Proverbs 7

New King James Version

The Wiles of a Harlot

7 My son, keep my words,
And ^(A)treasure my commands within you.
²^(B)Keep my commands and live,
^(C)And my law as the apple of your eye.
³^(D)Bind them on your fingers;
Write them on the tablet of your heart.
⁴Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
And call understanding your nearest kin,
⁵^(E)That they may keep you from the immoral woman,
From the seductress who flatters with her words.

The Crafty Harlot

⁶For at the window of my house
I looked through my lattice,
⁷And saw among the simple,
I perceived among the ^[a]youths,
A young man ^(F)devoid^[b] of understanding,
⁸Passing along the street near her corner;
And he took the path to her house
⁹^(G)In the twilight, in the evening,
In the black and dark night.

¹⁰And there a woman met him,
With the attire of a harlot, and a crafty heart.
¹¹^(H)She was loud and rebellious,
^(I)Her feet would not stay at home.
¹²At times she was outside, at times in the open square,
Lurking at every corner.
¹³So she caught him and kissed him;
With an ^[c]impudent face she said to him:
¹⁴“I have peace offerings with me;
Today I have paid my vows.
¹⁵So I came out to meet you,
Diligently to seek your face,
And I have found you.
¹⁶I have spread my bed with tapestry,
Colored coverings of ^(J)Egyptian linen.
¹⁷I have perfumed my bed
With myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
¹⁸Come, let us take our fill of love until morning;
Let us delight ourselves with love.
¹⁹For ^[d]my husband is not at home;
He has gone on a long journey;
²⁰He has taken a bag of money ^[e]with him,
And will come home ^[f]on the appointed day.”

²¹^[g]With ^(K)her enticing speech she caused him to yield,
^(L)With her flattering lips she ^[h]seduced him.
²²Immediately he went after her, as an ox goes to the slaughter,
Or ^[i]as a fool to the correction of the ^[j]stocks,
²³Till an arrow struck his liver.
^(M)As a bird hastens to the snare,
He did not know it ^[k]would cost his life.

²⁴Now therefore, listen to me, my children;
Pay attention to the words of my mouth:
²⁵Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways,
Do not stray into her paths;
²⁶For she has cast down many wounded,
And ^(N)all who were slain by her were strong men.
²⁷^(O)Her house is the way to ^[l]hell,
Descending to the chambers of death.

Footnotes

Proverbs 7:7 Lit. sons
Proverbs 7:7 lacking
Proverbs 7:13 shameless
Proverbs 7:19 Lit. the man
Proverbs 7:20 Lit. in his hand
Proverbs 7:20 at the full moon
Proverbs 7:21 By the greatness of her words
Proverbs 7:21 compelled
Proverbs 7:22 LXX, Syr., Tg. as a dog to bonds; Vg. as a lamb . . . to bonds
Proverbs 7:22 shackles
Proverbs 7:23 Lit. is for
Proverbs 7:27 Or Sheol

1 Peter 1-2

New King James Version

Greeting to the Elect Pilgrims

1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To the ^[a]pilgrims ^(A)of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, ²^(B)elect ^(C)according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, ^(D)in sanctification of the Spirit, for ^(E)obedience and ^(F)sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ:

^(G)Grace to you and peace be multiplied.

A Heavenly Inheritance

³^(H)Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who ^(I)according to His abundant mercy ^(J)has begotten us again to a living hope ^(K)through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴to an inheritance ^[b]incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, ^(L)reserved in heaven for you, ⁵^(M)who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

⁶^(N)In this you greatly rejoice, though now ^(O)for a little while, if need be, ^(P)you have been ^[c]grieved by various trials, ⁷that ^(Q)the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though ^(R)it is tested by fire, ^(S)may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, ⁸^(T)whom having not ^[d]seen you love. ^(U)Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, ⁹receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.

¹⁰Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, ¹¹searching what, or what manner of time, ^(V)the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. ¹²To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to ^[e]us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which ^(W)angels desire to look into.

Living Before God Our Father

¹³Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; ¹⁴as obedient children, not ^(X)conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; ¹⁵^(Y)but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, ¹⁶because it is written, ^(Z)“Be holy, for I am holy.”

¹⁷And if you call on the Father, who ^(AA)without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your ^[f]stay here in fear; ¹⁸knowing that you were not redeemed with ^[g]corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, ¹⁹but ^(AB)with the precious blood of Christ, ^(AC)as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. ²⁰^(AD)He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was ^[h]manifest ^(AE)in these last times for you ²¹who through Him believe in God, ^(AF)who raised Him from the dead and ^(AG)gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

The Enduring Word

²²Since you ^(AH)have purified your souls in obeying the truth ^[i]through the Spirit in ^[j]sincere ^(AI)love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, ²³^(AJ)having been born again, not of ^[k]corruptible seed but ^[l]incorruptible, ^(AK)through the word of God which lives and abides ^[m]forever, ²⁴because

^(AL)“All flesh is as grass,
And all ^[n]the glory of man as the flower of the grass.
The grass withers,
And its flower falls away,
²⁵^(AM)But the ^[o]word of the Lord endures forever.”

^(AN)Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.

Our Inheritance Through Christ’s Blood

2 Therefore, ^(AO)laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, ²^(AP)as newborn babes, desire the pure ^(AQ)milk of the word, that you may grow ^[p]thereby, ³if indeed you have ^(AR)tasted that the Lord is gracious.

The Chosen Stone and His Chosen People^(AS)

⁴Coming to Him as to a living stone, ^(AT)rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, ⁵you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture,

^(AU)“Behold, I lay in Zion
A chief cornerstone, elect, precious,
And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.”

⁷Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who ^[q]are disobedient,

^(AV)“The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone,”

⁸and

^(AW)“A stone of stumbling
And a rock of offense.”

^(AX)They stumble, being disobedient to the word, ^(AY)to which they also were appointed.

⁹But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of ^(AZ)darkness into His marvelous light; ¹⁰^(BA)who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

Living Before the World

¹¹Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts ^(BB)which war against the soul, ¹²^(BC)having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, ^(BD)they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.

Submission to Government^(BE)

¹³^(BF)Therefore submit yourselves to every ^[r]ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, ¹⁴or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. ¹⁵For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men— ¹⁶^(BG)as free, yet not ^(BH)using liberty as a cloak for ^[s]vice, but as bondservants of God. ¹⁷Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear ^(BI)God. Honor the king.

Submission to Masters^(BJ)

¹⁸^(BK)Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh. ¹⁹For this is ^(BL)commendable, if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully. ²⁰For ^(BM)what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. ²¹For ^(BN)to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for ^[t]us, ^(BO)leaving ^[u]us an example, that you should follow His steps:

²²“Who^(BP) committed no sin,
Nor was deceit found in His mouth”;

²³^(BQ)who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but ^(BR)committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; ²⁴^(BS)who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, ^(BT)that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—^(BU)by whose ^[v]stripes you were healed. ²⁵For ^(BV)you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned ^(BW)to the Shepherd and ^[w]Overseer of your souls.