Proverbs 13:5–16

⁹Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;

²⁵Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.

¹⁶³I hate and abhor lying: but thy law do I love.

⁴³And there shall ye remember your ways, and all your doings, wherein ye have been defiled; and ye shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that ye have committed.

³¹Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.

³⁵The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools.

⁸But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

²And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

⁹And they that escape of you shall remember me among the nations whither they shall be carried captives, because I am broken with their whorish heart, which hath departed from me, and with their eyes, which go a whoring after their idols: and they shall lothe themselves for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations.

⁸Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me:

¹⁷A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,

⁸Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and my soul lothed them, and their soul also abhorred me.

³The integrity of the upright shall guide them: but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them.

⁵The righteousness of the perfect shall direct his way: but the wicked shall fall by his own wickedness.

⁶The righteousness of the upright shall deliver them: but transgressors shall be taken in their own naughtiness.

¹²The righteous man wisely considereth the house of the wicked: but God overthroweth the wicked for their wickedness.

¹¹Let not an evil speaker be established in the earth: evil shall hunt the violent man to overthrow him.

²He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart.

²¹Let integrity and uprightness preserve me; for I wait on thee.

¹JUDGE me, O Lord; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the Lord; therefore I shall not slide.

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

²³For he sacrificed unto the gods of Damascus, which smote him: and he said, Because the gods of the kings of Syria help them, therefore will I sacrifice to them, that they may help me. But they were the ruin of him, and of all Israel.

¹¹The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.

¹²I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.

¹³And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

¹⁴I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

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:

²⁴There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.

⁹He that is despised, and hath a servant, is better than he that honoureth himself, and lacketh bread.

⁷But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

¹⁰As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.

⁵Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?

²¹So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

¹¹Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished: but he that gathereth by labour shall increase.

¹⁹While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.

¹⁰We are fools for Christ’s sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised.

¹¹Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace;

¹CAST thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.

²Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth.

³³Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.

⁹I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.

⁸Now ye are full, now ye are rich, ye have reigned as kings without us: and I would to God ye did reign, that we also might reign with you.

²⁶For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

¹⁸Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;

¹⁹But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

¹⁴And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths: none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land.

⁶They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches;

⁷None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him:

⁸(For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever:)

⁹That he should still live for ever, and not see corruption.

¹⁰For he seeth that wise men die, likewise the fool and the brutish person perish, and leave their wealth to others.

¹²But the captain of the guard left of the poor of the land to be vinedressers and husbandmen.

¹⁰But Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard left of the poor of the people, which had nothing, in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time.

⁴And Satan answered the Lord, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.

¹²I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord.

³⁰If there be laid on him a sum of money, then he shall give for the ransom of his life whatsoever is laid upon him.

⁸But ten men were found among them that said unto Ishmael, Slay us not: for we have treasures in the field, of wheat, and of barley, and of oil, and of honey. So he forbare, and slew them not among their brethren.

³⁵He will not regard any ransom; neither will he rest content, though thou givest many gifts.

²⁰For there shall be no reward to the evil man; the candle of the wicked shall be put out.

¹⁸But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.

²⁰Whoso curseth his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness.

⁴Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: he is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.

¹¹Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart.

⁵Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out, and the spark of his fire shall not shine.

⁶The light shall be dark in his tabernacle, and his candle shall be put out with him.

⁸And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.

³⁶And unto his son will I give one tribe, that David my servant may have a light alway before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen me to put my name there.

¹⁰¶ Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God.

¹¹Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.

¹⁷How oft is the candle of the wicked put out! and how oft cometh their destruction upon them! God distributeth sorrows in his anger.

³When his candle shined upon my head, and when by his light I walked through darkness;

¹³Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

²⁰Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end.

¹⁵The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise.

¹⁶A fool’s wrath is presently known: but a prudent man covereth shame.

⁴He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings,

¹⁴The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water: therefore leave off contention, before it be meddled with.

⁹I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not.

¹⁰Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church.

¹⁴But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.

¹⁵This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.

¹⁶For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.

¹FROM whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?

²⁴¶ And there was also a strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest.

¹⁰And the young men that were grown up with him spake unto him, saying, Thus shalt thou speak unto this people that spake unto thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it lighter unto us; thus shalt thou say unto them, My little finger shall be thicker than my father’s loins.

¹¹And now whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my father hath chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.

¹⁶¶ So when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: to your tents, O Israel: now see to thine own house, David. So Israel departed unto their tents.

¹⁰Thou hast indeed smitten Edom, and thine heart hath lifted thee up: glory of this, and tarry at home: for why shouldest thou meddle to thy hurt, that thou shouldest fall, even thou, and Judah with thee?

¹AND in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.

²Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables.

³Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.

⁴But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.

⁵¶ And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch:

⁵Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?

⁶But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

¹AND the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and went northward, and said unto Jephthah, Wherefore passedst thou over to fight against the children of Ammon, and didst not call us to go with thee? we will burn thine house upon thee with fire.

²And Jephthah said unto them, I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon; and when I called you, ye delivered me not out of their hands.

³And when I saw that ye delivered me not, I put my life in my hands, and passed over against the children of Ammon, and the Lord delivered them into my hand: wherefore then are ye come up unto me this day, to fight against me?

⁴Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, and fought with Ephraim: and the men of Gilead smote Ephraim, because they said, Ye Gileadites are fugitives of Ephraim among the Ephraimites, and among the Manassites.

⁵And the Gileadites took the passages of Jordan before the Ephraimites: and it was so, that when those Ephraimites which were escaped said, Let me go over; that the men of Gilead said unto him, Art thou an Ephraimite? If he said, Nay;

⁶Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth: for he could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him, and slew him at the passages of Jordan: and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand.

¹AND the men of Ephraim said unto him, Why hast thou served us thus, that thou calledst us not, when thou wentest to fight with the Midianites? And they did chide with him sharply.

²And he said unto them, What have I done now in comparison of you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abi-ezer?

³God hath delivered into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb: and what was I able to do in comparison of you? Then their anger was abated toward him, when he had said that.

²⁸For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?

²⁹Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him,

³⁰Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.

³¹Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?

³²Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace.

¹⁸Every purpose is established by counsel: and with good advice make war.

²⁴Proud and haughty scorner is his name, who dealeth in proud wrath.

⁸Go not forth hastily to strive, lest thou know not what to do in the end thereof, when thy neighbour hath put thee to shame.

²¹An inheritance may be gotten hastily at the beginning; but the end thereof shall not be blessed.

²Treasures of wickedness profit nothing: but righteousness delivereth from death.

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.

⁵Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.

⁸He that by usury and unjust gain increaseth his substance, he shall gather it for him that will pity the poor.

¹⁶Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare raiment as the clay;

¹⁷He may prepare it, but the just shall put it on, and the innocent shall divide the silver.

²²A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just.

²³Much food is in the tillage of the poor: but there is that is destroyed for want of judgment.

²³Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds.

²⁴For riches are not for ever: and doth the crown endure to every generation?

²⁵The hay appeareth, and the tender grass sheweth itself, and herbs of the mountains are gathered.

²⁶The lambs are for thy clothing, and the goats are the price of the field.

²⁷And thou shalt have goats’ milk enough for thy food, for the food of thy household, and for the maintenance for thy maidens.

²⁰A faithful man shall abound with blessings: but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent.

²²He that hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye, and considereth not that poverty shall come upon him.

⁶Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his! how long? and to him that ladeth himself with thick clay!

⁷Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee, and awake that shall vex thee, and thou shalt be for booties unto them?

¹¹As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not; so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool.

²For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.

¹⁵He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his belly.

¹⁴But those riches perish by evil travail: and he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand.

²⁸And he dwelleth in desolate cities, and in houses which no man inhabiteth, which are ready to become heaps.

²⁹He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue, neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof upon the earth.

¹⁹Because he hath oppressed and hath forsaken the poor; because he hath violently taken away an house which he builded not;

²⁰Surely he shall not feel quietness in his belly, he shall not save of that which he desired.

²¹There shall none of his meat be left; therefore shall no man look for his goods.

²²In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits: every hand of the wicked shall come upon him.

²²And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.

¹⁹The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul: but it is abomination to fools to depart from evil.

⁸¹My soul fainteth for thy salvation: but I hope in thy word.

⁸²Mine eyes fail for thy word, saying, When wilt thou comfort me?

⁸³For I am become like a bottle in the smoke; yet do I not forget thy statutes.

³⁰The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.

¹⁸She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her.

¹⁵As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.

³I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.

⁷Hear me speedily, O Lord: my spirit faileth: hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit.

⁶¶ And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me.

⁷And she said, Who would have said unto Abraham, that Sarah should have given children suck? for I have born him a son in his old age.

²He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.

³And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord.

⁸I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I am sick of love.

²⁶And she said, Oh my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the Lord.

²⁷For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of him:

²⁸Therefore also I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the Lord. And he worshipped the Lord there.

³⁰And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive.

²⁹Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word:

³⁰For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,

²In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

¹AS the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.

²My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?

³My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?

³¹Because he hath despised the word of the Lord, and hath broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him.

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.

⁸Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.

¹⁶⁵Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.

¹⁶Because they despised my judgments, and walked not in my statutes, but polluted my sabbaths: for their heart went after their idols.

¹³But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they walked not in my statutes, and they despised my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; and my sabbaths they greatly polluted: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them in the wilderness, to consume them.

¹¹Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.

²⁴Because they had not executed my judgments, but had despised my statutes, and had polluted my sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers’ idols.

¹³He will bless them that fear the Lord, both small and great.

²For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.

³¹And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

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

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

³¹Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.

²¹Evil pursueth sinners: but to the righteous good shall be repayed.

¹⁶¶ Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name.

⁹Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.

¹⁰Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.

²⁸He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:

²⁹Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?

¹⁶As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the Lord, we will not hearken unto thee.

¹⁷But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil.

¹²Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

³Now therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them, according to the counsel of my lord, and of those that tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law.

²Then spake Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men, saying unto Jeremiah, Thou speakest falsely: the Lord our God hath not sent thee to say, Go not into Egypt to sojourn there:

¹¹The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life: but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked.

²⁷The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.

⁵The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me.

⁶The sorrows of hell compassed me about; the snares of death prevented me;

⁷In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried to my God: and he did hear my voice out of his temple, and my cry did enter into his ears.

¹⁷The highway of the upright is to depart from evil: he that keepeth his way preserveth his soul.

⁶By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil.

³The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow.

²⁴The way of life is above to the wise, that he may depart from hell beneath.

²²Understanding is a wellspring of life unto him that hath it: but the instruction of fools is folly.

¹¹For by me thy days shall be multiplied, and the years of thy life shall be increased.

¹⁹Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord God of hosts.

¹⁹The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.

¹⁰Correction is grievous unto him that forsaketh the way: and he that hateth reproof shall die.

²¹What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.

¹⁰And delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house.

⁴So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.

¹⁰The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.

⁹When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work.

¹⁰Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways:

¹¹Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.

¹⁴And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and the Lord was with him.

¹⁵Wherefore when Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely, he was afraid of him.

¹⁶But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he went out and came in before them.

⁵²And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.

³⁵The king’s favour is toward a wise servant: but his wrath is against him that causeth shame.

²The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness.

¹⁷Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.

²²Lying lips are abomination to the Lord: but they that deal truly are his delight.

²³A prudent man concealeth knowledge: but the heart of fools proclaimeth foolishness.

³Yea also, when he that is a fool walketh by the way, his wisdom faileth him, and he saith to every one that he is a fool.

¹³¶ Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.

¹⁹For your obedience is come abroad unto all men. I am glad therefore on your behalf: but yet I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil.

²⁰Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men.

¹⁰¶ And Nabal answered David’s servants, and said, Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? there be many servants now a days that break away every man from his master.

¹¹Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men, whom I know not whence they be?

¹⁷Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do; for evil is determined against our master, and against all his household: for he is such a son of Belial, that a man cannot speak to him.

²⁵Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, even Nabal: for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him: but I thine handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send.

¹⁶¶ Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.

²⁴Proud and haughty scorner is his name, who dealeth in proud wrath.

⁵A good man sheweth favour, and lendeth: he will guide his affairs with discretion.