1 Wine is a mocker,
Strong drink is a brawler,
And whoever is led astray by it is not wise.
2 The wrath of a king is like the roaring of a lion;
Whoever provokes him to anger sins against his own life.
3 It is honorable for a man to stop striving,
Since any fool can start a quarrel.
4 The lazy man will not plow because of winter;
He will beg during harvest and have nothing.
5 Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water,
But a man of understanding will draw it out.
6 Most men will proclaim each his own goodness,
But who can find a faithful man?
7 The righteous man walks in his integrity;
His children are blessed after him.
8 A king who sits on the throne of judgment
Scatters all evil with his eyes.
9 Who can say, “I have made my heart clean,
I am pure from my sin”?
10 Diverse weights and diverse measures,
They are both alike, an abomination to the Lord.
11 Even a child is known by his deeds,
Whether what he does is pure and right.
12 The hearing ear and the seeing eye,
The Lord has made them both.
13 Do not love sleep, lest you come to poverty;
Open your eyes, and you will be satisfied with bread.
14 “It is good for nothing,” cries the buyer;
But when he has gone his way, then he boasts.
15 There is gold and a multitude of rubies,
But the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.
16 Take the garment of one who is surety for a stranger,
And hold it as a pledge when it is for a seductress.
17 Bread gained by deceit is sweet to a man,
But afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel.
18 Plans are established by counsel;
By wise counsel wage war.
19 He who goes about as a talebearer reveals secrets;
Therefore do not associate with one who flatters with his lips.
20 Whoever curses his father or his mother,
His lamp will be put out in deep darkness.
21 An inheritance gained hastily at the beginning
Will not be blessed at the end.
22 Do not say, “I will recompense evil”;
Wait for the Lord, and He will save you.
23 Diverse weights are an abomination to the Lord,
And dishonest scales are not good.
24 A man’s steps are of the Lord;
How then can a man understand his own way?
25 It is a snare for a man to devote rashly something as holy,
And afterward to reconsider his vows.
26 A wise king sifts out the wicked,
And brings the threshing wheel over them.
27 The spirit of a man is the lamp of the Lord,
Searching all the inner depths of his heart.
28 Mercy and truth preserve the king,
And by lovingkindness he upholds his throne.
29 The glory of young men is their strength,
And the splendor of old men is their gray head.
30 Blows that hurt cleanse away evil,
As do stripes the inner depths of the heart.
1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
6 For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. 10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. 11 And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.
12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned— 13 (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. 15 But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. 16 And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. 17 For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)
18 Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. 19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.
20 Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, 21 so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.