Proverbs 29

¹⁵Therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly; in an instant he will be shattered beyond recovery.

²⁴Because you refused my call, and no one took my outstretched hand,

²⁵because you neglected all my counsel, and wanted none of my correction,

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

²⁵If a man sins against another man, God can intercede for him; but if a man sins against the Lord, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to their father, since the Lord intended to put them to death.

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.

²⁶Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I give this morsel after I have dipped it.” Then He dipped the morsel and gave it to Judas son of Simon Iscariot.

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

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.

⁵There is an evil I have seen under the sun—an error that proceeds from the ruler:

¹⁵Then the seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and loud voices called out in heaven: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever.”

¹¹Be wise, my son, and bring joy to my heart, so that I can answer him who taunts me.

²⁰A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish man despises his mother.

¹The proverbs of Solomon: A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son grief to his mother.

³⁰But when this son of yours returns from squandering your wealth with prostitutes, you kill the fattened calf for him!’

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

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

¹⁴A king who judges the poor with fairness—his throne will be established forever.

⁸A king who sits on a throne to judge sifts out all evil with his eyes.

²⁰In his place one will arise who will send out a tax collector for the glory of the kingdom; but within a few days he will be destroyed, though not in anger or in battle.

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.

⁸Blessed be the Lord your God, who has delighted in you to set you on His throne to be king for the Lord your God. Because your God loved Israel enough to establish them forever, He has made you king over them to carry out justice and righteousness.”

¹⁸And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and throughout his reign he did not turn away from the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit.

¹⁹Then Pul king of Assyria invaded the land, and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver in order to gain his support and strengthen his own grip on the kingdom.

²⁴A hateful man disguises himself with his speech, but he lays up deceit in his heart.

²⁵When he speaks graciously, do not believe him, for seven abominations fill his heart.

⁹For not a word they speak can be trusted; destruction lies within them. Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.

¹“Hear this, O priests! Take heed, O house of Israel! Give ear, O royal house! For this judgment is against you because you have been a snare at Mizpah, a net spread out on Tabor.

⁵If a man denounces his friends for a price, the eyes of his children will fail.

²They lie to one another; they speak with flattering lips and a double heart.

²¹With her great persuasion she entices him; with her flattering lips she lures him.

¹Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord: “I will sing to the Lord, for He is highly exalted. The horse and rider He has thrown into the sea.

¹²For surely no man knows his time: Like fish caught in a cruel net or birds trapped in a snare, so men are ensnared in an evil time that suddenly falls upon them.

²⁶Then they will come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, who has taken them captive to his will.

⁷His vigorous stride is shortened, and his own schemes trip him up.

⁸For his own feet lead him into a net, and he wanders into its mesh.

¹⁶I will clothe her priests with salvation, and her saints will sing out in joy.

¹¹Light shines on the righteous, gladness on the upright in heart.

¹⁶I was a father to the needy, and I took up the case of the stranger.

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.

¹³Whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too shall cry out and receive no answer.

⁸Open your mouth for those with no voice, for the cause of all the dispossessed.

⁹Open your mouth, judge righteously, and defend the cause of the poor and needy.

¹Brothers, if someone is caught in a trespass, you who are spiritual should restore him with a spirit of gentleness. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.

²⁹The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy and have exploited the foreign resident without justice.

³⁰I searched for a man among them to repair the wall and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, so that I should not destroy it. But I found no one.

¹¹By the blessing of the upright a city is built up, but by the mouth of the wicked it is torn down.

¹Then the Lord said to me: “Even if Moses and Samuel should stand before Me, My heart would not go out to this people. Send them from My presence, and let them go!

¹⁴The wrath of a king is a messenger of death, but a wise man will pacify it.

¹⁵And the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick. The Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.

¹⁶Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail.

⁵In the same way, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it boasts of great things. Consider how small a spark sets a great forest ablaze.

⁶The tongue also is a fire, a world of wickedness among the parts of the body. It pollutes the whole person, sets the course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

¹⁵who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets and drove us out as well. They are displeasing to God and hostile to all men,

¹⁶hindering us from telling the Gentiles how they may be saved. As a result, they continue to heap up their sins to full capacity; the utmost wrath has come upon them.

⁴Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be like him.

¹³The beginning of his talk is folly, and the end of his speech is evil madness.

⁶Do not give dogs what is holy; do not throw your pearls before swine. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.

¹⁷‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’

¹⁸For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon!’

¹²Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did Cain slay him? Because his own deeds were evil, while those of his brother were righteous.

¹³So do not be surprised, brothers, if the world hates you.

¹⁸If the world hates you, understand that it hated Me first.

¹⁹If you were of the world, it would love you as its own. Instead, the world hates you, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.

⁵but He had no regard for Cain and his offering. So Cain became very angry, and his countenance fell.

⁶“Why are you angry,” said the Lord to Cain, “and why has your countenance fallen?

¹¹Then the king sent messengers to summon Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and his father’s whole family, who were priests at Nob. And all of them came to the king.

¹²“Listen now, son of Ahitub,” said Saul. “Here I am, my lord,” he replied.

³¹For as long as the son of Jesse lives on this earth, neither you nor your kingdom shall be established. Now send for him and bring him to me, for he must surely die!”

³²“Why must he be put to death?” Jonathan replied. “What has he done?”

⁷The king of Israel answered, “There is still one man through whom we can inquire of the Lord, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good for me, but only bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.” “The king should not say that!” Jehoshaphat replied.

¹¹A man’s insight gives him patience, and his virtue is to overlook an offense.

¹⁶A fool’s anger is known at once, but a prudent man overlooks an insult.

⁵Do not rely on a friend; do not trust in a companion. Seal the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your arms.

¹³Therefore, the prudent keep silent in such times, for the days are evil.

²³A shrewd man keeps his knowledge to himself, but a foolish heart proclaims its folly.

¹⁷Samson told her all that was in his heart: “My hair has never been cut, because I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaved, my strength will leave me, and I will become as weak as any other man.”

⁸A king who sits on a throne to judge sifts out all evil with his eyes.

⁸Is that why all of you have conspired against me? Not one of you told me that my own son had made a covenant with the son of Jesse. Not one of you has shown concern for me or revealed to me that my son has stirred up my own servant to lie in wait against me, as is the case today.”

⁹But Doeg the Edomite, who had stationed himself with Saul’s servants, answered: “I saw the son of Jesse come to Ahimelech son of Ahitub at Nob.

⁵Whoever slanders his neighbor in secret, I will put to silence; the one with haughty eyes and a proud heart, I will not endure.

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.

⁶Then Jehu wrote them a second letter and said: “If you are on my side, and if you will obey me, then bring the heads of your master’s sons to me at Jezreel by this time tomorrow.” Now the sons of the king, seventy in all, were being brought up by the leading men of the city.

⁷And when the letter arrived, they took the sons of the king and slaughtered all seventy of them. They put their heads in baskets and sent them to Jehu at Jezreel.

²Your tongue devises destruction like a sharpened razor, O worker of deceit.

³You love evil more than good, falsehood more than speaking truth. Selah

⁵Now Rechab and Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, set out and arrived at the house of Ish-bosheth in the heat of the day, while the king was taking his midday nap.

⁶They entered the interior of the house as if to get some wheat, and they stabbed him in the stomach. Then Rechab and his brother Baanah slipped away.

⁴⁵that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

²The rich and the poor have this in common: The Lord is Maker of them all.

³Consider me and respond, O Lord my God. Give light to my eyes, lest I sleep in death,

¹And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,

³⁵Now if your countryman becomes destitute and cannot support himself among you, then you are to help him as you would a foreigner or stranger, so that he can continue to live among you.

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

⁵We and our children are just like our countrymen and their children, yet we are subjecting our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters are already enslaved, but we are powerless to redeem them because our fields and vineyards belong to others.”

⁶When I heard their outcry and these complaints, I became extremely angry,

¹²Wicked behavior is detestable for kings, for a throne is established through righteousness.

⁴but with righteousness He will judge the poor, and with equity He will decide for the lowly of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth and slay the wicked with the breath of His lips.

²⁸Loving devotion and faithfulness preserve a king; by these he maintains his throne.

⁴By justice a king brings stability to the land, but a man who exacts tribute demolishes it.

²May he judge Your people with righteousness and Your afflicted with justice.

³May the mountains bring peace to the people, and the hills bring righteousness.

⁶For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

⁷Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from that time and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will accomplish this.

¹The proverbs of Solomon: A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son grief to his mother.

²⁵A foolish son brings grief to his father and bitterness to her who bore him.

¹⁷Discipline your son, and he will give you rest; he will bring delight to your soul.

²⁴He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him diligently.

¹⁵Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him.

⁶Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.

³⁴Wait for the Lord and keep His way, and He will raise you up to inherit the land. When the wicked are cut off, you will see it.

³⁶yet he passed away and was no more; though I searched, he could not be found.

¹¹My eyes see the downfall of my enemies; my ears hear the wailing of my wicked foes.

¹⁰The righteous will rejoice when they see they are avenged; they will wash their feet in the blood of the wicked.

⁸You will only see it with your eyes and witness the punishment of the wicked.

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

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

¹The proverbs of Solomon: A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son grief to his mother.

¹³Do not withhold discipline from a child; although you strike him with a rod, he will not die.

¹⁴Strike him with a rod, and you will deliver his soul from Sheol.

²⁴He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him diligently.

¹⁵Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him.

¹⁸Discipline your son, for in that there is hope; do not be party to his death.

²⁵But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom, and continues to do so—not being a forgetful hearer, but an effective doer—he will be blessed in what he does.

²⁸But He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”

⁶My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you as My priests. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.

¹⁷If you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

¹Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or set foot on the path of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers.

²But his delight is in the Law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night.

¹⁶He who keeps a commandment preserves his soul, but he who is careless in his ways will die.

¹⁶I call for my servant, but he does not answer, though I implore him with my own mouth.

³A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the backs of fools!

²²a servant who becomes king, a fool who is filled with food,

¹⁹My beloved brothers, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger,

¹²Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

²⁹A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man promotes folly.

²Do not be quick to speak, and do not be hasty in your heart to utter a word before God. For God is in heaven and you are on earth. So let your words be few.

¹¹A fool vents all his anger, but a wise man holds it back.

⁵The plans of the diligent bring plenty, as surely as haste leads to poverty.

¹⁸A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger calms dispute.

¹⁹He who loves transgression loves strife; he who builds his gate high invites destruction.

²¹Like charcoal for embers and wood for fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.

¹⁷A quick-tempered man acts foolishly, and a devious man is hated.

²⁴Do not make friends with an angry man, and do not associate with a hot-tempered man,

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

¹²For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

¹¹For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

²When pride comes, disgrace follows, but with humility comes wisdom.

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.

⁶But He gives us more grace. This is why it says: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

⁷Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

⁵Young men, in the same way, submit yourselves to your elders. And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

¹“If someone sins by failing to testify when he hears a public charge about something he has witnessed, whether he has seen it or learned of it, he shall bear the iniquity.

³⁶But he who fails to find me harms himself; all who hate me love death.”

¹¹If they say, “Come along, let us lie in wait for blood, let us ambush the innocent without cause,

¹²let us swallow them alive like Sheol, and whole like those descending into the Pit.

²³Your rulers are rebels, friends of thieves. They all love bribes and chasing after rewards. They do not defend the fatherless, and the plea of the widow never comes before them.

¹⁸When you see a thief, you befriend him, and throw in your lot with adulterers.

¹⁹You unleash your mouth for evil and harness your tongue to deceit.

³²He who ignores discipline despises himself, but whoever heeds correction gains understanding.

⁸It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man.

⁴I tell you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more.

¹⁰The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.

¹⁴“Because he loves Me, I will deliver him; because he knows My name, I will protect him.

²⁰Whoever heeds instruction will find success, and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord.

⁴²Nevertheless, many of the leaders believed in Him. But because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue.

⁴³For they loved praise from men more than praise from God.

⁶Many seek the favor of the prince, and everyone is a friend of the gift giver.

⁹O Lord, save the king. Answer us on the day we call.

²¹Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the purpose of the Lord will prevail.

⁹Remember what happened long ago, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me.

¹⁰I declare the end from the beginning, and from ancient times what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and all My good pleasure I will accomplish.’

¹²and loving devotion to You, O Lord. For You will repay each man according to his deeds.

⁷When a man’s ways please the Lord, He makes even the man’s enemies live at peace with him.

¹³So do not be surprised, brothers, if the world hates you.

²¹Do I not hate those who hate You, O Lord, and detest those who rise against You?

¹⁷This is My command to you: Love one another.

¹⁸If the world hates you, understand that it hated Me first.

²³Whoever hates Me hates My Father as well.

⁷The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me, because I testify that its works are evil.

¹⁰Men of bloodshed hate a blameless man, but the upright care for his life.