HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 952
P RO VERBS 2 8
11
Be wise, my child,* and make my heart glad.
Then I will be able to answer my critics.
12
A prudent person foresees danger and takes
precautions.
The simpleton goes blindly on and
suffers the consequences.
13
Get security from someone who guarantees
a stranger’s debt.
Get a deposit if he does it for foreigners.*
14
A loud and cheerful greeting early in the
morning
will be taken as a curse!
15
16
17
18
19
A quarrelsome wife is as annoying
as constant dripping on a rainy day.
Stopping her complaints is like trying to
stop the wind
or trying to hold something with greased
hands.
As iron sharpens iron,
so a friend sharpens a friend.
As workers who tend a fig tree are allowed
to eat the fruit,
so workers who protect their employer’s
interests will be rewarded.
As a face is reflected in water,
so the heart reflects the real person.
• Unity & Teamwork
page 582
20
Just as Death and Destruction* are never
satisfied,
so human desire is never satisfied.
21
Fire tests the purity of silver and gold,
but a person is tested by being
praised.*
22
You cannot separate fools from their
foolishness,
even though you grind them like grain
with mortar and pestle.
23
Know the state of your flocks,
and put your heart into caring for your
herds,
for riches don’t last forever,
and the crown might not be passed to
the next generation.
After the hay is harvested and the new
crop appears
and the mountain grasses are
gathered in,
your sheep will provide wool for clothing,
and your goats will provide the price of
a field.
And you will have enough goats’ milk for
yourself,
your family, and your servant girls.
24
25
26
27
28
The wicked run away when no one
is chasing them,
but the godly are as bold as lions.
2
When there is moral rot within a nation,
its government topples easily.
But wise and knowledgeable leaders
bring stability.
3
A poor person who oppresses the poor
is like a pounding rain that destroys
the crops.
4
To reject the law is to praise the wicked;
to obey the law is to fight them.
5
Evil people don’t understand justice,
but those who follow the Lord
understand completely.
6
Better to be poor and honest
than to be dishonest and rich.
7
Young people who obey the law are wise;
those with wild friends bring shame to
their parents.*
8
Income from charging high interest rates
will end up in the pocket of someone
who is kind to the poor.
9
God detests the prayers
of a person who ignores the law.
PR OV E R B S 2 7 :1 7
Isn’t disagreement bad? Doesn’t it
interrupt good teamwork? Handled
poorly, yes. But sometimes it is disagreement that sharpens the thinking
and performance of team players. It
doesn’t help to agree to a bad plan!
But how do we challenge plans, attitudes, and assumptions in a constructive way? Lovingly, thoughtfully, and in a
spirit of building up others as well as the
work we’re involved in. There is a time
for compliance and a time for challenge.
Teamwork at its best allows for people
to challenge one another in a way that
makes room for improvement, both in
the task and in the people involved in it.
God lovingly and thoughtfully challenges us in almost every chapter of
Scripture. And we are responsible to
confront and sharpen one another concerning our sin and our need for God.
Don’t be compliant when it comes to
sin. And make way for healthy challenge in all your relationships—at
work, at home, and at church.
1
27:11 Hebrew my son. 27:13 As in Greek and Latin versions
(see also 20:16); Hebrew reads for a promiscuous woman.
27:20 Hebrew Sheol and Abaddon. 27:21 Or by flattery.
28:7 Hebrew their father.