Proverbs 23:5–11

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

¹⁶For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

¹⁷Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;

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.

¹⁹¶ Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

³⁶Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness.

³⁷Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way.

⁸¶ Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity.

³⁶And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me.

²⁹But this I say, brethren, the time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none;

³⁰And they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not;

³¹And they that use this world, as not abusing it: for the fashion of this world passeth away.

²Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.

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.

¹⁴And there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them:

¹⁵And the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.

¹⁶While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.

¹⁷While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have carried them away, yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.

⁶Surely every man walketh in a vain shew: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.

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.

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.

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

⁴Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practise wicked works with men that work iniquity: and let me not eat of their dainties.

⁸¶ But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.

⁹Now God had brought Daniel into favour and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs.

¹⁰And the prince of the eunuchs said unto Daniel, I fear my lord the king, who hath appointed your meat and your drink: for why should he see your faces worse liking than the children which are of your sort? then shall ye make me endanger my head to the king.

⁹Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry unto the Lord against thee, and it be sin unto thee.

¹⁵Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?

⁵⁶The tender and delicate woman among you, which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter,

⁹He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor.

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

²²Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:

²They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak.

²¹The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart: his words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords.

¹⁵¶ And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth.

³And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth.

⁴And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?

³⁷¶ And as he spake, a certain Pharisee besought him to dine with him: and he went in, and sat down to meat.

³⁸And when the Pharisee saw it, he marvelled that he had not first washed before dinner.

³⁹And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness.

⁴⁰Ye fools, did not he that made that which is without make that which is within also?

⁴¹But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you.

⁴²But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

⁴³Woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye love the uppermost seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets.

⁴⁴Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them.

⁴⁵¶ Then answered one of the lawyers, and said unto him, Master, thus saying thou reproachest us also.

⁴⁶And he said, Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers.

⁴⁷Woe unto you! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.

⁴⁸Truly ye bear witness that ye allow the deeds of your fathers: for they indeed killed them, and ye build their sepulchres.

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

⁵⁰That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;

⁵¹From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation.

⁵²Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered.

⁵³And as he said these things unto them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to urge him vehemently, and to provoke him to speak of many things:

⁵⁴Laying wait for him, and seeking to catch something out of his mouth, that they might accuse him.

³⁹Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner.

²⁷And both these kings’ hearts shall be to do mischief, and they shall speak lies at one table; but it shall not prosper: for yet the end shall be at the time appointed.

²²The desire of a man is his kindness: and a poor man is better than a liar.

²⁶Then said Absalom, If not, I pray thee, let my brother Amnon go with us. And the king said unto him, Why should he go with thee?

²⁷But Absalom pressed him, that he let Amnon and all the king’s sons go with him.

²⁸¶ Now Absalom had commanded his servants, saying, Mark ye now when Amnon’s heart is merry with wine, and when I say unto you, Smite Amnon; then kill him, fear not: have not I commanded you? be courageous, and be valiant.

⁷He that reproveth a scorner getteth to himself shame: and he that rebuketh a wicked man getteth himself a blot.

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

⁶¶ Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

⁴Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.

⁵Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.

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

²¹For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.

²²For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:

²³But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;

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

⁴⁵But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming.

⁴⁶Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.

²⁵And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers,

²⁶Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive:

²⁷For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

²⁸Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.

²¹But they held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king’s commandment was, saying, Answer him not.

²⁰And many of them said, He hath a devil, and is mad; why hear ye him?

⁵²Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death.

¹⁸Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection.

³²¶ And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter.

³⁰The man answered and said unto them, Why herein is a marvellous thing, that ye know not from whence he is, and yet he hath opened mine eyes.

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

³²Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind.

³³If this man were not of God, he could do nothing.

³⁴They answered and said unto him, Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out.

¹⁴And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him.

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

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;

¹²And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it:

¹³Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day.

²⁸Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set.

¹⁰And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.

¹⁷Cursed be he that removeth his neighbour’s landmark. And all the people shall say, Amen.

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.

³Thus saith the Lord; Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place.

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.

²Some remove the landmarks; they violently take away flocks, and feed thereof.

³They drive away the ass of the fatherless, they take the widow’s ox for a pledge.

⁵For if ye throughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye throughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbour;

⁹Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.

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.

²⁷Yea, ye overwhelm the fatherless, and ye dig a pit for your friend.

⁵And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the Lord of hosts.

⁶They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the fatherless.

⁹They pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor.

²³For the Lord will plead their cause, and spoil the soul of those that spoiled them.

²⁵For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:

¹⁹Cursed be he that perverteth the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow. And all the people shall say, Amen.

²²¶ Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child.

²³If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry;

²⁴And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.

⁵For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the Lord; I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him.

³⁶Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee; and I will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry.

³³¶ Thus saith the Lord of hosts; The children of Israel and the children of Judah were oppressed together: and all that took them captives held them fast; they refused to let them go.

³⁴Their Redeemer is strong; the Lord of hosts is his name: he shall throughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the land, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.