Saturday, April 23, 2016
Friday, April 22, 2016
Romans Chapter 9 The Justice of God's Rejection of Israel
Romans 9:1-29
1 With Christ as my witness, I speak with
utter truthfulness. My conscience and the Holy Spirit confirm it.
2 My heart is filled with bitter sorrow
and unending grief
3 for my people, my Jewish brothers and
sisters. I would be willing to be forever cursed—cut off from Christ!—if that
would save them.
4They are the people of Israel, chosen to be
God’s adopted children. God revealed his glory to them. He made covenants with
them and gave them his law. He gave them the privilege of worshiping him and
receiving his wonderful promises.
5 Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are their
ancestors, and Christ himself was an Israelite as far as his human nature is
concerned. And he is God, the one who rules over everything and is worthy of
eternal praise! Amen.
6 Well then, has God failed to fulfill his
promise to Israel? No, for not all who are born into the nation of Israel are
truly members of God’s people!
7 Being descendants of Abraham doesn’t
make them truly Abraham’s children. For the Scriptures say, “Isaac is the son
through whom your descendants will be counted,” though Abraham had other
children, too.
8 This means that Abraham’s physical
descendants are not necessarily children of God. Only the children of the
promise are considered to be Abraham’s children.
9 For God had promised, “I will return
about this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”
10 This son was our ancestor Isaac. When he
married Rebekah, she gave birth to twins.
11 But before they were born, before they
had done anything good or bad, she received a message from God. (This message
shows that God chooses people according to his own purposes;
12 he calls people, but not according to
their good or bad works.) She was told, “Your older son will serve your younger
son.”
13 In the words of the Scriptures, “I loved
Jacob, but I rejected Esau.”
14 Are we saying, then, that God was
unfair? Of course not!
15 For God said to Moses, “I will show
mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose.”
16 So it is God who decides to show mercy.
We can neither choose it nor work for it.
17For the Scriptures say that God told Pharaoh,
“I have appointed you for the very purpose of displaying my power in you and to
spread my fame throughout the earth.”
18 So you see, God chooses to show mercy to
some, and he chooses to harden the hearts of others so they refuse to
listen.
19Well then, you might say, “Why does God blame
people for not responding? Haven’t they simply done what he makes them
do?”
20 No, don’t say that. Who are you, a mere
human being, to argue with God? Should the thing that was created say to the
one who created it, “Why have you made me like this?”
21 When a potter makes jars out of clay, doesn’t
he have a right to use the same lump of clay to make one jar for decoration and
another to throw garbage into?
22 In the same way, even though God has the
right to show his anger and his power, he is very patient with those on whom
his anger falls, who are destined for destruction.
23 He does this to make the riches of his
glory shine even brighter on those to whom he shows mercy, who were prepared in
advance for glory.
24 And we are among those whom he selected,
both from the Jews and from the Gentiles.
25 Concerning the Gentiles, God says in the
prophecy of Hosea, “Those who were not my people, I will now call my people.
And I will love those whom I did not love before.”
26 And, “Then, at the place where they were
told, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘children of the
living God.’”
27 And concerning Israel, Isaiah the
prophet cried out, “Though the people of Israel are as numerous as the sand of
the seashore, only a remnant will be saved.
28 For the LORD will carry out his sentence
upon the earth quickly and with finality.”
29 And Isaiah said the same thing in
another place: “If the LORD of Heaven’s Armies had not spared a few of our
children, we would have been wiped out like Sodom, destroyed like
Gomorrah.”
Thursday, April 21, 2016
Romans Chapter 8 Life in the Power of the Holy Spirit
Romans 8
1 So now there is no condemnation for
those who belong to Christ Jesus.
2And because you belong to him, the power of
the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to
death.
3 The law of Moses was unable to save us
because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not
do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that
body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a
sacrifice for our sins.
4 He did this so that the just requirement
of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful
nature but instead follow the Spirit.
5 Those who are dominated by the sinful
nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy
Spirit think about things that please the Spirit.
6 So letting your sinful nature control
your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to
life and peace.
7 For the sinful nature is always hostile
to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will.
8 That’s why those who are still under the
control of their sinful nature can never please God.
9 But you are not controlled by your
sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God
living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ
living in them do not belong to him at all.)
10 And Christ lives within you, so even
though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you
have been made right with God.
11 The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from
the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he
will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within
you.
12 Therefore, dear brothers and sisters,
you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do.
13 For if you live by its dictates, you
will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of
your sinful nature, you will live.
14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God
are children of God.
15 So you have not received a spirit that
makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted
you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.”
16 For his Spirit joins with our spirit to
affirm that we are God’s children.
17 And since we are his children, we are
his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we
are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.
18 Yet what we suffer now is nothing
compared to the glory he will reveal to us later.
19 For all creation is waiting eagerly for
that future day when God will reveal who his children really are.
20 Against its will, all creation was
subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope,
21 the creation looks forward to the day when
it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay.
22 For we know that all creation has been
groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.
23 And we believers also groan, even though
we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long
for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager
hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children,
including the new bodies he has promised us.
24 We were given this hope when we were
saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it.
25 But if we look forward to something we
don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)
26 And the Holy Spirit helps us in our
weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the
Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.
27 And the Father who knows all hearts
knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in
harmony with God’s own will.
28 And we know that God causes everything
to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to
his purpose for them.
29 For God knew his people in advance, and
he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn
among many brothers and sisters.
30 And having chosen them, he called them
to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with
himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.
31 What shall we say about such wonderful
things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us?
32 Since he did not spare even his own Son
but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?
33 Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen
for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with
himself.
34Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ
Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place
of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.
35 Can anything ever separate us from
Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or
calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or
threatened with death?
36 (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we
are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.” )
37 No, despite all these things,
overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever
separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,
neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers
of hell can separate us from God’s love.
39No power in the sky above or in the earth
below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the
love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Wednesday, April 20, 2016
Romans Chapter 7 Freedom from the Law's Condemnation
Romans 7
1 Now, dear brothers and sisters —you who
are familiar with the law—don’t you know that the law applies only while a
person is living?
2 For example, when a woman marries, the
law binds her to her husband as long as he is alive. But if he dies, the laws
of marriage no longer apply to her.
3 So while her husband is alive, she would
be committing adultery if she married another man. But if her husband dies, she
is free from that law and does not commit adultery when she remarries.
4 So, my dear brothers and sisters, this
is the point: You died to the power of the law when you died with Christ. And
now you are united with the one who was raised from the dead. As a result, we
can produce a harvest of good deeds for God.
5 When we were controlled by our old
nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil
desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death.
6 But now we have been released from the
law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve
God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of
living in the Spirit.
7 Well then, am I suggesting that the law
of God is sinful? Of course not! In fact, it was the law that showed me my sin.
I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You
must not covet.”
8 But sin used this command to arouse all
kinds of covetous desires within me! If there were no law, sin would not have
that power.
9 At one time I lived without
understanding the law. But when I learned the command not to covet, for
instance, the power of sin came to life,
10 and I died. So I discovered that the
law’s commands, which were supposed to bring life, brought spiritual death
instead.
11 Sin took advantage of those commands and
deceived me; it used the commands to kill me.
12 But still, the law itself is holy, and
its commands are holy and right and good.
13 But how can that be? Did the law, which
is good, cause my death? Of course not! Sin used what was good to bring about
my condemnation to death. So we can see how terrible sin really is. It uses
God’s good commands for its own evil purposes.
14 So the trouble is not with the law, for
it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a
slave to sin.
15 I don’t really understand myself, for I
want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate.
16 But if I know that what I am doing is
wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good.
17 So I am not the one doing wrong; it is
sin living in me that does it.
18 And I know that nothing good lives in
me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I
can’t.
19 I want to do what is good, but I don’t.
I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.
20 But if I do what I don’t want to do, I
am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.
21 I have discovered this principle of
life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong.
22 I love God’s law with all my
heart.
23 But there is another power within me
that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is
still within me.
24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who
will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?
25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ
our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but
because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.
Tuesday, April 19, 2016
Romans Chapter 6 Freedom from Sin's Tyranny
Romans 6
1 Well then, should we keep on sinning so
that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace?
2 Of course not! Since we have died to
sin, how can we continue to live in it?
3 Or have you forgotten that when we were
joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death?
4 For we died and were buried with Christ
by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power
of the Father, now we also may live new lives.
5 Since we have been united with him in
his death, we will also be raised to life as he was.
6 We know that our old sinful selves were
crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no
longer slaves to sin.
7 For when we died with Christ we were set
free from the power of sin.
8 And since we died with Christ, we know
we will also live with him.
9 We are sure of this because Christ was
raised from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any
power over him.
10 When he died, he died once to break the
power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God.
11 So you also should consider yourselves
to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.
12 Do not let sin control the way you live;
do not give in to sinful desires.
13 Do not let any part of your body become
an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God,
for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an
instrument to do what is right for the glory of God.
14 Sin is no longer your master, for you no
longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the
freedom of God’s grace.
15 Well then, since God’s grace has set us
free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not!
16 Don’t you realize that you become the
slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to
death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.
17 Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin,
but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you.
18 Now you are free from your slavery to
sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living.
19Because of the weakness of your human nature,
I am using the illustration of slavery to help you understand all this.
Previously, you let yourselves be slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led
ever deeper into sin. Now you must give yourselves to be slaves to righteous
living so that you will become holy.
20 When you were slaves to sin, you were
free from the obligation to do right.
21 And what was the result? You are now
ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom.
22 But now you are free from the power of
sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to
holiness and result in eternal life.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the
free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
Monday, April 18, 2016
Romans ~ IV. Righteousness Imputed: Justification (3:21;5:21) . Through Christ (3:21-26) A. Received by Faith (3:27;4:25) 1. The principle established (3:27-31) 2. The principle illustrated (ch. 4) B. The Fruits of Righteousness (5:1-11) C. Summary: Humanity's Unrighteousness Contrasted with God's Gift of Righteousness (5:12-21)
Romans 3
21 But now God has shown us a way to be
made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was
promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago.
22 We are made right with God by placing
our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no
matter who we are.
23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall
short of God’s glorious standard.
24 Yet God freely and graciously declares
that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from
the penalty for our sins.
25 For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice
for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed
his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when
he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past,
26 for he was looking ahead and including
them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his
righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be
right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.
27 Can we boast, then, that we have done
anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on
obeying the law. It is based on faith.
28 So we are made right with God through
faith and not by obeying the law.
29 After all, is God the God of the Jews
only? Isn’t he also the God of the Gentiles? Of course he is.
30 There is only one God, and he makes people
right with himself only by faith, whether they are Jews or Gentiles.
31 Well then, if we emphasize faith, does
this mean that we can forget about the law? Of course not! In fact, only when
we have faith do we truly fulfill the law.
Romans 4
1 Abraham was, humanly speaking, the
founder of our Jewish nation. What did he discover about being made right with
God?
2 If his good deeds had made him
acceptable to God, he would have had something to boast about. But that was not
God’s way.
3 For the Scriptures tell us, “Abraham
believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.”
4 When people work, their wages are not a
gift, but something they have earned.
5But people are counted as righteous, not because
of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners.
6 David also spoke of this when he
described the happiness of those who are declared righteous without working for
it:
7 “Oh, what joy for those whose
disobedience is forgiven, whose sins are put out of sight.
8 Yes, what joy for those whose record the
LORD has cleared of sin.”
9 Now, is this blessing only for the Jews,
or is it also for uncircumcised Gentiles? Well, we have been saying that
Abraham was counted as righteous by God because of his faith.
10 But how did this happen? Was he counted
as righteous only after he was circumcised, or was it before he was
circumcised? Clearly, God accepted Abraham before he was circumcised!
11 Circumcision was a sign that Abraham
already had faith and that God had already accepted him and declared him to be
righteous—even before he was circumcised. So Abraham is the spiritual father of
those who have faith but have not been circumcised. They are counted as
righteous because of their faith.
12 And Abraham is also the spiritual father
of those who have been circumcised, but only if they have the same kind of
faith Abraham had before he was circumcised.
13 Clearly, God’s promise to give the whole
earth to Abraham and his descendants was based not on his obedience to God’s
law, but on a right relationship with God that comes by faith.
14 If God’s promise is only for those who
obey the law, then faith is not necessary and the promise is pointless.
15 For the law always brings punishment on
those who try to obey it. (The only way to avoid breaking the law is to have no
law to break!)
16 So the promise is received by faith. It
is given as a free gift. And we are all certain to receive it, whether or not
we live according to the law of Moses, if we have faith like Abraham’s. For
Abraham is the father of all who believe.
17 That is what the Scriptures mean when
God told him, “I have made you the father of many nations.” This happened
because Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life and who
creates new things out of nothing.
18 Even when there was no reason for hope,
Abraham kept hoping—believing that he would become the father of many nations.
For God had said to him, “That’s how many descendants you will have!”
19 And Abraham’s faith did not weaken, even
though, at about 100 years of age, he figured his body was as good as
dead—and so was Sarah’s womb.
20 Abraham never wavered in believing God’s
promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God.
21 He was fully convinced that God is able
to do whatever he promises.
22 And because of Abraham’s faith, God
counted him as righteous.
23 And when God counted him as righteous,
it wasn’t just for Abraham’s benefit. It was recorded
24 for our benefit, too, assuring us that
God will also count us as righteous if we believe in him, the one who raised
Jesus our Lord from the dead.
25 He was handed over to die because of our
sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God.
Romans 5
1 Therefore, since we have been made right
in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ
our Lord has done for us.
2 Because of our faith, Christ has brought us
into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently
and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.
3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into
problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.
4 And endurance develops strength of
character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.
5 And this hope will not lead to
disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us
the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.
6 When we were utterly helpless, Christ
came at just the right time and died for us sinners.
7 Now, most people would not be willing to
die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a
person who is especially good.
8 But God showed his great love for us by
sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.
9 And since we have been made right in
God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s
condemnation.
10 For since our friendship with God was
restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will
certainly be saved through the life of his Son.
11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful
new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of
God.
12 When Adam sinned, sin entered the world.
Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone
sinned.
13 Yes, people sinned even before the law
was given. But it was not counted as sin because there was not yet any law to
break.
14 Still, everyone died—from the time of
Adam to the time of Moses—even those who did not disobey an explicit
commandment of God, as Adam did. Now Adam is a symbol, a representation of
Christ, who was yet to come.
15 But there is a great difference between
Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought
death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of
forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ.
16 And the result of God’s gracious gift is
very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to
condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even
though we are guilty of many sins.
17 For the sin of this one man, Adam,
caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and
his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin
and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.
18Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for
everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship
with God and new life for everyone.
19 Because one person disobeyed God, many
became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made
righteous.
20 God’s law was given so that all people could
see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful
grace became more abundant.
21 So just as sin ruled over all people and
brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right
standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Proverbs 23
Proverbs 23 (New International Version)
Proverbs 23
1 When you sit to dine with a ruler, note well what [a] is before you,
2 and put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony.
3 Do not crave his delicacies, for that food is deceptive.
4 Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint.
5 Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.
6 Do not eat the food of a stingy man, do not crave his delicacies;
7 for he is the kind of man who is always thinking about the cost. [b] "Eat and drink," he says to you, but his heart is not with you.
8 You will vomit up the little you have eaten and will have wasted your compliments.
9 Do not speak to a fool, for he will scorn the wisdom of your words.
10 Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless,
11 for their Defender is strong; he will take up their case against you.
12 Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge.
13 Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you punish him with the rod, he will not die.
14 Punish him with the rod and save his soul from death. [c]
15 My son, if your heart is wise, then my heart will be glad;
16 my inmost being will rejoice when your lips speak what is right.
17 Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always be zealous for the fear of the LORD.
18 There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.
19 Listen, my son, and be wise, and keep your heart on the right path.
20 Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat,
21 for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags.
22 Listen to your father, who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.
23 Buy the truth and do not sell it; get wisdom, discipline and understanding.
24 The father of a righteous man has great joy; he who has a wise son delights in him.
25 May your father and mother be glad; may she who gave you birth rejoice!
26 My son, give me your heart and let your eyes keep to my ways,
27 for a prostitute is a deep pit and a wayward wife is a narrow well.
28 Like a bandit she lies in wait, and multiplies the unfaithful among men.
29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?
30 Those who linger over wine, who go to sample bowls of mixed wine.
31 Do not gaze at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly!
32 In the end it bites like a snake and poisons like a viper.
33 Your eyes will see strange sights and your mind imagine confusing things.
34 You will be like one sleeping on the high seas, lying on top of the rigging.
35 "They hit me," you will say, "but I'm not hurt! They beat me, but I don't feel it! When will I wake up so I can find another drink?"
Proverbs 23
1 When you sit to dine with a ruler, note well what [a] is before you,
2 and put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony.
3 Do not crave his delicacies, for that food is deceptive.
4 Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint.
5 Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.
6 Do not eat the food of a stingy man, do not crave his delicacies;
7 for he is the kind of man who is always thinking about the cost. [b] "Eat and drink," he says to you, but his heart is not with you.
8 You will vomit up the little you have eaten and will have wasted your compliments.
9 Do not speak to a fool, for he will scorn the wisdom of your words.
10 Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless,
11 for their Defender is strong; he will take up their case against you.
12 Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge.
13 Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you punish him with the rod, he will not die.
14 Punish him with the rod and save his soul from death. [c]
15 My son, if your heart is wise, then my heart will be glad;
16 my inmost being will rejoice when your lips speak what is right.
17 Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always be zealous for the fear of the LORD.
18 There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.
19 Listen, my son, and be wise, and keep your heart on the right path.
20 Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat,
21 for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags.
22 Listen to your father, who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.
23 Buy the truth and do not sell it; get wisdom, discipline and understanding.
24 The father of a righteous man has great joy; he who has a wise son delights in him.
25 May your father and mother be glad; may she who gave you birth rejoice!
26 My son, give me your heart and let your eyes keep to my ways,
27 for a prostitute is a deep pit and a wayward wife is a narrow well.
28 Like a bandit she lies in wait, and multiplies the unfaithful among men.
29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?
30 Those who linger over wine, who go to sample bowls of mixed wine.
31 Do not gaze at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly!
32 In the end it bites like a snake and poisons like a viper.
33 Your eyes will see strange sights and your mind imagine confusing things.
34 You will be like one sleeping on the high seas, lying on top of the rigging.
35 "They hit me," you will say, "but I'm not hurt! They beat me, but I don't feel it! When will I wake up so I can find another drink?"
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