Proverbs March 22

 

 

 

 

1 Timothy 4

New International Version

4 The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. ² Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.

 

Job 38:2 New American Standard Bible - NASB 1995 (NASB1995)

“Who is this that darkens counsel By words without knowledge?

Elihu is introduced in Job 32:2, towards the end of the book. His speeches comprise chapters 32-37,^[1] and he opens his discourse with more modesty than displayed by the other comforters. Elihu addresses Job by name (Job 33:1, 33:31, 37:14),^[2] and his words differ from those of the three friends in that his monologues discuss divine providence, which he insists is full of wisdom and mercy.

The narrator's preface Job 32:4–5 and Elihu's own words in Job 32:11 indicate that he has been listening intently to the conversation between Job and the other three men. He also admits his status as one who is not an elder (32:6–7). As Elihu's monologue reveals, his anger against the three older men was so strong he could not contain himself (32:2–4). An "angry young man",^[3][4] he is critical of both Job and his friends:

 

The Wrath of Elihu (1805) by William Blake; one of his series of illustrations of the Book of Job

 

 

Job 38 NIV

The Lord Speaks

1Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said:

2“Who is this that obscures my plans

with words without knowledge?

2 Chronicles 1

New International Version

 

 

⁸ Solomon answered God, “You have shown great kindness to David my father and have made me king in his place. ⁹ Now, Lord God, let your promise to my father David be confirmed, for you have made me king over a people who are as numerous as the dust of the earth. ¹⁰ Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people, for who is able to govern this great people of yours?”

 

 

1 Kings 12

 

1

Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all the Israelites had gone there to make him king.

2

When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard this (he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), he returned from ^[1] Egypt.

3

So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and the whole assembly of Israel went to Rehoboam and said to him:

4

"Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you."

5

Rehoboam answered, "Go away for three days and then come back to me." So the people went away.

6

Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. "How would you advise me to answer these people?" he asked.

7

They replied, "If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants."

8

But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him.

9

He asked them, "What is your advice? How should we answer these people who say to me, `Lighten the yoke your father put on us'?"

10

The young men who had grown up with him replied, "Tell these people who have said to you, `Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter'--tell them, `My little finger is thicker than my father's waist.

11

My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.'"

12

Three days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, as the king had said, "Come back to me in three days."

13

The king answered the people harshly. Rejecting the advice given him by the elders,

14

he followed the advice of the young men and said, "My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions."

 

 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Proverbs 2

New International Version

Moral Benefits of Wisdom

 My son, if you accept my words
    and store up my commands within you,
² turning your ear to wisdom
    and applying your heart to understanding—
³ indeed, if you call out for insight
    and cry aloud for understanding,
⁴ and if you look for it as for silver
    and search for it as for hidden treasure,
⁵ then you will understand the fear of the Lord
    and find the knowledge of God.
⁶ For the Lord gives wisdom;
    from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
⁷ He holds success in store for the upright,
    he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
⁸ for he guards the course of the just
    and protects the way of his faithful ones.

⁹ Then you will understand what is right and just
    and fair—every good path.
¹⁰ For wisdom will enter your heart,
    and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
¹¹ Discretion will protect you,
    and understanding will guard you.

¹² Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men,
    from men whose words are perverse,
¹³ who have left the straight paths
    to walk in dark ways,
¹⁴ who delight in doing wrong
    and rejoice in the perverseness of evil,
¹⁵ whose paths are crooked
    and who are devious in their ways.

¹⁶ Wisdom will save you also from the adulterous woman,
    from the wayward woman with her seductive words,
¹⁷ who has left the partner of her youth
    and ignored the covenant she made before God.^[a]
18 Surely her house leads down to death
    and her paths to the spirits of the dead.
¹⁹ None who go to her return
    or attain the paths of life.

²⁰ Thus you will walk in the ways of the good
    and keep to the paths of the righteous.
²¹ For the upright will live in the land,
    and the blameless will remain in it;
²² but the wicked will be cut off from the land,
    and the unfaithful will be torn from it.

Footnotes

1. Proverbs 2:17 Or covenant of her God