Old/New Testament
Wisdom’s Appeal
8 Doesn’t wisdom(A) call out?
Doesn’t understanding make her voice heard?
2 At the heights overlooking the road,
at the crossroads, she takes her stand.
3 Beside the gates(B) leading into the city,
at the main entrance, she cries out:
4 “People, I call out to you;
my cry is to the children of Adam.
5 Learn to be shrewd, you who are inexperienced;
develop common sense, you who are foolish.
6 Listen, for I speak of noble things,
and what my lips say is right.
7 For my mouth tells the truth,(C)
and wickedness is detestable to my lips.
8 All the words from my mouth are righteous;
none of them are deceptive or perverse.(D)
9 All of them are clear to the perceptive,(E)
and right to those who discover knowledge.
10 Accept my instruction instead of silver,
and knowledge rather than pure gold.(F)
11 For wisdom is better than jewels,(G)
and nothing desirable can equal it.(H)
12 I, wisdom, share a home with shrewdness
and have knowledge and discretion.(I)
13 To fear the Lord is to hate evil.(J)
I hate arrogant pride, evil conduct,
and perverse speech.
14 I possess good advice and sound wisdom;[a]
I have understanding and strength.(K)
15 It is by me that kings reign(L)
and rulers enact just law;
16 by me, princes lead,
as do nobles and all righteous judges.[b]
17 I love those who love me,(M)
and those who search for me find me.(N)
18 With me are riches and honor,(O)
lasting wealth and righteousness.(P)
19 My fruit is better than solid gold,
and my harvest than pure silver.(Q)
20 I walk in the ways of righteousness,
along the paths of justice,
21 giving wealth as an inheritance to those who love me,
and filling their treasuries.
22 “The Lord acquired[c] me
at the beginning of his creation,[d]
before his works of long ago.(R)
23 I was formed[e] before ancient times,
from the beginning, before the earth began.(S)
24 I was born
when there were no watery depths(T)
and no springs filled with water.
25 Before the mountains were established,
prior to the hills,(U) I was given birth—
26 before he made the land, the fields,
or the first soil on earth.
27 I was there when he established the heavens,(V)
when he laid out the horizon on the surface of the ocean,(W)
28 when he placed the skies above,
when the fountains of the ocean gushed out,
29 when he set a limit for the sea
so that the waters would not violate his command,(X)
when he laid out the foundations of the earth.(Y)
30 I was a skilled craftsman[f] beside him.(Z)
I was his[g] delight every day,
always rejoicing before him.
31 I was rejoicing in his inhabited world,(AA)
delighting in the children of Adam.(AB)
32 “And now, sons, listen to me;
those who keep my ways are happy.(AC)
33 Listen to instruction and be wise;(AD)
don’t ignore it.
34 Anyone who listens to me is happy,(AE)
watching at my doors every day,
waiting by the posts of my doorway.
35 For the one who finds me finds life(AF)
and obtains favor from the Lord,(AG)
36 but the one who misses me[h] harms himself;(AH)
all who hate me love death.”(AI)
Wisdom versus Foolishness
9 Wisdom has built her house;(AJ)
she has carved out her seven pillars.
2 She has prepared her meat;(AK) she has mixed her wine;(AL)
she has also set her table.(AM)
3 She has sent out her female servants;(AN)
she calls out from the highest points of the city:(AO)
4 “Whoever is inexperienced, enter here!”
To the one who lacks sense,(AP) she says,
5 “Come, eat my bread,(AQ)
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.[i]
8 Don’t rebuke a mocker, or he will hate you;(AR)
rebuke the wise, and he will love you.(AS)
9 Instruct the wise, and he will be wiser still;
teach the righteous, and he will learn more.(AT)
10 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,(AU)
and the knowledge of the Holy One(AV) 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;(AW)
if you mock, you alone will bear the consequences.”
13 Folly is a rowdy woman;(AX)
she is gullible and knows nothing.(AY)
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:(AZ)
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!” (BA)
18 But he doesn’t know that the departed spirits are there,(BB)
that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.(BC)
Living Letters
3 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some, letters of recommendation to you or from you? 2 You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone.(A) 3 You show that you are Christ’s letter,(B) delivered[a] by us, not written with ink but with the Spirit of the living God(C)—not on tablets of stone(D) but on tablets of human hearts.[b](E)
Paul’s Competence
4 Such is the confidence we have through Christ before God. 5 It is not that we are competent in[c] ourselves to claim anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God.(F) 6 He has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant,(G) not of the letter,(H) but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
New Covenant Ministry
7 Now if the ministry that brought death, chiseled in letters on stones, came with glory,(I) so that the Israelites were not able to gaze steadily at Moses’s face because of its glory, which was set aside, 8 how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? 9 For if the ministry that brought condemnation had glory, the ministry that brings righteousness overflows with even more glory. 10 In fact, what had been glorious is not glorious now by comparison because of the glory that surpasses it. 11 For if what was set aside(J) was glorious, what endures will be even more glorious.
12 Since, then, we have such a hope,(K) we act with great boldness. 13 We are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face(L) to prevent the Israelites from gazing steadily until the end[d] of the glory of what was being set aside, 14 but their minds were hardened.(M) For to this day, at the reading of the old covenant,(N) the same veil remains; it is not lifted, because it is set aside only in Christ.(O) 15 Yet still today, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts, 16 but whenever a person turns(P) to the Lord, the veil is removed.(Q) 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at[e](R) the glory of the Lord(S) and are being transformed(T) into the same image(U) from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit.[f]
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.