Proverbs 9

WISDOM VERSUS FOOLISHNESS
Wisdom has built her house;
she has carved out her seven pillars.
2 She has prepared her meat; she has mixed her wine;
she has also set her table.
3 She has sent out her female servants;
she calls out from the highest points of the city:
4 “Whoever is inexperienced, enter here! ”
To the one who lacks sense, she says,
5 “Come, eat my bread,
and drink the wine I have mixed.
6 Leave inexperience behind, and you will live;
pursue the way of understanding.
7 The one who corrects a mocker
will bring abuse on himself;
the one who rebukes the wicked will get hurt.
8 Don’t rebuke a mocker, or he will hate you;
rebuke the wise, and he will love you.
9 Instruct the wise, and he will be wiser still;
teach the righteous, and he will learn more.
10 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
11 For by me your days will be many,
and years will be added to your life.
12 If you are wise, you are wise for your own benefit;
if you mock, you alone will bear the consequences.”
13 Folly is a rowdy woman;
she is gullible and knows nothing.
14 She sits by the doorway of her house,
on a seat at the highest point of the city,
15 calling to those who pass by,
who go straight ahead on their paths:
16 “Whoever is inexperienced, enter here! ”
To the one who lacks sense, she says,
17 “Stolen water is sweet,
and bread eaten secretly is tasty! ”
18 But he doesn’t know that the departed spirits are there,
that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.

Proverbs 10

A COLLECTION OF SOLOMON’S PROVERBS
Solomon’s proverbs:

A wise son brings joy to his father,
but a foolish son, heartache to his mother.
2 Ill-gotten gains do not profit anyone,
but righteousness rescues from death.
3 The Lord will not let the righteous go hungry,
but he denies the wicked what they crave.
4 Idle hands make one poor,
but diligent hands bring riches.
5 The son who gathers during summer is prudent;
the son who sleeps during harvest is disgraceful.
6 Blessings are on the head of the righteous,
but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.
7 The remembrance of the righteous is a blessing,
but the name of the wicked will rot.
8 A wise heart accepts commands,
but foolish lips will be destroyed.
9 The one who lives with integrity lives securely,
but whoever perverts his ways will be found out.
10 A sly wink of the eye causes grief,
and foolish lips will be destroyed.
11 The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life,
but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.
12 Hatred stirs up conflicts,
but love covers all offenses.
13 Wisdom is found on the lips of the discerning,
but a rod is for the back of the one who lacks sense.
14 The wise store up knowledge,
but the mouth of the fool hastens destruction.
15 The wealth of the rich is his fortified city;
the poverty of the poor is their destruction.
16 The reward of the righteous is life;
the wages of the wicked is punishment.
17 The one who follows instruction is on the path to life,
but the one who rejects correction goes astray.
18 The one who conceals hatred has lying lips,
and whoever spreads slander is a fool.
19 When there are many words, sin is unavoidable,
but the one who controls his lips is prudent.
20 The tongue of the righteous is pure silver;
the heart of the wicked is of little value.
21 The lips of the righteous feed many,
but fools die for lack of sense.
22 The Lord’s blessing enriches,
and he adds no painful effort to it.
23 As shameful conduct is pleasure for a fool,
so wisdom is for a person of understanding.
24 What the wicked dreads will come to him,
but what the righteous desire will be given to them.
25 When the whirlwind passes,
the wicked are no more,
but the righteous are secure forever.
26 Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes,
so the slacker is to the one who sends him on an errand.
27 The fear of the Lord prolongs life,
but the years of the wicked are cut short.
28 The hope of the righteous is joy,
but the expectation of the wicked will perish.
29 The way of the Lord is a stronghold for the honorable,
but destruction awaits evildoers.
30 The righteous will never be shaken,
but the wicked will not remain on the earth.
31 The mouth of the righteous produces wisdom,
but a perverse tongue will be cut out.
32 The lips of the righteous know what is appropriate,
but the mouth of the wicked, only what is perverse.

1 Corinthians 15:1–34

RESURRECTION ESSENTIAL TO THE GOSPEL
Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel I preached to you, which you received, on which you have taken your stand
2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold to the message I preached to you ​— ​unless you believed in vain. 3 For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. 6 Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers and sisters at one time; most of them are still alive, but some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one born at the wrong time, he also appeared to me.

9 For I am the least of the apostles, not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 11 Whether, then, it is I or they, so we proclaim and so you have believed.

RESURRECTION ESSENTIAL TO THE FAITH
12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say, “There is no resurrection of the dead”? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised; 14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is in vain, and so is your faith. 15 Moreover, we are found to be false witnesses about God, because we have testified wrongly about God that he raised up Christ ​— ​whom he did not raise up, if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. 18 Those, then, who have fallen asleep in Christ have also perished. 19 If we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone.

CHRIST’S RESURRECTION GUARANTEES OURS
20 But as it is, Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man. 22 For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.

23 But each in his own order: Christ, the firstfruits; afterward, at his coming, those who belong to Christ. 24 Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when he abolishes all rule and all authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he puts all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be abolished is death. 27 For God has put everything under his feet. Now when it says “everything” is put under him, it is obvious that he who puts everything under him is the exception. 28 When everything is subject to Christ, then the Son himself will also be subject to the one who subjected everything to him, so that God may be all in all.

RESURRECTION SUPPORTED BY CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE
29 Otherwise what will they do who are being baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, then why are people baptized for them? 30 Why are we in danger every hour? 31 I face death every day, as surely as I may boast about you, brothers and sisters, in Christ Jesus our Lord. 32 If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus as a mere man, what good did that do me? If the dead are not raised, Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. 33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.” 34 Come to your senses and stop sinning; for some people are ignorant about God. I say this to your shame.

— 1 Corinthians 15:1-34 (CSB)