to be leaders) recognized the grace that had been given me, they gave Barnabas and me the right hand of fellowship, agreeing that we should go to the gentiles and they to the circumcised.

²⁰ having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, the Messiah Jesus himself being the cornerstone. ²¹ In union with him the whole building is joined together and rises into a holy sanctuary for the Lord. ²² You, too, are being built in him, along with the others, into a place for God’s Spirit to dwell.

¹⁵ in case I am delayed, so that you may know how to behave in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.

³ because he is worthy of greater glory than Moses in the same way that the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. ⁴ After all, every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. ⁵ Moses was faithful in all God’s household as a servant who was to testify to what would be said later, ⁶ but the Messiah was faithful as the Son in charge of God’s household, and we are his household if we hold on to our courage and the hope in which we rejoice.

⁵ you, too, as living stones, are building yourselves up into a spiritual house and a holy priesthood, so that you may offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus, the Messiah. ⁶ This is why it says in Scripture: “Look! I am laying a chosen, precious cornerstone in Zion. The one who believes in him will never be ashamed.”

¹² I will make the one who conquers to become a pillar in the sanctuary of my God, and he will never go out of it again. I will write on him the name of my God, the name of the city of my God (the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God), and my own new name.

¹⁶ Joseph Sees BenjaminAs soon as Joseph noticed that Benjamin had come with them, he ordered his palace manager, “Bring the men into the palace. Slaughter an animal and prepare it, because these men will be dining with me for lunch.”

⁵ “Come! Eat my food, and drink the wine that I have mixed.

³⁰ Those who linger over their wine, who consume mixed drinks.

² I would lead you, I would bring you to the house of my mother who used to teach me. I would give you some spiced wine to drink, from the juice of my pomegranates.

⁶ Celebration of the Righteous“On this mountain, the LORD of the Heavenly Armies will prepare for all peoples a banquet of rich food, a banquet of well-aged wines— rich food full of marrow, and refined wines of the finest vintage

³ He sent his servants to call those who had been invited to the wedding, but they refused to come. ⁴ So he sent other servants after saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Look! I’ve prepared my dinner. My oxen and fattened calves have been slaughtered. Everything is ready. Come to the wedding!”’ ⁵ But they paid no attention to this and went away, one to his farm, another to his business. ⁶ The rest grabbed the king’s servants, treated them brutally, and then killed them. ⁷ Then the king became outraged. He sent his troops, and they destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
⁸ “Then he told his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. ⁹ So go into the roads leading out of town and invite as many people as you can find to the wedding.’ ¹⁰ Those servants went out into the streets and brought in everyone they found, evil and good alike, and the wedding hall was packed with guests.
¹¹ “When the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. ¹² He asked him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ But the man was speechless. ¹³ Then the king told his servants, ‘Tie his hands and feet, and throw him into the darkness outside!’ In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, ¹⁴ because many are invited, but few are chosen.”

¹⁶ Jesus told him, “A man gave a large banquet and invited many people. ¹⁷ When it was time for the banquet, he sent his servant to tell those who were invited, ‘Come! Everything is now ready.’

⁷ Get rid of the old yeast so that you may be a new batch of dough, since you are to be free from yeast. For the Messiah, our Passover, has been sacrificed. ⁸ So let’s keep celebrating the festival, neither with old yeast nor with yeast that is evil and wicked, but with yeast-free bread that is both sincere and true.

¹¹ The Lord issues a command. Numerous are the women who announce the news:

²⁰ The Benefits of Choosing WisdomWisdom cries out in the street; she raises her voice in the public squares. ²¹ She calls out at the busiest part of the noisy streets, and at the entrance to the gates of the city she utters her words: ²² “You naïve ones, how long will you love naiveté? And how long will scoffers delight in scoffing or fools hate knowledge?” ²³ Return to my correction! Look, I will pour out my spirit on you, and I will make my words known to you.

¹ Wisdom Calls for an Audience Isn’t wisdom calling out; isn’t understanding raising her voice? ² On top of the highest places along the road she stands where the roads meet. ³ Beside the gates, at the city entrance— at the entrance to the portals she cries aloud:

¹⁴ She sits at the entrance of her house, on a seat high above the city.

³ He sent his servants to call those who had been invited to the wedding, but they refused to come. ⁴ So he sent other servants after saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Look! I’ve prepared my dinner. My oxen and fattened calves have been slaughtered. Everything is ready. Come to the wedding!”’

⁹ So go into the roads leading out of town and invite as many people as you can find to the wedding.’

⁴⁹ That is why the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles. They will kill some of them and persecute others,’

¹⁷ When it was time for the banquet, he sent his servant to tell those who were invited, ‘Come! Everything is now ready.’

²¹ “So the servant went back and reported all this to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and told his servant, ‘Go quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring back the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’ ²² The servant said, ‘Sir, what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.’ ²³ Then the master told the servant, ‘Go out into the streets and the lanes and make the people come in, so that my house may be full.

³⁷ Rivers of Living WaterOn the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and shouted, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink!

²⁰ Jesus answered him, “I have spoken publicly to the world. I have always taught in the synagogue or in the Temple, where all Jews meet together, and I have said nothing in secret.

¹⁵ And how can people preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are those who bring the good news!”

²⁰ Therefore, we are the Messiah’s representatives, as though God were pleading through us. We plead on the Messiah’s behalf: “Be reconciled to God!” ²¹ God made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that God’s righteousness would be produced in us.

⁷ God’s Revelation in the LawThe Law of the LORD is perfect, restoring life. The testimony of the LORD is steadfast, making foolish people wise.

¹³⁰ The disclosure of your words illuminates, providing understanding to the simple.

²² “You naïve ones, how long will you love naiveté? And how long will scoffers delight in scoffing or fools hate knowledge?”

³² Whoever commits adultery with a woman is out of his mind; by doing so he corrupts his own soul.

⁵ Understand prudence, you naïve people; and gain an understanding heart, you foolish ones.

¹⁶ “Whoever is naïve, turn in here!” And to anyone lacking sense, she says,

²⁵ Jesus Praises the Father and Invites the Disciples to Come to Him
At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from wise and intelligent people and have revealed them to infants.

¹⁷ You say, “I am rich. I have become wealthy. I don’t need anything.” Yet you don’t realize that you are miserable, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. ¹⁸ Therefore, I advise you to buy from me gold purified in fire so you may be rich, white clothes to wear so your shameful nakedness won’t show, and ointment to put on your eyes so you may see.

¹⁷ Concluding InvitationThe Spirit and the bride say, “Come!”
Let everyone who hears this say, “Come!”
Let everyone who is thirsty come!
Let anyone who wants the water of life take it as a gift!

²⁶ The afflicted will eat and be satisfied; those who seek the LORD will praise him, “May you live forever!”

²⁹ All the prosperous people will eat and bow down in submission. All those who are about to go down to the grave will bow down in submission, along with the one who can no longer keep himself alive.

² She has prepared her food, she has spiced her wine, and she also has set her dining table.

¹⁷ “Stolen waters are sweet, and food eaten in secret is delicious.”

¹ The Lover I’ve come into my garden, my sister, my bride; I’ve gathered my myrrh with my spices. I’ve eaten my honeycomb with my honey. I’ve drunk my wine with my milk. Eat, friends! Drink and become drunk with love.

¹ An Invitation to Life “Come, everyone who is thirsty, come to the waters! Also, you that have no money, come, buy, and eat! Come! Buy wine and milk without money and without price. ² Why spend your money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in rich food. ³ Pay attention to me, come to me; and listen, so that you may live; then I’ll make an everlasting covenant with you, as promised by my faithful, sure love for David.

¹² They’ll come and cry out with joy on the heights of Zion. They’ll be radiant over the LORD’s goodness, over the grain, the new wine, the fresh oil, and over the young of the flocks and herds. Their lives will be like a well-watered garden. They’ll never again grow faint. ¹³ The virgins will rejoice with dancing, together with young men and old men. For I’ll turn their mourning into joy, and I’ll comfort them and give them gladness instead of sorrow. ¹⁴ I’ll give the priests abundant provisions, and my people will be satisfied with my goodness,” declares the LORD.

²⁶ The Lord’s Supper
While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and handed it to the disciples, saying, “Take this and eat it. This is my body.”
²⁷ Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you, ²⁸ because this is my blood of the new covenant that is being poured out for many people for the forgiveness of sins.

²⁷ Do not work for food that perishes but for food that lasts for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set his seal on him.”

⁴⁹ Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness and died. ⁵⁰ This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that a person may eat it and not die. ⁵¹ I’m the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats this bread, he’ll live forever. And the bread I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
⁵² Then the Jewish leaders debated angrily with each other, asking, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
⁵³ So Jesus told them, “Truly, I tell all of you emphatically, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you don’t have life in yourselves. ⁵⁴ Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I’ll raise him to life on the last day, ⁵⁵ because my flesh is real food, and my blood is real drink. ⁵⁶ The person who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. ⁵⁷ Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will also live because of me. ⁵⁸ This is the bread that came down from heaven, not the kind that your ancestors ate. They died, but the one who eats this bread will live forever.”

⁴ I do not sit with those committed to what is false, nor do I travel with hypocrites. ⁵ I hate the company of those who practice evil, nor do I sit with the wicked. ⁶ I wash my hands innocently. I go around your altar, LORD,

¹⁰ Listen, daughter! Consider and pay attention. Forget your people and your father’s house,

¹¹⁵ Leave me, you who practice evil, that I may observe the commands of my God.

¹¹ I have directed you in the way of wisdom, and I have led you along straight paths.

¹⁴ Avoiding the Ways of the WickedDo not enter the path of the wicked, or go along the way of evil men. ¹⁵ Avoid it! Don’t travel on it! Turn away from it, and pass on by.

³⁵ because those who find me find life and gain favor from the LORD.

¹¹ For because of me you will live a long life, and years will be added to your life.

¹⁷ Whoever heeds correction is on the pathway to life, but someone who ignores exhortation goes astray.

²⁰ Whoever keeps company with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools suffers harm.

¹³ The Narrow Gate
“Go in through the narrow gate, because the gate is wide and the road is spacious that leads to destruction, and many people are entering by it. ¹⁴ How narrow is the gate and how constricted is the road that leads to life, and there aren’t many people who find it!”

²⁴ “Keep on struggling to enter through the narrow door, because I tell you that many people will try to enter, but won’t be able to do so.

⁴⁰ Using many different expressions, Peter continued to testify and to plead: “Be saved,” he urged them, “from this corrupt generation!”

¹⁷ Therefore, “Get away from them and separate yourselves from them,” declares the Lord, “and don’t touch anything unclean. Then I will welcome you.

⁴ The Warning to Leave BabylonThen I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, so that you don’t participate in her sins and also suffer from her diseases.

⁸ Look here, I have two daughters who are virgins. Let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them whatever you wish, only don’t do anything to these men, because they’re here under my protection.”
⁹ But they replied, “Get out of the way! This man came here as a foreigner, and now he’s acting like a judge! So we’re going to deal more harshly with you than with them.” Then they pushed hard against the man (that is, against Lot), intending to break down the door.

¹⁷ When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab asked him, “Is it really you, you destroyer of Israel?”

²⁰ Later on, Ahab asked Elijah, “Have you found me, my enemy?”
But Elijah answered, “I’ve found you because you sold yourself to do what the LORD considers to be evil!

²⁴ Right then, Chenaanah’s son Zedekiah approached Micaiah and struck him on the cheek. Then he asked him, “How did the Spirit of the LORD move from me to speak to you?”

²⁷ Give him this order: ‘Place him in prison on survival rations of bread and water only until I come back safely.’”

²⁰ Then Jehoiada the priest’s son Zechariah was clothed by the Spirit of God, and he stood above the people and told them, “This is what God has to say: ‘Why are you breaking the LORD’s commandments. You’ll never be successful! Because you have abandoned the LORD, he has abandoned you.’”
²¹ But the people conspired against him, and at the direct orders of the king they stoned him to death in the courtyard of the LORD’s Temple. ²² This is how King Joash failed to remember the kindness that Zechariah’s father Jehoiada had shown him: he killed his son. As he lay dying, Zechariah cried out, “May the LORD watch this and avenge.”

¹⁵ As a result, the Lord became angry with Amaziah and sent a prophet to him, who asked him, “Why did you seek the gods of a people who were unable to deliver their own nation from you?”
¹⁶ But even while the prophet was speaking, the king asked him, “Did we appoint you to be a royal counselor? Stop! Why should you be struck down?”
So the prophet stopped speaking, but he also said, “I know God has determined to destroy you, because you’ve done all this and ignored my counsel.”

¹⁶ but they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets, until there was no remedy for the wrath of the LORD that arose to punish his people.

¹² The arrogant mocker never loves the one who corrects him; he will not inquire of the wise.

⁹ Don’t speak when a fool is listening, because he’ll despise your wise words.

¹⁷ “You are not to hate your relative in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor if you must, but you are not to incur guilt on account of him.

⁶ Nun’s son Joshua and Jephunneh’s son Caleb, who had accompanied the others who also had explored the land, tore their clothes ⁷ and attempted to reason with the entire congregation of Israel. They told them, “The land that we went through and explored is very, very good. ⁸ If the LORD is pleased with us, he’ll bring us into this land and give it to us. It flows with milk and honey. ⁹ However, don’t rebel against the LORD or be afraid of the people who live in the land, because we’ll gobble them right up. Their defenses will collapse, because the LORD is with us. You are not to be afraid of them.”
¹⁰ But the entire congregation was talking about stoning them to death.
God Rebukes Unbelieving IsraelSuddenly, the glory of the LORD appeared at the Tent of Meeting to all of the Israelis.

⁷ But Nathan replied to David, “You are the man! This is what the LORD God of Israel says:
“‘I anointed you king—and you became king over Israel.
“‘I delivered you from Saul’s control.
⁸ “‘I gave you your former master’s household.
“‘I placed your former master’s wives right in your arms.
“‘I gave you Israel and Judah.
“‘And if this had been too little, I would have added much more than that to you!
⁹ “‘Why did you despise what the LORD has promised by doing what is detestable in his sight?
“‘You struck down Uriah the Hittite with a battle sword.
“‘You took his wife to be your own.
“‘You killed him with the sword of the Ammonite army.
¹⁰ “‘Therefore the sword will never leave your household, because you have despised me by taking the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’
¹¹ “This is what the LORD says:
“‘Listen very carefully!
“‘I’m raising up evil against you right out of your own household.
“‘I’m going to take your wives away from you right before your eyes.
“‘Then I’ll give them to your neighbor.
“‘And then he’s going to have sex with your wives in broad daylight!
¹² “‘What you did in secret I’m going to do right in front of all Israel and in broad daylight as well!’”
¹³ At this point, David told Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.”
Nathan responded to David, “There’s one other thing: the LORD has forgiven your sin. You won’t die. ¹⁴ Nevertheless, because you have despised the LORD’s enemies with utter contempt, the son born to you will most certainly die.”

²³ They informed the king, “Nathan the prophet is here.”
When he had been ushered into the presence of the king, Nathan bowed low in front of the king with his face to the ground

³² “Get me Zadok the priest,” King David said, “along with Nathan the prophet, and Jehoiada’s son Benaiah.” So they were ushered into the king’s presence

⁸ “There is still one man left by whom we could ask the LORD what to do,” the king of Israel replied to Jehoshaphat, “but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me. Instead, he prophesies evil. He is Imla’s son Micaiah.”
But Jehoshaphat rebuked Ahab, “Kings should never talk like that.”

⁵ Let one who is righteous strike me; It is an act of gracious love. Let him rebuke me, because it is oil for my head; do not let my head refuse it. My prayers continuously will be against their wicked activities.

¹⁸ Poverty and shame are for those who ignore correction, but whoever listens to instruction gains honor.

²³ Whoever rebukes a man will later on find more favor than someone who flatters with his words.

¹ Advice on Life and Justice After many rebukes, the stiff-necked man will be broken incurably, without any warning.

⁶ Despising the Holy“Never give what is holy to dogs or throw your pearls before pigs. Otherwise, they will trample them with their feet and then turn around and attack you.”

¹⁴ Leave them alone. They are blind guides of the blind. If one blind person leads another blind person, both will fall into a ditch.”

¹¹ Paul Confronts Cephas in AntiochBut when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly wrong. ¹² Until some men arrived from James, he was in the habit of eating with the gentiles, but after those men came, he withdrew from the gentiles and would not associate with them any longer, because he was afraid of the circumcision party. ¹³ The other Jews also joined him in this hypocritical behavior, to the extent that even Barnabas was caught up in their hypocrisy. ¹⁴ But when I saw that they were not acting consistently with the truth of the gospel, I told Cephas in front of everyone, “Though you are a Jew, you have been living like a gentile and not like a Jew. So how can you insist that the gentiles must live like Jews?”

⁴ For it is impossible to keep on restoring to repentance time and again people who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have become partners with the Holy Spirit, ⁵ who have tasted the goodness of God’s word and the powers of the coming age, ⁶ and who have fallen away, as long as they continue to crucify the Son of God to their own detriment by exposing him to public ridicule. ⁷ For when the ground soaks up rain that often falls on it and continues producing vegetation useful to those for whom it is cultivated, it receives a blessing from God. ⁸ However, if it continues to produce thorns and thistles, it is worthless and in danger of being cursed, and in the end will be burned.

¹⁵ Think of our Lord’s patience as facilitating salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him. ¹⁶ He speaks about this subject in all his letters. Some things in them are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, leading to their own destruction, as they do the rest of the Scriptures.

⁵ Let the wise listen and increase their learning; let the person of understanding receive guidance

¹² Like a gold earring and a necklace of pure gold is a wise reprover to a listening ear.

³ Let us know, let us pursue knowledge of the LORD; his coming is as certain as the dawn. He will come to us like the rain, like the autumn and spring rains come on the earth.

¹¹ He answered them, “You have been given knowledge about the secrets of the kingdom from heaven, but it hasn’t been given to them, ¹² because to anyone who has something, more will be given, and he will have more than enough. But from the one who doesn’t have anything, even what he has will be taken away from him.

¹⁸ Instead, continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus, the Messiah. Glory belongs to him both now and on that eternal day! Amen.

²⁰ You have an anointing from the Holy One and know all things. ²¹ I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because lies don’t come from truth.

¹³ ConclusionI have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.

⁹ David Addresses Solomon Directly“Now as for you, my son Solomon, get to know the God of your father. Serve him with a sound heart and a devoted soul, because the LORD is searching every heart, every plan and thought. He will be found by you, assuming you are seeking him, but if you abandon him, he will abandon you forever.

²⁸ He has commanded mankind: ‘To fear the Lord—that is wisdom; to move away from evil—that is understanding.’”

¹⁰ The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; sound understanding belongs to those who practice it. Praise of God endures forever.

⁷ The Major ThemeThe fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

⁵ then you will understand the fear of the LORD and learn to know God.

³ I never acquired wisdom, but I know what the Holy One knows.

¹³ Let the conclusion of all of these thoughts be heard: Fear God and obey his commandments, for this is what it means to be human.

²⁷ All things have been entrusted to me by my Father. No one fully knows the Son except the Father, and no one fully knows the Father except the Son and the person to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

³ And this is eternal life: to know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent—Jesus the Messiah.

²⁰ We also know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know the true God. We are in union with the one who is true, his Son Jesus the Messiah, who is the true God and eternal life.

² so that you, your children, and your grandchildren may fear the LORD your God. Keep all his decrees and commandments that I’m giving you every day of your life, so you may live a long time.

² For they will add length to your days, years to your life, and abundant peace to you.

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

²⁷ Fearing the LORD prolongs life, but the wicked will not live long.

² “Can a human being be useful to God, since he, who is wise, is sufficient to himself? ³ Will it please the Almighty if you are innocent, or does he profit if your life is blameless?

²¹ Eliphaz Challenges Job to Repent“Get to know God, and you’ll be at peace with him, and then prosperity will come to you.

⁶ If you sin, what will that do to harm him? If you add transgression to transgression what will it do to him? ⁷ If you are righteous, what will you add to him? What can God receive from your efforts?

²⁶ The appetite of the laborer motivates him; indeed, his hunger drives him on.

²² But as for you, don’t start mocking, or your chains will become tighter; for I have heard from the LORD of the Heavenly Armies about destruction, and it is decreed against the whole land.

²⁰ The soul who sins dies. The son won’t bear the punishment of his father’s sin and the father won’t bear the punishment of his son’s sin. The righteous deeds of that righteous person will be attributed to him, while the wicked deeds of the wicked person will be charged against him.

³ First of all you must understand this: In the last days mockers will come and, following their own desires, will ridicule us ⁴ by saying, “What happened to the Messiah’s promise to return? Ever since our ancestors died, everything continues as it did from the beginning of creation.”

¹⁶ He speaks about this subject in all his letters. Some things in them are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, leading to their own destruction, as they do the rest of the Scriptures.

⁶ You aren’t thinking about where her life is headed; her steps wander, but you do not realize it.

¹¹ She is brazen and defiant— her feet don’t remain at home.

⁹ It’s better to live in a corner on the roof than to share a house with a contentious woman.

¹⁹ It’s better to live in the wilderness than to live with a contentious and irritable woman.

⁴ he is a conceited person and does not understand anything. He has an unhealthy craving for arguments and debates. This produces jealousy, rivalry, slander, evil suspicions,

¹⁰ Look! A woman makes her way to meet him, dressed as a prostitute and intending to entrap him. ¹¹ She is brazen and defiant— her feet don’t remain at home. ¹² Now she is in the street, now in the plazas, she lurks near every corner.

³ She has sent out her young women, while calling out from the heights of the city,

¹³ So she grabs hold of him and kisses him, with a brazen face she speaks to him, ¹⁴ “I have given my peace offerings, and today I fulfilled my vows. ¹⁵ Therefore, I’ve come out to meet you, I’ve looked just for you, and I found you!

²⁵ Don’t be led astray by her lifestyle, and don’t imitate her behavior. ²⁶ For many are the victims whom she has conquered, and many are her slain. ²⁷ Her house leads to Sheol, descending to death’s catacombs.

²⁷ because a prostitute is a deep pit, and the adulterous woman a narrow well. ²⁸ Surely she lies in wait like a bandit, increasing those who are faithless among mankind.

⁴ “Let whoever is naïve, turn in here.” To anyone lacking sense, she says,

⁶ When the woman saw that the tree produced good food, was attractive in appearance, and was desirable for making one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate it. Then she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate some, too.

²⁴ When he arrived at the stronghold, Gehazi took the bags from their custody and hid them away in the house. Then he sent the men away and they left.
²⁵ Later he went to address his master. Elisha asked him, “Where did you go, Gehazi?”
“Your servant went nowhere in particular,” he said.
²⁶ But Elisha responded, “Didn’t my heart break as the man was turning from his chariot to greet you? Is now the time to receive money? To receive clothes? And olive groves, vineyards, sheep, oxen, servants, or female attendants? ²⁷ Naaman’s leprosy will plague you and your descendants forever!” As he left Elisha’s presence, he was infected with leprosy that looked like white snow.

¹⁸ Come, let’s make love until dawn; let’s comfort ourselves with love, ¹⁹ because my husband isn’t home. He left on a long trip. ²⁰ He took a fist full of cash and he’ll return home in a month.”

¹⁷ Bread gained by deceit is sweet to a man, but later his mouth will be full of gravel.

³¹ Don’t stare into red wine, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly. ³² Eventually it will bite like a snake and sting like a serpent.

²⁰ This is what an immoral woman is like: she eats, wipes her mouth, then says “I’ve done nothing wrong.”

⁸ But sin seized the opportunity provided by this commandment and produced in me all kinds of sinful desires, since apart from the Law, sin is dead.

¹² For it is shameful even to mention what is done by these disobedient people in secret.

¹⁴ Instead, each person is tempted by his own desire, being lured and trapped by it. ¹⁵ When that desire becomes pregnant, it gives birth to sin; and when that sin grows up, it gives birth to death.

⁵ They neither know nor understand; they walk about in the dark while all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

¹⁸ For her house leads down to death, and her paths down to the realm of the dead. ¹⁹ None who go to her return, nor do they reach the paths of life.

⁵ Her feet go down to death; her steps lead to Sheol.

²⁶ because the price of a whore is a loaf of bread, and an adulterous woman stalks a man’s precious life.

²⁷ Her house leads to Sheol, descending to death’s catacombs.

⁵ But they deliberately ignore the fact that long ago the heavens existed and the earth was formed by God’s word out of water and with water,