Day 245

Daily Bible Reading

(ESV: Through The Bible)

Proverbs 1-2 (Listen)

The Beginning of Knowledge

1:1 The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:

To know wisdom and instruction,
  to understand words of insight,
to receive instruction in wise dealing,
  in righteousness, justice, and equity;
to give prudence to the simple,
  knowledge and discretion to the youth—
Let the wise hear and increase in learning,
  and the one who understands obtain guidance,
to understand a proverb and a saying,
  the words of the wise and their riddles.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
  fools despise wisdom and instruction.

The Enticement of Sinners

Hear, my son, your father's instruction,
  and forsake not your mother's teaching,
for they are a graceful garland for your head
  and pendants for your neck.
My son, if sinners entice you,
  do not consent.
If they say, “Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood;
  let us ambush the innocent without reason;
like Sheol let us swallow them alive,
  and whole, like those who go down to the pit;
we shall find all precious goods,
  we shall fill our houses with plunder;
throw in your lot among us;
  we will all have one purse”—
my son, do not walk in the way with them;
  hold back your foot from their paths,
for their feet run to evil,
  and they make haste to shed blood.
For in vain is a net spread
  in the sight of any bird,
but these men lie in wait for their own blood;
  they set an ambush for their own lives.
Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain;
  it takes away the life of its possessors.

The Call of Wisdom

Wisdom cries aloud in the street,
  in the markets she raises her voice;
at the head of the noisy streets she cries out;
  at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:
“How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?
How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing
  and fools hate knowledge?
If you turn at my reproof, [1]
behold, I will pour out my spirit to you;
  I will make my words known to you.
Because I have called and you refused to listen,
  have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded,
because you have ignored all my counsel
  and would have none of my reproof,
I also will laugh at your calamity;
  I will mock when terror strikes you,
when terror strikes you like a storm
  and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,
  when distress and anguish come upon you.
Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer;
  they will seek me diligently but will not find me.
Because they hated knowledge
  and did not choose the fear of the Lord,
would have none of my counsel
  and despised all my reproof,
therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way,
  and have their fill of their own devices.
For the simple are killed by their turning away,
  and the complacency of fools destroys them;
but whoever listens to me will dwell secure
  and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.”

The Value of Wisdom

2:1 My son, if you receive my words
  and treasure up my commandments with you,
making your ear attentive to wisdom
  and inclining your heart to understanding;
yes, if you call out for insight
  and raise your voice for understanding,
if you seek it like silver
  and search for it as for hidden treasures,
then you will understand the fear of the Lord
  and find the knowledge of God.
For the Lord gives wisdom;
  from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;
he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
  he is a shield to those who walk in integrity,
guarding the paths of justice
  and watching over the way of his saints.
Then you will understand righteousness and justice
  and equity, every good path;
for wisdom will come into your heart,
  and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
discretion will watch over you,
  understanding will guard you,
delivering you from the way of evil,
  from men of perverted speech,
who forsake the paths of uprightness
  to walk in the ways of darkness,
who rejoice in doing evil
  and delight in the perverseness of evil,
men whose paths are crooked,
  and who are devious in their ways.

So you will be delivered from the forbidden [2] woman,
  from the adulteress [3] with her smooth words,
who forsakes the companion of her youth
  and forgets the covenant of her God;
for her house sinks down to death,
  and her paths to the departed; [4]
none who go to her come back,
  nor do they regain the paths of life.

So you will walk in the way of the good
  and keep to the paths of the righteous.
For the upright will inhabit the land,
  and those with integrity will remain in it,
but the wicked will be cut off from the land,
  and the treacherous will be rooted out of it.

1 Corinthians 12 (Listen)

Spiritual Gifts

12:1 Now concerning [5] spiritual gifts, [6] brothers, [7] I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led. Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

One Body with Many Members

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves [8] or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, [9] yet one body.

The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.

Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the higher gifts.

And I will show you a still more excellent way.

Footnotes

[1] 1:23 Or Will you turn away at my reproof?
[2] 2:16 Hebrew strange
[3] 2:16 Hebrew foreign woman
[4] 2:18 Hebrew to the Rephaim
[5] 12:1 The expression Now concerning introduces a reply to a question in the Corinthians' letter; see 7:1
[6] 12:1 Or spiritual persons
[7] 12:1 Or brothers and sisters
[8] 12:13 Or servants; Greek bondservants
[9] 12:20 Or members; also verse 22

 

 

 

 

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