Proverbs 14:12–16

²⁵There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

¹³¶ Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:

¹⁴Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

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

³For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.

²⁴¶ Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.

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

¹²There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.

²²But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

⁶Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.

²I said of laughter, It is mad: and of mirth, What doeth it?

⁹Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.

⁹¶ Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.

¹⁰And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour.

¹¹Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.

⁵It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools.

⁶For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool: this also is vanity.

²⁵But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.

⁴But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword.

⁷How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

⁸Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.

⁸For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

¹⁴A man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth: and the recompence of a man’s hands shall be rendered unto him.

¹²Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.

⁵Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return.

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.

²⁰For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.

²¹For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.

²²But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.

⁴But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.

¹⁴But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

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

³²For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.

⁵¶ Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord.

¹⁰The heart knoweth his own bitterness; and a stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy.

⁶And them that are turned back from the Lord; and those that have not sought the Lord, nor inquired for him.

¹²For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward.

³¹Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord God.

¹⁶For Israel slideth back as a backsliding heifer: now the Lord will feed them as a lamb in a large place.

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

⁸The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way: but the folly of fools is deceit.

¹BELOVED, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

¹²A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished.

²⁶Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.

¹⁴That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

³A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.

¹⁸For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.

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.

⁷Which was with the deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man; who called for Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the word of God.

¹³Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for it is an evil time.

³A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.

⁷¶ Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil.

²²Abstain from all appearance of evil.

¹⁸And Joseph said unto them the third day, This do, and live; for I fear God:

⁹If a wise man contendeth with a foolish man, whether he rage or laugh, there is no rest.

¹⁰And Ben-hadad sent unto him, and said, The gods do so unto me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me.

¹¹And the king of Israel answered and said, Tell him, Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off.

⁹And Esau said, I have enough, my brother; keep that thou hast unto thyself.

²¹If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, when I saw my help in the gate:

²²Then let mine arm fall from my shoulder blade, and mine arm be broken from the bone.

²³For destruction from God was a terror to me, and by reason of his highness I could not endure.

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.

¹⁴Happy is the man that feareth alway: but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief.

²Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time.

¹⁸And he said, Whether they be come out for peace, take them alive; or whether they be come out for war, take them alive.

¹⁷For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John, and bound him in prison for Herodias’ sake, his brother Philip’s wife: for he had married her.

¹⁸For John had said unto Herod, It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother’s wife.

¹⁹Therefore Herodias had a quarrel against him, and would have killed him; but she could not:

²²He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks;

¹²⁰My flesh trembleth for fear of thee; and I am afraid of thy judgments.

¹³The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness: and the end of his talk is mischievous madness.

²⁸And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.

⁴⁰And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also?

²⁴And she went forth, and said unto her mother, What shall I ask? And she said, The head of John the Baptist.

²⁵And she came in straightway with haste unto the king, and asked, saying, I will that thou give me by and by in a charger the head of John the Baptist.

¹⁵But the former governors that had been before me were chargeable unto the people, and had taken of them bread and wine, beside forty shekels of silver; yea, even their servants bare rule over the people: but so did not I, because of the fear of God.

¹⁴Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.