Proverbs 28

⁷The Lord will cause the enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you. They will march out against you in one direction but flee from you in seven.

⁵There they are, overwhelmed with dread, where there was nothing to fear. For God has scattered the bones of those who besieged you. You put them to shame, for God has despised them.

³You will keep in perfect peace the steadfast of mind, because he trusts in You.

⁴Trust in the Lord forever, because God the Lord is the Rock eternal.

¹Of David. The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—whom shall I dread?

²When the wicked came upon me to devour my flesh, my enemies and foes stumbled and fell.

⁷He does not fear bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.

²As you are aware, we had already endured suffering and shameful treatment in Philippi. But in the face of strong opposition, we were bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of God.

⁸In the twenty-sixth year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Elah son of Baasha became king of Israel, and he reigned in Tirzah two years.

⁹However, while Elah was in Tirzah getting drunk in the house of Arza the steward of his household there, Elah’s servant Zimri, the commander of half his chariots, conspired against him.

²⁸Your decisions will be carried out, and light will shine on your ways.

²⁹When men are brought low and you say, ‘Lift them up!’ then He will save the lowly.

⁵And now, do not be distressed or angry with yourselves that you sold me into this place, because it was to save lives that God sent me before you.

⁶For the famine has covered the land these two years, and there will be five more years without plowing or harvesting.

²⁸In the third year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Baasha killed Nadab and reigned in his place.

⁸In the thirty-eighth year of Azariah’s reign over Judah, Zechariah son of Jeroboam became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria six months.

⁹And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, as his fathers had done. He did not turn away from the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit.

²⁰In response, King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz cried out to heaven in prayer,

²¹and the Lord sent an angel who annihilated every mighty man of valor and every leader and commander in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he withdrew to his own land in disgrace. And when he entered the temple of his god, some of his own sons struck him down with the sword.

²⁸But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe me!’

²⁹So his fellow servant fell down and begged him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you back.’

³²Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things are worthy of death, they not only continue to do these things, but also approve of those who practice them.

¹¹Have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.

⁴because John had been telling him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.”

⁷But when John saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his place of baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

¹⁸“I have not troubled Israel,” Elijah replied, “but you and your father’s house have, for you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and have followed the Baals.

³For the wicked man boasts in the cravings of his heart; he blesses the greedy and reviles the Lord.

⁵Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

⁶A senseless man does not know, and a fool does not understand,

²⁷And as for you, the anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But just as His true and genuine anointing teaches you about all things, so remain in Him as you have been taught.

²⁰You, however, have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.

¹⁷If anyone desires to do His will, he will know whether My teaching is from God or whether I speak on My own.

²²“For My people are fools; they have not known Me. They are foolish children, without understanding. They are skilled in doing evil, but they know not how to do good.”

¹Better a poor man who walks with integrity than a fool whose lips are perverse.

¹⁹Now there was a rich man dressed in purple and fine linen, who lived each day in joyous splendor.

²⁰And a beggar named Lazarus lay at his gate, covered with sores

¹⁸He who walks with integrity will be kept safe, but whoever is perverse in his ways will suddenly fall.

²²The desire of a man is loving devotion; better to be poor than a liar.

⁸Better a little with righteousness than great gain with injustice.

²⁴After several days, Felix returned with his wife Drusilla, who was a Jewess. He sent for Paul and listened to him speak about faith in Christ Jesus.

²⁵As Paul expounded on righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment, Felix became frightened and said, “You may go for now. When I find the time, I will call for you.”

³A man who loves wisdom brings joy to his father, but a companion of prostitutes squanders his wealth.

¹⁵A rod of correction imparts wisdom, but a child left to himself disgraces his mother.

³For you have spent enough time in the past carrying out the same desires as the Gentiles: living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and detestable idolatry.

⁴Because of this, they consider it strange of you not to plunge with them into the same flood of reckless indiscretion, and they heap abuse on you.

²⁴He who robs his father or mother, saying, “It is not wrong,” is a companion to the man who destroys.

²⁶He who assaults his father or evicts his mother is a son who brings shame and disgrace.

¹⁹Listen, my son, and be wise, and guide your heart on the right course.

²⁰Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat.

¹⁶Though he heaps up silver like dust and piles up a wardrobe like clay,

¹⁷what he lays up, the righteous will wear, and his silver will be divided by the innocent.

²²A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, but the sinner’s wealth is passed to the righteous.

²⁶To the man who is pleasing in His sight, He gives wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner He assigns the task of gathering and accumulating that which he will hand over to one who pleases God. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

²⁵If you lend money to one of My people among you who is poor, you must not act as a creditor to him; you are not to charge him interest.

³⁶Do not take any interest or profit from him, but fear your God, that your countryman may live among you.

¹⁷He withholds his hand from harming the poor and takes no interest or usury. He keeps My ordinances and follows My statutes. Such a man will not die for his father’s iniquity. He will surely live.

¹⁸If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.

³For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires.

⁴So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

¹¹But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder; they stopped up their ears from hearing.

¹²They made their hearts like flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the Lord of Hosts had sent by His Spirit through the earlier prophets. Therefore great anger came from the Lord of Hosts.

⁸The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is His delight.

⁷When he is tried, let him be found guilty, and may his prayer be regarded as sin.

¹⁵When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you multiply your prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.

¹⁶Wash and cleanse yourselves. Remove your evil deeds from My sight. Stop doing evil!

²⁷He who digs a pit will fall into it, and he who rolls a stone will have it roll back on him.

²⁵I once was young and now am old, yet never have I seen the righteous abandoned or their children begging for bread.

²⁶They are ever generous and quick to lend, and their children are a blessing.

¹⁵He has dug a hole and hollowed it out; he has fallen into a pit of his own making.

¹⁶His trouble recoils on himself, and his violence falls on his own head.

⁶The house of the righteous has great treasure, but the income of the wicked is trouble.

¹¹But the meek will inherit the land and delight in abundant prosperity.

³The Lord does not let the righteous go hungry, but He denies the craving of the wicked.

¹⁷The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

¹⁵Now a poor wise man was found in the city, and he saved the city by his wisdom. Yet no one remembered that poor man.

¹⁶And I said, “Wisdom is better than strength, but the wisdom of the poor man is despised, and his words are not heeded.”

¹⁶The slacker is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who answer discreetly.

¹Better a poor man who walks with integrity than a fool whose lips are perverse.

¹⁶Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but associate with the lowly. Do not be conceited.

¹³No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

¹⁴The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all of this and were scoffing at Jesus.

²When the righteous flourish, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people groan.

¹⁰When the righteous thrive, the city rejoices, and when the wicked perish, there are shouts of joy.

²⁸When the wicked come to power, people hide themselves; but when they perish, the righteous flourish.

¹⁵Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal garments of blue and white, with a large gold crown and a purple robe of fine linen. And the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced.

¹⁶For the Jews it was a time of light and gladness, of joy and honor.

¹¹For those who heard me called me blessed, and those who saw me commended me,

¹²because I rescued the poor who cried out and the fatherless who had no helper.

³⁷They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they were put to death by the sword. They went around in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, oppressed, and mistreated.

³⁸The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and hid in caves and holes in the ground.

⁸If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

⁹If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

³When I kept silent, my bones became brittle from my groaning all day long.

⁴For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was drained as in the summer heat. Selah

³³if I have covered my transgressions like Adam by hiding my guilt in my heart,

¹⁸I will get up and go back to my father and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.

¹⁹I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”’

¹²Go, proclaim this message toward the north: ‘Return, O faithless Israel,’ declares the Lord. ‘I will no longer look on you with anger, for I am merciful,’ declares the Lord. ‘I will not be angry forever.

¹³Only acknowledge your guilt, that you have rebelled against the Lord your God. You have scattered your favors to foreign gods under every green tree and have not obeyed My voice,’” declares the Lord.

¹For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. When Nathan the prophet came to him after his adultery with Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your loving devotion; according to Your great compassion, blot out my transgressions.

²Wash me clean of my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.

¹⁷Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always continue in the fear of the Lord.

¹¹Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

²Has not My hand made all these things? And so they came into being,” declares the Lord. “This is the one I will esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, who trembles at My word.

²⁰That is correct: They were broken off because of unbelief, but you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid.

⁴⁰I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never turn away from doing good to them, and I will put My fear in their hearts, so that they will never turn away from Me.

¹Hallelujah! Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in His commandments.

⁸Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

¹⁶When Herod saw that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was filled with rage. Sending orders, he put to death all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, according to the time he had learned from the Magi.

²²Then Pharaoh commanded all his people: “Every son born to the Hebrews you must throw into the Nile, but every daughter you may allow to live.”

¹²A king’s rage is like the roar of a lion, but his favor is like dew on the grass.

²The terror of a king is like the roar of a lion; whoever provokes him forfeits his own life.

¹⁶Moreover, Manasseh shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem from end to end, in addition to the sin that he had caused Judah to commit, doing evil in the sight of the Lord.

²¹Furthermore, select capable men from among the people—God-fearing, trustworthy men who are averse to dishonest gain. Appoint them over the people as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.

¹⁵Does it make you a king to excel in cedar? Did not your father have food and drink? He administered justice and righteousness, and so it went well with him.

¹⁶He took up the cause of the poor and needy, and so it went well with him. Is this not what it means to know Me?” declares the Lord.

¹⁴and spoke to them as the young men had advised, saying, “Whereas my father made your yoke heavy, I will add to your yoke. Whereas my father scourged you with whips, I will scourge you with scorpions.”

¹⁰The young men who had grown up with him replied, “This is how you should answer these people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you must make it lighter.’ This is what you should tell them: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist!

¹⁵He who walks righteously and speaks with sincerity, who refuses gain from extortion, whose hand never takes a bribe, who stops his ears against murderous plots and shuts his eyes tightly against evil—

¹⁶he will dwell on the heights; the mountain fortress will be his refuge; his food will be provided and his water assured.

¹²Youths oppress My people, and women rule over them. O My people, your guides mislead you; they turn you from your paths.

⁶Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man his blood will be shed; for in His own image God has made mankind.

¹⁴But if a man schemes and acts willfully against his neighbor to kill him, you must take him away from My altar to be put to death.

¹⁹Tell him that this is what the Lord says: ‘Have you not murdered a man and seized his land?’ Then tell him that this is also what the Lord says: ‘In the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, there also the dogs will lick up your blood—yes, yours!’”

¹⁴Select three cities across the Jordan and three in the land of Canaan as cities of refuge.

¹⁵These six cities will serve as a refuge for the Israelites and for the foreigner or stranger among them, so that anyone who kills a person unintentionally may flee there.

⁴When the islanders saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “Surely this man is a murderer. Although he was saved from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.”

²⁶‘As surely as I saw the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons yesterday, declares the Lord, so will I repay you on this plot of ground, declares the Lord.’ Now then, according to the word of the Lord, pick him up and throw him on the plot of ground.”

⁹He who walks in integrity walks securely, but he who perverts his ways will be found out.

⁶Better a poor man who walks with integrity than a rich man whose ways are perverse.

³Remember, then, what you have received and heard. Keep it and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know the hour when I will come upon you.

¹¹For the Lord God is a sun and a shield; the Lord gives grace and glory; He withholds no good thing from those who walk with integrity.

³The integrity of the upright guides them, but the perversity of the faithless destroys them.

⁴Riches are worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness brings deliverance from death.

³²The angel of the Lord asked him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to oppose you, because your way is perverse before me.

¹¹The one who works his land will have plenty of food, but whoever chases fantasies lacks judgment.

⁴So they gave him seventy shekels of silver from the temple of Baal-berith, with which Abimelech hired some worthless and reckless men to follow him.

²³Be sure to know the state of your flocks, and pay close attention to your herds;

²⁴for riches are not forever, nor does a crown endure to every generation.

²⁰He who walks with the wise will become wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.

⁴Where there are no oxen, the manger is empty, but an abundant harvest comes through the strength of the ox.

¹²The younger son said to him, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.

¹³After a few days, the younger son got everything together and journeyed to a distant country, where he squandered his wealth in wild living.

¹⁰Whoever is faithful with very little will also be faithful with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.

¹¹So if you have not been faithful with worldly wealth, who will entrust you with true riches?

¹¹Dishonest wealth will dwindle, but what is earned through hard work will be multiplied.

¹⁰Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison to test you, and you will suffer tribulation for ten days. Be faithful even unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.

⁶Blessings are on the head of the righteous, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.

⁴Light dawns in the darkness for the upright—for the gracious, compassionate, and righteous.

⁵It is well with the man who is generous and lends freely, whose affairs are guided by justice.

⁶My eyes favor the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me; he who walks in the way of integrity shall minister to me.

²³These also are sayings of the wise: To show partiality in judgment is not good.

¹⁹You have profaned Me among My people for handfuls of barley and scraps of bread. By lying to My people who would listen, you have killed those who should not have died and spared those who should not have lived.

⁵Showing partiality to the wicked is not good, nor is depriving the innocent of justice.

²You shall not follow the crowd in wrongdoing. When you testify in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd.

⁵This is what the Lord says: “As for the prophets who lead My people astray, who proclaim peace while they chew with their teeth, but declare war against one who puts nothing in their mouths:

³Both hands are skilled at evil; the prince and the judge demand a bribe. When the powerful utters his evil desire, they all conspire together.

⁶Do not eat the bread of a stingy man, and do not crave his delicacies;

⁹Those who want to be rich, however, fall into temptation and become ensnared by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction.

²⁰A faithful man will abound with blessings, but one eager to be rich will not go unpunished.

¹⁵Do I not have the right to do as I please with what is mine? Or are you envious because I am generous?’

¹⁶Though he heaps up silver like dust and piles up a wardrobe like clay,

¹⁷what he lays up, the righteous will wear, and his silver will be divided by the innocent.

¹⁸He must return the fruit of his labor without consuming it; he cannot enjoy the profits of his trading.

¹⁹For he has oppressed and forsaken the poor; he has seized houses he did not build.

⁵Better an open rebuke than love that is concealed.

⁶The wounds of a friend are faithful, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.

¹⁵If your brother sins against you, go and confront him privately. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.

⁵Let the righteous man strike me; let his rebuke be an act of loving devotion. It is oil for my head; let me not refuse it. For my prayer is ever against the deeds of the wicked.

¹⁵Consider also that our Lord’s patience brings salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom God gave him.

¹⁶He writes this way in all his letters, speaking in them about such matters. Some parts of his letters are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.

⁷Then Nathan said to David, “You are that man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.

⁵A man who flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet.

⁹Whoever is slothful in his work is brother to him who destroys.

²⁶He who assaults his father or evicts his mother is a son who brings shame and disgrace.

⁴For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’

⁵But you say that if anyone says to his father or mother, ‘Whatever you would have received from me is a gift devoted to God,’

⁷A discerning son keeps the law, but a companion of gluttons disgraces his father.

²said to his mother, “The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from you and about which I heard you utter a curse—I have the silver here with me; I took it.” Then his mother said, “Blessed be my son by the Lord!”

²⁰He who walks with the wise will become wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.

²⁵A generous soul will prosper, and he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.

⁶Of course, godliness with contentment is great gain.

⁴The slacker craves yet has nothing, but the soul of the diligent is fully satisfied.

¹⁰Arrogance leads only to strife, but wisdom is with the well-advised.

²⁵The fear of man is a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is set securely on high.

¹²Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers all transgressions.

⁵Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;

⁹The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

²⁸And He said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”

⁷because the mind of the flesh is hostile to God: It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.

⁵Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

¹⁵From infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

¹⁷Kindness to the poor is a loan to the Lord, and He will repay the lender.

²⁴One gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds what is right, only to become poor.

¹For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. Blessed is the one who cares for the poor; the Lord will deliver him in the day of trouble.

²The Lord will protect and preserve him; He will bless him in the land and refuse to give him over to the will of his foes.

⁷If there is a poor man among your brothers within any of the gates in the land that the Lord your God is giving you, then you are not to harden your heart or shut your hand from your poor brother.

⁵It is well with the man who is generous and lends freely, whose affairs are guided by justice.

⁶Surely he will never be shaken; the righteous man will be remembered forever.

⁶Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.

⁷Each one should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not out of regret or compulsion. For God loves a cheerful giver.

²When the righteous flourish, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people groan.

¹²When the righteous triumph, there is great glory, but when the wicked rise, men hide themselves.

⁴They push the needy off the road and force all the poor of the land into hiding.

²³Immediately, because Herod did not give glory to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.

²⁴But the word of God continued to spread and multiply.

¹⁷In every province and every city, wherever the king’s edict and decree reached, there was joy and gladness among the Jews, with feasting and celebrating. And many of the people of the land themselves became Jews, because the fear of the Jews had fallen upon them.