Bible Reading Plan – Day 134

₁Listen to what your father teaches you, my children. Pay attention, and you will have understanding. ₂What I am teaching you is good, so remember it all. ₃When I was only a little boy, my parents' only son, ₄my father would teach me. He would say, “Remember what I say and never forget it. Do as I tell you, and you will live. ₅Get wisdom and insight! Do not forget or ignore what I say. ₆Do not abandon wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will keep you safe. ₇Getting wisdom is the most important thing you can do. Whatever else you get, get insight. ₈Love wisdom, and she will make you great. Embrace her, and she will bring you honour. ₉She will be your crowning glory.”

₁₀Listen to me, my child. Take seriously what I am telling you, and you will live a long life. ₁₁I have taught you wisdom and the right way to live. ₁₂Nothing will stand in your way if you walk wisely, and you will not stumble when you run. ₁₃Always remember what you have learnt. Your education is your life — guard it well. ₁₄Do not go where evil people go. Do not follow the example of the wicked. ₁₅Don't do it! Keep away from evil! Refuse it and go on your way. ₁₆Wicked people cannot sleep unless they have done something wrong. They lie awake unless they have hurt someone. ₁₇Wickedness and violence are like food and drink to them.

₁₈The road the righteous travel is like the sunrise, getting brighter and brighter until daylight has come. ₁₉The road of the wicked, however, is dark as night. They fall, but cannot see what they have stumbled over.

₂₀Pay attention to what I say, my child. Listen to my words. ₂₁Never let them get away from you. Remember them and keep them in your heart. ₂₂They will give life and health to anyone who understands them. ₂₃Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts. ₂₄Never say anything that isn't true. Have nothing to do with lies and misleading words. ₂₅Look straight ahead with honest confidence; don't hang your head in shame. ₂₆Plan carefully what you do, and whatever you do will turn out right. ₂₇Avoid evil and walk straight ahead. Don't go one step off the right way.

₁Pay attention, my child, and listen to my wisdom and insight. ₂Then you will know how to behave properly, and your words will show that you have knowledge. ₃The lips of another man's wife may be as sweet as honey and her kisses as smooth as olive oil, ₄but when it is all over, she leaves you nothing but bitterness and pain. ₅She will take you down to the world of the dead; the road she walks is the road to death. ₆She does not stay on the road to life; but wanders off, and does not realize what is happening.

₇Now listen to me, my children, and never forget what I am saying. ₈Keep away from such a woman! Don't even go near her door! ₉If you do, others will gain the respect that you once had, and you will die young at the hands of merciless people. ₁₀Yes, strangers will take all your wealth, and what you have worked for will belong to someone else. ₁₁You will lie groaning on your deathbed, your flesh and muscles being eaten away, ₁₂and you will say, “Why would I never learn? Why would I never let anyone correct me? ₁₃I wouldn't listen to my teachers. I paid no attention to them. ₁₄And suddenly I found myself publicly disgraced.”

₁₅Be faithful to your own wife and give your love to her alone. ₁₆Children that you have by other women will do you no good. ₁₇Your children should grow up to help you, not strangers. ₁₈So be happy with your wife and find your joy with the woman you married — ₁₉pretty and graceful as a deer. Let her charms keep you happy; let her surround you with her love. ₂₀Why should you give your love to another woman, my son? Why should you prefer the charms of another man's wife? ₂₁The LORD sees everything you do. Wherever you go, he is watching. ₂₂The sins of the wicked are a trap. They get caught in the net of their own sin. ₂₃They die because they have no self-control. Their utter stupidity will send them to their graves.

₁Have you promised to be responsible for someone else's debts, my child? ₂Have you been caught by your own words, trapped by your own promises? ₃Well then, my child, you are in that person's power, but this is how to get out of it: hurry to him, and beg him to release you. ₄Don't let yourself go to sleep or even stop to rest. ₅Get out of the trap like a bird or a deer escaping from a hunter.

₆Lazy people should learn a lesson from the way ants live. ₇They have no leader, chief, or ruler, ₈but they store up their food during the summer, getting ready for winter. ₉How long is the lazy man going to lie in bed? When is he ever going to get up? ₁₀“I'll just take a short nap,” he says; “I'll fold my hands and rest a while.” ₁₁But while he sleeps, poverty will attack him like an armed robber.

₁₂Worthless, wicked people go around telling lies. ₁₃They wink and make gestures to deceive you, ₁₄all the while planning evil in their perverted minds, stirring up trouble everywhere. ₁₅Because of this, disaster will strike them without warning, and they will be fatally wounded.

_16-19There are seven things that the LORD hates and cannot tolerate:

₂₀Do what your father tells you, my son, and never forget what your mother taught you. ₂₁Keep their words with you always, locked in your heart. ₂₂Their teaching will lead you when you travel, protect you at night, and advise you during the day. ₂₃Their instructions are a shining light; their correction can teach you how to live. ₂₄It can keep you away from bad women, from the seductive words of other men's wives. ₂₅Don't be tempted by their beauty; don't be trapped by their flirting eyes. ₂₆A man can hire a prostitute for the price of a loaf of bread, but adultery will cost him all he has.

₂₇Can you carry fire against your chest without burning your clothes? ₂₈Can you walk on hot coals without burning your feet? ₂₉It is just as dangerous to sleep with another man's wife. Whoever does it will suffer. ₃₀People don't despise a thief if he steals food when he is hungry; ₃₁yet if he is caught, he must pay back seven times more — he must give up everything he has. ₃₂But a man who commits adultery hasn't any sense. He is just destroying himself. ₃₃He will be dishonoured and beaten up; he will be permanently disgraced. ₃₄A husband is never angrier than when he is jealous; his revenge knows no limits. ₃₅He will not accept any payment; no amount of gifts will satisfy his anger.

₁Remember what I say, my child, and never forget what I tell you to do. ₂Do what I say, and you will live. Be as careful to follow my teaching as you are to protect your eyes. ₃Keep my teaching with you all the time; write it on your heart. ₄Treat wisdom as your sister, and insight as your closest friend. ₅They will keep you away from other men's wives, from women with seductive words.

₆Once I was looking out of the window of my house, ₇and I saw many inexperienced young men, but noticed one foolish fellow in particular. ₈He was walking along the street near the corner where a certain woman lived. He was passing near her house ₉in the evening after it was dark. ₁₀And then she met him; she was dressed like a prostitute and was making plans. ₁₁She was a bold and shameless woman who always walked the streets ₁₂or stood waiting at a corner, sometimes in the streets, sometimes in the market place. ₁₃She threw her arms round the young man, kissed him, looked him straight in the eye, and said, ₁₄“I made my offerings today and have the meat from the sacrifices. ₁₅So I came out looking for you. I wanted to find you, and here you are! ₁₆I've covered my bed with sheets of coloured linen from Egypt. ₁₇I've perfumed it with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. ₁₈Come on! Let's make love all night long. We'll be happy in each other's arms. ₁₉My husband isn't at home. He's gone away on a long journey. ₂₀He took plenty of money with him and won't be back for two weeks.” ₂₁So she tempted him with her charms, and he gave in to her smooth talk. ₂₂Suddenly he was going with her like an ox on the way to be slaughtered, like a deer prancing into a trap ₂₃where an arrow would pierce its heart. He was like a bird going into a net — he did not know that his life was in danger.

₂₄Now then, my sons, listen to me. Pay attention to what I say. ₂₅Do not let such a woman win your heart; don't go wandering after her. ₂₆She has been the ruin of many men and caused the death of too many to count. ₂₇If you go to her house, you are on the way to the world of the dead. It is a short cut to death.