Proverbs 15:4–7

²⁴Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.

¹⁸There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword: but the tongue of the wise is health.

⁸The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.

²¶ But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.

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

¹⁴The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but a wounded spirit who can bear?

⁷He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

²²The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.

²²For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me.

²Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs; like a sharp rasor, working deceitfully.

³Thou lovest evil more than good; and lying rather than to speak righteousness. Selah.

⁴Thou lovest all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue.

³If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness;

²²¶ And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

²³Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.

²⁴So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

³¹The ear that heareth the reproof of life abideth among the wise.

³²He that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul: but he that heareth reproof getteth understanding.

¹⁸Poverty and shame shall be to him that refuseth instruction: but he that regardeth reproof shall be honoured.

¹A WISE son heareth his father’s instruction: but a scorner heareth not rebuke.

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

²⁰And David said to Solomon his son, Be strong and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed: for the Lord God, even my God, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the Lord.

¹⁵These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.

¹¹Now, my son, the Lord be with thee; and prosper thou, and build the house of the Lord thy God, as he hath said of thee.

¹²Only the Lord give thee wisdom and understanding, and give thee charge concerning Israel, that thou mayest keep the law of the Lord thy God.

¹³Then shalt thou prosper, if thou takest heed to fulfil the statutes and judgments which the Lord charged Moses with concerning Israel: be strong, and of good courage; dread not, nor be dismayed.

⁹¶ And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.

⁵Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head: for yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities.

¹³This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith;

²³And he said unto them, Why do ye such things? for I hear of your evil dealings by all this people.

²⁴Nay, my sons; for it is no good report that I hear: ye make the Lord’s people to transgress.

²⁵If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him: but if a man sin against the Lord, who shall intreat for him? Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto the voice of their father, because the Lord would slay them.

¹AND it came to pass after this, that Absalom prepared him chariots and horses, and fifty men to run before him.

²And Absalom rose up early, and stood beside the way of the gate: and it was so, that when any man that had a controversy came to the king for judgment, then Absalom called unto him, and said, Of what city art thou? And he said, Thy servant is of one of the tribes of Israel.

³And Absalom said unto him, See, thy matters are good and right; but there is no man deputed of the king to hear thee.

⁴Absalom said moreover, Oh that I were made judge in the land, that every man which hath any suit or cause might come unto me, and I would do him justice!

⁵And it was so, that when any man came nigh to him to do him obeisance, he put forth his hand, and took him, and kissed him.

⁶And on this manner did Absalom to all Israel that came to the king for judgment: so Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.

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

¹THE proverbs of Solomon. A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother.

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

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

²¹That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures.

²²The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.

²⁰There is treasure to be desired and oil in the dwelling of the wise; but a foolish man spendeth it up.

³Wealth and riches shall be in his house: and his righteousness endureth for ever.

²⁶Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.

⁸Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right.

¹⁶A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked.

⁶Better is an handful with quietness, than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit.

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.

²³When he is about to fill his belly, God shall cast the fury of his wrath upon him, and shall rain it upon him while he is eating.

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

¹⁶Better is little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble therewith.

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.

¹⁰He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity.

¹¹When goods increase, they are increased that eat them: and what good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes?

¹²The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.

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

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

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

²⁹Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

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.

²⁰The tongue of the just is as choice silver: the heart of the wicked is little worth.

²¹The lips of the righteous feed many: but fools die for want of wisdom.

⁹Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace:

¹⁰For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city.

⁹And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs.

¹⁰The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth.

¹⁵And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

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

¹⁸And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

¹⁹¶ Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

²⁰Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

¹³With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth.

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

²Thou art fairer than the children of men: grace is poured into thy lips: therefore God hath blessed thee for ever.

¹³Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.

¹⁴Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.

¹⁵O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.

¹⁵My mouth shall shew forth thy righteousness and thy salvation all the day; for I know not the numbers thereof.

¹⁶I will go in the strength of the Lord God: I will make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only.

¹⁷O God, thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works.

¹⁸Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come.

²I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old:

³Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.

⁴We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done.

⁵For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children:

⁶That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children:

¹⁴How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?

¹⁵And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

¹⁶But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?

¹⁷So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

¹⁸For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me, to make the Gentiles obedient, by word and deed,

¹⁹Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.

²⁰Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man’s foundation:

²¹But as it is written, To whom he was not spoken of, they shall see: and they that have not heard shall understand.

¹¹Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb: honey and milk are under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon.

²And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.