Wednesday, May 24, 2023

Proverbs 30

¹The sayings of Agur son of Jakeh--an oracle:

This man declared to Ithiel, to Ithiel and to Ucal:

²"I am the most ignorant of men; I do not have a man's understanding. ³I have not learned wisdom, nor have I knowledge of the Holy One. ⁴Who has gone up to heaven and come down? Who has gathered up the wind in the hollow of his hands? Who has wrapped up the waters in his cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and the name of his son? Tell me if you know!

⁵"Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. ⁶Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar.

⁷"Two things I ask of you, O LORD; do not refuse me before I die: ⁸Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. ⁹Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the LORD?' Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.

¹⁰"Do not slander a servant to his master, or he will curse you, and you will pay for it.

¹¹"There are those who curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers; ¹²those who are pure in their own eyes and yet are not cleansed of their filth; ¹³those whose eyes are ever so haughty, whose glances are so disdainful; ¹⁴those whose teeth are swords and whose jaws are set with knives to devour the poor from the earth, the needy from among mankind.

¹⁵"The leech has two daughters. 'Give! Give!' they cry.

"There are three things that are never satisfied, four that never say, 'Enough!': ¹⁶the grave, the barren womb, land, which is never satisfied with water, and fire, which never says, 'Enough!'

¹⁷"The eye that mocks a father, that scorns obedience to a mother, will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley, will be eaten by the vultures.

¹⁸"There are three things that are too amazing for me, four that I do not understand: ¹⁹the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship on the high seas, and the way of a man with a maiden.

²⁰"This is the way of an adulteress: She eats and wipes her mouth and says, 'I've done nothing wrong.'

²¹"Under three things the earth trembles, under four it cannot bear up: ²²a servant who becomes king, a fool who is full of food, ²³an unloved woman who is married, and a maidservant who displaces her mistress.

²⁴"Four things on earth are small, yet they are extremely wise: ²⁵Ants are creatures of little strength, yet they store up their food in the summer; ²⁶coneys are creatures of little power, yet they make their home in the crags; ²⁷locusts have no king, yet they advance together in ranks; ²⁸a lizard can be caught with the hand, yet it is found in kings' palaces.

²⁹"There are three things that are stately in their stride, four that move with stately bearing: ³⁰a lion, mighty among beasts, who retreats before nothing; ³¹a strutting rooster, a he-goat, and a king with his army around him.

³²"If you have played the fool and exalted yourself, or if you have planned evil, clap your hand over your mouth! ³³For as churning the milk produces butter, and as twisting the nose produces blood, so stirring up anger produces strife."

 

 

Psalm 119:105–112

¹⁰⁵Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. ¹⁰⁶I have taken an oath and confirmed it, that I will follow your righteous laws. ¹⁰⁷I have suffered much; preserve my life, O LORD, according to your word. ¹⁰⁸Accept, O LORD, the willing praise of my mouth, and teach me your laws. ¹⁰⁹Though I constantly take my life in my hands, I will not forget your law. ¹¹⁰The wicked have set a snare for me, but I have not strayed from your precepts. ¹¹¹Your statutes are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart. ¹¹²My heart is set on keeping your decrees to the very end.

 

 

2 Peter 2:1–9

¹But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them--bringing swift destruction on themselves. ²Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. ³In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.

⁴For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment; ⁵if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; ⁶if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; ⁷and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men ⁸(for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)-- ⁹if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment.