Proverbs 15:25–32

⁹The Lord preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down.

⁵A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation.

⁶God setteth the solitary in families: he bringeth out those which are bound with chains: but the rebellious dwell in a dry land.

¹⁷For the Lord your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward:

¹⁸He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment.

⁷The wicked are overthrown, and are not: but the house of the righteous shall stand.

¹¹The house of the wicked shall be overthrown: but the tabernacle of the upright shall flourish.

¹⁰Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless:

²⁰But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him:

¹²For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low:

²⁷Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

¹¹Cast abroad the rage of thy wrath: and behold every one that is proud, and abase him.

¹²Look on every one that is proud, and bring him low; and tread down the wicked in their place.

¹³Hide them in the dust together; and bind their faces in secret.

⁶Though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off.

⁵Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.

⁵God shall likewise destroy thee for ever, he shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place, and root thee out of the land of the living. Selah.

¹⁴¶ Thou shalt not remove thy neighbour’s landmark, which they of old time have set in thine inheritance, which thou shalt inherit in the land that the Lord thy God giveth thee to possess it.

¹WHY boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? the goodness of God endureth continually.

¹⁶¶ These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:

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

¹⁸An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,

¹⁹A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.

¹⁴O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?

³⁴O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.

³⁵A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.

³⁶But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.

³⁷For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.

²³A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth: and a word spoken in due season, how good is it!

¹⁴Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.

³⁰The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment.

³¹The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide.

¹MY heart is inditing a good matter: I speak of the things which I have made touching the king: my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.

¹⁹For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:

⁹The thought of foolishness is sin: and the scorner is an abomination to men.

⁸¶ And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous.

¹⁹So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.

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.

¹⁹Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous.

¹⁵He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;

¹⁶He shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.

²⁹He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind: and the fool shall be servant to the wise of heart.

²¹Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens:

²⁴And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor.

²⁵And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the Lord shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones.

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!

¹⁰Thou hast consulted shame to thy house by cutting off many people, and hast sinned against thy soul.

¹¹For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it.

³Then said he unto me, This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth: for every one that stealeth shall be cut off as on this side according to it; and every one that sweareth shall be cut off as on that side according to it.

⁴I will bring it forth, saith the Lord of hosts, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth falsely by my name: and it shall remain in the midst of his house, and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof.

³And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.

⁴Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah,

⁵And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.

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.

²⁶Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it: but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a cursed thing.

⁸¶ Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth!

⁹In mine ears said the Lord of hosts, Of a truth many houses shall be desolate, even great and fair, without inhabitant.

¹⁰Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of an homer shall yield an ephah.

¹⁸And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it.

¹¹Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it even among their own stuff.

¹²Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you.

¹⁹As righteousness tendeth to life: so he that pursueth evil pursueth it to his own death.

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

¹⁶The prince that wanteth understanding is also a great oppressor: but he that hateth covetousness shall prolong his days.

⁴The king by judgment establisheth the land: but he that receiveth gifts overthroweth it.

¹⁵But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:

²Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.

¹¹A fool uttereth all his mind: but a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards.

⁶And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.

⁷For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind:

⁸But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.

²³The heart of the wise teacheth his mouth, and addeth learning to his lips.

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

¹²The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself.

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

¹⁴A fool also is full of words: a man cannot tell what shall be; and what shall be after him, who can tell him?

⁶Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?

³⁴O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.

¹⁹In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise.

²⁰Seest thou a man that is hasty in his words? there is more hope of a fool than of him.

¹⁶Every prudent man dealeth with knowledge: but a fool layeth open his folly.

²³Then said the king, The one saith, This is my son that liveth, and thy son is the dead: and the other saith, Nay; but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living.

²⁴And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king.

²⁵And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.

²⁶Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it.

²⁷Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof.

²⁸And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment.

¹⁰For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision:

¹¹Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre’s sake.

¹⁸For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.

³¹Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth.

¹⁸The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.

¹⁹He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them.

¹²For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.

⁸The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord: but the prayer of the upright is his delight.

¹⁵The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.

¹⁶The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.

¹⁷The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.

¹⁶Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

¹⁷Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.

¹⁸And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.

¹²That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:

¹³But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

²⁶Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

²⁷And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

¹⁸If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:

¹⁹But verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer.

⁶Though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off.

⁸¶ For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.

⁹For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

⁴⁶And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

²⁷For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish: thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee.

¹WHY standest thou afar off, O Lord? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?

⁴¹They cried, but there was none to save them: even unto the Lord, but he answered them not.

¹⁰And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

¹¹For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

¹²And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

¹³And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

¹⁴Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

¹⁵And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

¹⁶And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

¹⁷And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

¹⁸And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

¹⁹But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

¹¹And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.

²⁵As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.

⁵And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.

²³And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.

⁸And now for a little space grace hath been shewed from the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage.

²²A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.

⁷¶ Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun:

⁸It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.

¹⁵Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance.

⁹The light of the righteous rejoiceth: but the lamp of the wicked shall be put out.

⁵A fool despiseth his father’s instruction: but he that regardeth reproof is prudent.

¹²As an earring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear.

³Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.

⁴Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

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

⁸Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee.

⁹Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.

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.

²³Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.

²⁰He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.

¹⁹They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.

²⁴¶ Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;

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

²⁶I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;

²⁷When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.

²⁸Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:

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

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.

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

³³But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.

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

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

⁵¶ Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.

³O Lord, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.

¹⁵The heart of the prudent getteth knowledge; and the ear of the wise seeketh knowledge.

³³Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not.

³⁴Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors.

³⁵For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the Lord.

³⁶But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death.

¹⁸¶ If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them:

²⁰And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard.

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

²⁴¶ Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:

²⁵And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

²⁶And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:

²⁷And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

¹⁴The heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge: but the mouth of fools feedeth on foolishness.

²¹Folly is joy to him that is destitute of wisdom: but a man of understanding walketh uprightly.

¹⁶Wherefore is there a price in the hand of a fool to get wisdom, seeing he hath no heart to it?

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

¹¹And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,

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

¹³And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!

¹⁷Seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my words behind thee.

¹³In thy filthiness is lewdness: because I have purged thee, and thou wast not purged, thou shalt not be purged from thy filthiness any more, till I have caused my fury to rest upon thee.

¹⁴I the Lord have spoken it: it shall come to pass, and I will do it; I will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I repent; according to thy ways, and according to thy doings, shall they judge thee, saith the Lord God.

¹⁵Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;