Proverbs 22:19 - Proverbs 24:22 (RSV)
(1) Do not rob the poor, because he is poor, or crush the afflicted at the gate; for the LORD will plead their cause and despoil of life those who despoil them.
(2) Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man, lest you learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare.
(3) Be not one of those who give pledges, who become surety for debts. If you have nothing with which to pay, why should your bed be taken from under you?
(4) Remove not the ancient landmark which your fathers have set.
(5) Do you see a man skilful in his work? he will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men.
(6) When you sit down to eat with a ruler, observe carefully what is before you; and put a knife to your throat if you are a man given to appetite. Do not desire his delicacies, for they are deceptive food.
(7) Do not toil to acquire wealth; be wise enough to desist. When your eyes light upon it, it is gone; for suddenly it takes to itself wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven.
(8) Do not eat the bread of a man who is stingy; do not desire his delicacies; for he is like one who is inwardly reckoning. "Eat and drink!" he says to you; but his heart is not with you. You will vomit up the morsels which you have eaten, and waste your pleasant words.
(9) Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words.
(10) Do not remove an ancient landmark or enter the fields of the fatherless; for their Redeemer is strong; he will plead their cause against you.
(11) Apply your mind to instruction and your ear to words of knowledge.
(12) Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you beat him with a rod, he will not die. If you beat him with the rod you will save his life from Sheol.
(13) My son, if your heart is wise, my heart too will be glad. My soul will rejoice when your lips speak what is right.
(14) Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of the LORD all the day. Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.
(15) Hear, my son, and be wise, and direct your mind in the way. Be not among winebibbers, or among gluttonous eaters of meat; for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe a man with rags.
(16) Hearken to your father who begot you, and do not despise your mother when she is old.
(17) Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
(18) The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; he who begets a wise son will be glad in him. Let your father and mother be glad, let her who bore you rejoice.
(19) My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways. For a harlot is a deep pit; an adventuress is a narrow well. She lies in wait like a robber and increases the faithless among men.
(20) Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? Those who tarry long over wine, those who go to try mixed wine. Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly. At the last it bites like a serpent, and stings like an adder. Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind utter perverse things. You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, like one who lies on the top of a mast. "They struck me," you will say, "but I was not hurt; they beat me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake? I will seek another drink."
(21) Be not envious of evil men, nor desire to be with them; for their minds devise violence, and their lips talk of mischief.
(22) By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches.
(23) A wise man is mightier than a strong man, and a man of knowledge than he who has strength; for by wise guidance you can wage your war, and in abundance of counselors there is victory. Wisdom is too high for a fool; in the gate he does not open his mouth.
(24) He who plans to do evil will be called a mischief-maker. The devising of folly is sin, and the scoffer is an abomination to men. If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.
(25) Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, "Behold, we did not know this," does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it, and will he not requite man according to his work?
(26) My son, eat honey, for it is good, and the drippings of the honeycomb are sweet to your taste. Know that wisdom is such to your soul; if you find it, there will be a future, and your hope will not be cut off.
(27) Lie not in wait as a wicked man against the dwelling of the righteous; do not violence to his home; for a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again; but the wicked are overthrown by calamity.
(28) Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles; lest the LORD see it, and be displeased, and turn away his anger from him.
(29) Fret not yourself because of evildoers, and be not envious of the wicked; for the evil man has no future; the lamp of the wicked will be put out.
(30) My son, fear the LORD and the king, and do not disobey either of them; for disaster from them will rise suddenly, and who knows the ruin that will come from them both?
I invite you to read the tale I have written titled,
"An Audience Before the King."
It is a window into a day in the court
of King Solomon based on
the above scripture. It is my
vision of how the great king's
presentation might have unfolded...
~ Posting on Sunday, July 25th ~
