HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 930
P RO VERBS 2
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
“How long, you simpletons,
will you insist on being simpleminded?
How long will you mockers relish your
mocking?
How long will you fools hate knowledge?
Come and listen to my counsel.
I’ll share my heart with you
and make you wise.
“I called you so often, but you wouldn’t
come.
I reached out to you, but you paid no
attention.
You ignored my advice
and rejected the correction I offered.
So I will laugh when you are in trouble!
I will mock you when disaster
overtakes you—
when calamity overtakes you like a storm,
when disaster engulfs you like a cyclone,
and anguish and distress overwhelm you.
“When they cry for help, I will not answer.
Though they anxiously search for me,
they will not find me.
For they hated knowledge
and chose not to fear the Lord.
They rejected my advice
and paid no attention when I
corrected them.
Therefore, they must eat the bitter fruit
of living their own way,
choking on their own schemes.
For simpletons turn away from me—
to death.
Fools are destroyed by their own
complacency.
But all who listen to me will live in peace,
untroubled by fear of harm.”
page 560
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
— promises —
from God
“Come and listen to
my counsel. I’ll share
my heart with you and
make you wise.”
P R OV E R B S 1:2 3
The Benefits of Wisdom
1 My child,* listen to what I say,
and treasure my commands.
2 Tune your ears to wisdom,
and concentrate on understanding.
3 Cry out for insight,
and ask for understanding.
4 Search for them as you would for silver;
seek them like hidden treasures.
2
20
21
22
Then you will understand what it means
to fear the Lord,
and you will gain knowledge of God.
For the Lord grants wisdom!
From his mouth come knowledge and
understanding.
He grants a treasure of common sense to
the honest.
He is a shield to those who walk with
integrity.
He guards the paths of the just
and protects those who are faithful
to him.
Then you will understand what is right,
just, and fair,
and you will find the right way to go.
For wisdom will enter your heart,
and knowledge will fill you with joy.
Wise choices will watch over you.
Understanding will keep you safe.
Wisdom will save you from evil people,
from those whose words are twisted.
These men turn from the right way
to walk down dark paths.
They take pleasure in doing wrong,
and they enjoy the twisted ways of evil.
Their actions are crooked,
and their ways are wrong.
Wisdom will save you from the immoral
woman,
from the seductive words of the
promiscuous woman.
She has abandoned her husband
and ignores the covenant she made
before God.
Entering her house leads to death;
it is the road to the grave.*
The man who visits her is doomed.
He will never reach the paths of life.
So follow the steps of the good,
and stay on the paths of the righteous.
For only the godly will live in the land,
and those with integrity will remain in it.
But the wicked will be removed from
the land,
and the treacherous will be uprooted.
Trusting in the LORD
1 My child,* never forget the things I have
taught you.
Store my commands in your heart.
2 If you do this, you will live many years,
and your life will be satisfying.
3 Never let loyalty and kindness leave you!
Tie them around your neck as a
reminder.
Write them deep within your heart.
3
2:1 Hebrew My son. 2:18 Hebrew to the spirits of the dead.
3:1 Hebrew My son; also in 3:11, 21.