Proverbs 1:18–27

¹⁶The Lord is known by the judgment which he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah.

¹⁰So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king’s wrath pacified.

¹⁷A man that doeth violence to the blood of any person shall flee to the pit; let no man stay him.

²²¶ His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.

²³He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.

¹⁴Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood.

¹⁵He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made.

¹⁶His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate.

⁴Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that.

⁵And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.

²³But thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction: bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; but I will trust in thee.

¹⁷Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.

¹⁸But he knoweth not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell.

²⁷He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house; but he that hateth gifts shall live.

³And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.

⁹¶ Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil!

¹GO to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.

²Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.

³Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

⁴Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.

¹⁷But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it.

¹⁸Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah; They shall not lament for him, saying, Ah my brother! or, Ah sister! they shall not lament for him, saying, Ah lord! or, Ah his glory!

¹⁹He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.

¹WOE to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand.

²And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them away: so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.

³Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, against this family do I devise an evil, from which ye shall not remove your necks; neither shall ye go haughtily: for this time is evil.

³Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat.

⁴Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.

³Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;

²⁰¶ But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, Behold, my master hath spared Naaman this Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought: but, as the Lord liveth, I will run after him, and take somewhat of him.

²¹So Gehazi followed after Naaman. And when Naaman saw him running after him, he lighted down from the chariot to meet him, and said, Is all well?

²²And he said, All is well. My master hath sent me, saying, Behold, even now there be come to me from mount Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets: give them, I pray thee, a talent of silver, and two changes of garments.

²³And Naaman said, Be content, take two talents. And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of garments, and laid them upon two of his servants; and they bare them before him.

²⁴And when he came to the tower, he took them from their hand, and bestowed them in the house: and he let the men go, and they departed.

²⁵But he went in, and stood before his master. And Elisha said unto him, Whence comest thou, Gehazi? And he said, Thy servant went no whither.

²⁶And he said unto him, Went not mine heart with thee, when the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee? Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and oliveyards, and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and maidservants?

²⁷The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever. And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow.

¹⁹Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost.

²⁰But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.

¹³There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.

¹⁰They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.

¹¹The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the Lord, and say, Is not the Lord among us? none evil can come upon us.

¹²Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.

⁹But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.

¹⁰For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

¹⁴Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children:

¹⁵Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;

¹⁶But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man’s voice forbad the madness of the prophet.

¹¹And Joab said unto the man that told him, And, behold, thou sawest him, and why didst thou not smite him there to the ground? and I would have given thee ten shekels of silver, and a girdle.

¹²And the man said unto Joab, Though I should receive a thousand shekels of silver in mine hand, yet would I not put forth mine hand against the king’s son: for in our hearing the king charged thee and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Beware that none touch the young man Absalom.

¹³Otherwise I should have wrought falsehood against mine own life: for there is no matter hid from the king, and thou thyself wouldest have set thyself against me.

³⁹If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, or have caused the owners thereof to lose their life:

³She hath sent forth her maidens: she crieth upon the highest places of the city,

³In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

²⁴But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

⁴⁹Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute:

¹DOTH not wisdom cry? and understanding put forth her voice?

²She standeth in the top of high places, by the way in the places of the paths.

³She crieth at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors.

⁴Unto you, O men, I call; and my voice is to the sons of man.

⁵O ye simple, understand wisdom: and, ye fools, be ye of an understanding heart.

³⁰But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:

⁵⁴And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works?

³⁷In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.

²⁰Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life.

²⁷What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.

²And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.

³She hath sent forth her maidens: she crieth upon the highest places of the city,

²⁰Jesus answered him, I spake openly to the world; I ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort; and in secret have I said nothing.

³Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,

²⁰For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

²⁹For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord:

¹²And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;

¹BLESSED is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

⁴²Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.

²⁹Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

³⁰For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

¹³But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

¹⁷And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

²⁹Judgments are prepared for scorners, and stripes for the back of fools.

¹¹When the scorner is punished, the simple is made wise: and when the wise is instructed, he receiveth knowledge.

⁹How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?

³And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews, How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me? let my people go, that they may serve me.

²⁸And the Lord said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?

⁷What man is like Job, who drinketh up scorning like water?

¹⁷Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me.

³⁷O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!

²⁷How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me.

⁴To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.

⁷¶ The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

⁶A scorner seeketh wisdom, and findeth it not: but knowledge is easy unto him that understandeth.

¹²A scorner loveth not one that reproveth him: neither will he go unto the wise.

³⁴Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace unto the lowly.

⁷And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding,

⁵O ye simple, understand wisdom: and, ye fools, be ye of an understanding heart.

¹⁶Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: and as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him,

¹⁷Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.

¹⁸But he knoweth not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell.

⁴Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him,

⁵Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled.

⁶Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding.

⁸Understand, ye brutish among the people: and ye fools, when will ye be wise?

¹⁹¶ Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;

¹¹Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

²⁷Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive.

²⁸Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die.

²⁹Yet saith the house of Israel, The way of the Lord is not equal. O house of Israel, are not my ways equal? are not your ways unequal?

³⁰Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord God. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.

³⁶Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.

³⁷¶ Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?

³⁸Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

²⁸¶ And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:

¹⁵Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest.

⁶¶ Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:

⁷Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

¹WHOSO loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof is brutish.

²⁰But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judæa, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.

¹HO, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

²Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.

³Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.

¹³If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

¹⁶So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

¹⁷Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

¹⁸I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

¹⁹As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

¹⁰And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.

³⁶What manner of saying is this that he said, Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I am, thither ye cannot come?

³⁷In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.

¹⁷He is in the way of life that keepeth instruction: but he that refuseth reproof erreth.

⁸Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the Lord have created it.

¹HE, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.

¹I WILL extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever.

¹O ISRAEL, return unto the Lord thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.

¹⁴Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:

³⁰They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.

²⁵But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:

²³For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:

¹²Therefore will I number you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter: because when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but did evil before mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not.

²¹But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.

¹³And now, because ye have done all these works, saith the Lord, and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not;

⁴I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not.

²⁵See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:

²⁶Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.

¹⁸Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.

⁵But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise:

⁶And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them.

¹¹But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.

¹²Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the Lord of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the Lord of hosts.

²Wherefore, when I came, was there no man? when I called, was there none to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver? behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish stinketh, because there is no water, and dieth for thirst.

³⁷O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!

³⁸Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.

²⁰Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.

³⁰By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus.

³⁰But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him.

¹¹But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me.

³⁰They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.

¹WHOSO loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof is brutish.

¹¹Because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the most High:

¹⁶But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy.

¹²And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;

²⁴The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him: but the desire of the righteous shall be granted.

⁴He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.

¹³The Lord shall laugh at him: for he seeth that his day is coming.

²⁴For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.

¹⁵Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy.

¹⁴Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation.

²⁵Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh.

²⁶For the Lord shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken.

³For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

¹³The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.

²³But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people.

²⁴And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

²⁵¶ And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;

²⁶Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

³⁴¶ And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.

³⁵For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.

³The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.

²⁴The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him: but the desire of the righteous shall be granted.

²⁵As the whirlwind passeth, so is the wicked no more: but the righteous is an everlasting foundation.

⁹Before your pots can feel the thorns, he shall take them away as with a whirlwind, both living, and in his wrath.

²²Let their table become a snare before them: and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap.

²³Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not; and make their loins continually to shake.

²⁴Pour out thine indignation upon them, and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them.

²⁵Let their habitation be desolate; and let none dwell in their tents.

²⁶For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten; and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded.

²⁷Add iniquity unto their iniquity: and let them not come into thy righteousness.

²⁸Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.

⁹Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;

¹⁵And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;

¹⁶And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:

¹⁷For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?