Proverbs 23

When you sit down to dine with a ruler,
consider carefully what is before you,
2 and put a knife to your throat
if you have a big appetite;
3 don’t desire his choice food,
for that food is deceptive.
4 Don’t wear yourself out to get rich;
because you know better, stop!
5 As soon as your eyes fly to it, it disappears,
for it makes wings for itself
and flies like an eagle to the sky.
6 Don’t eat a stingy person’s bread,
and don’t desire his choice food,
7 for it’s like someone calculating inwardly.
“Eat and drink,” he says to you,
but his heart is not with you.
8 You will vomit the little you’ve eaten
and waste your pleasant words.
9 Don’t speak to a fool,
for he will despise the insight of your words.
10 Don’t move an ancient boundary marker,
and don’t encroach on the fields of the fatherless,
11 for their Redeemer is strong,
and he will champion their cause against you.
12 Apply yourself to discipline
and listen to words of knowledge.
13 Don’t withhold discipline from a youth;
if you punish him with a rod, he will not die.
14 Punish him with a rod,
and you will rescue his life from Sheol.
15 My son, if your heart is wise,
my heart will indeed rejoice.
16 My innermost being will celebrate
when your lips say what is right.
17 Don’t let your heart envy sinners;
instead, always fear the Lord.
18 For then you will have a future,
and your hope will not be dashed.
19 Listen, my son, and be wise;
keep your mind on the right course.
20 Don’t associate with those who drink too much wine
or with those who gorge themselves on meat.
21 For the drunkard and the glutton will become poor,
and grogginess will clothe them in rags.
22 Listen to your father who gave you life,
and don’t despise your mother when she is old.
23 Buy ​— ​and do not sell ​— ​truth,
wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
24 The father of a righteous son will rejoice greatly,
and one who fathers a wise son will delight in him.
25 Let your father and mother have joy,
and let her who gave birth to you rejoice.
26 My son, give me your heart,
and let your eyes observe my ways.
27 For a prostitute is a deep pit,
and a wayward woman is a narrow well;
28 indeed, she sets an ambush like a robber
and increases the number of unfaithful people.
29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow?
Who has conflicts? Who has complaints?
Who has wounds for no reason?
Who has red eyes?
30 Those who linger over wine;
those who go looking for mixed wine.
31 Don’t gaze at wine because it is red,
because it gleams in the cup
and goes down smoothly.
32 In the end it bites like a snake
and stings like a viper.
33 Your eyes will see strange things,
and you will say absurd things.
34 You’ll be like someone sleeping out at sea
or lying down on the top of a ship’s mast.
35 “They struck me, but I feel no pain!
They beat me, but I didn’t know it!
When will I wake up?
I’ll look for another drink.”

Proverbs 24

Don’t envy the evil
or desire to be with them,
2 for their hearts plan violence,
and their words stir up trouble.
3 A house is built by wisdom,
and it is established by understanding;
4 by knowledge the rooms are filled
with every precious and beautiful treasure.
5 A wise warrior is better than a strong one,
and a man of knowledge than one of strength;
6 for you should wage war with sound guidance —
victory comes with many counselors.
7 Wisdom is inaccessible to a fool;
he does not open his mouth at the city gate.
8 The one who plots evil
will be called a schemer.
9 A foolish scheme is sin,
and a mocker is detestable to people.
10 If you do nothing in a difficult time,
your strength is limited.
11 Rescue those being taken off to death,
and save those stumbling toward slaughter.
12 If you say, “But we didn’t know about this,”
won’t he who weighs hearts consider it?
Won’t he who protects your life know?
Won’t he repay a person according to his work?
13 Eat honey, my son, for it is good,
and the honeycomb is sweet to your palate;
14 realize that wisdom is the same for you.
If you find it, you will have a future,
and your hope will never fade.
15 Don’t set an ambush, you wicked one,
at the camp of the righteous man;
don’t destroy his dwelling.
16 Though a righteous person falls seven times,
he will get up,
but the wicked will stumble into ruin.
17 Don’t gloat when your enemy falls,
and don’t let your heart rejoice when he stumbles,
18 or the Lord will see, be displeased,
and turn his wrath away from him.
19 Don’t be agitated by evildoers,
and don’t envy the wicked.
20 For the evil have no future;
the lamp of the wicked will be put out.
21 My son, fear the Lord, as well as the king,
and don’t associate with rebels,
22 for destruction will come suddenly from them;
who knows what distress these two can bring?
23 These sayings also belong to the wise:
It is not good to show partiality in judgment.
24 Whoever says to the guilty, “You are innocent” —
peoples will curse him, and nations will denounce him;
25 but it will go well with those who convict the guilty,
and a generous blessing will come to them.
26 He who gives an honest answer
gives a kiss on the lips.
27 Complete your outdoor work, and prepare your field;
afterward, build your house.
28 Don’t testify against your neighbor without cause.
Don’t deceive with your lips.
29 Don’t say, “I’ll do to him what he did to me;
I’ll repay the man for what he has done.”
30 I went by the field of a slacker
and by the vineyard of one lacking sense.
31 Thistles had come up everywhere,
weeds covered the ground,
and the stone wall was ruined.
32 I saw, and took it to heart;
I looked, and received instruction:
33 a little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the arms to rest,
34 and your poverty will come like a robber,
and your need, like a bandit.

2 Corinthians 5

OUR FUTURE AFTER DEATH
For we know that if our earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal dwelling in the heavens, not made with hands.
2 Indeed, we groan in this tent, desiring to put on our heavenly dwelling, 3 since, when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4 Indeed, we groan while we are in this tent, burdened as we are, because we do not want to be unclothed but clothed, so that mortality may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now the one who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave us the Spirit as a down payment.

6 So we are always confident and know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7 For we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 In fact, we are confident, and we would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 Therefore, whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to be pleasing to him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may be repaid for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

11 Therefore, since we know the fear of the Lord, we try to persuade people. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your consciences. 12 We are not commending ourselves to you again, but giving you an opportunity to be proud of us, so that you may have a reply for those who take pride in outward appearance rather than in the heart. 13 For if we are out of our mind, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14 For the love of Christ compels us, since we have reached this conclusion, that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for the one who died for them and was raised.

THE MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION
16 From now on, then, we do not know anyone from a worldly perspective. Even if we have known Christ from a worldly perspective, yet now we no longer know him in this way. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come! 18 Everything is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. 19 That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and he has committed the message of reconciliation to us.

20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God.” 21 He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

— 2 Corinthians 5:1-21 (CSB)

2 Corinthians 6:1–13

Working together with him, we also appeal to you, “Don’t receive the grace of God in vain.”
2 For he says:

At an acceptable time I listened to you,

and in the day of salvation I helped you.

See, now is the acceptable time; now is the day of salvation!

THE CHARACTER OF PAUL’S MINISTRY
3 We are not giving anyone an occasion for offense, so that the ministry will not be blamed. 4 Instead, as God’s ministers, we commend ourselves in everything: by great endurance, by afflictions, by hardships, by difficulties, 5 by beatings, by imprisonments, by riots, by labors, by sleepless nights, by times of hunger, 6 by purity, by knowledge, by patience, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love, 7 by the word of truth, by the power of God; through weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left, 8 through glory and dishonor, through slander and good report; regarded as deceivers, yet true; 9 as unknown, yet recognized; as dying, yet see ​— ​we live; as being disciplined, yet not killed; 10 as grieving, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet enriching many; as having nothing, yet possessing everything. 11 We have spoken openly to you, Corinthians; our heart has been opened wide. 12 We are not withholding our affection from you, but you are withholding yours from us. 13 I speak as to my children; as a proper response, open your heart to us.

— 2 Corinthians 6:1-13 (CSB)