Children

¹Wisdom has built her house,

She has hewn out her seven pillars;

²She has prepared her food, she has mixed her wine;

She has also set her table;

³She has sent out her maidens, she calls

From the tops of the heights of the city:

⁴“Whoever is naive, let him turn in here!”

To him who lacks understanding she says,

⁵“Come, eat of my food

And drink of the wine I have mixed.

⁶“Forsake your folly and live,

And proceed in the way of understanding.”

⁹O fear the LORD, you His saints;

For to those who fear Him there is no want.

¹⁰The young lions do lack and suffer hunger;

But they who seek the LORD shall not be in want of any good thing.

¹¹Come, you children, listen to me;

I will teach you the fear of the LORD.

¹²Who is the man who desires life

And loves length of days that he may see good?

¹³Keep your tongue from evil

And your lips from speaking deceit.

¹⁴Depart from evil and do good;

Seek peace and pursue it.

¹⁵Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise,¹⁶making the most of your time, because the days are evil.¹⁷So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.¹⁸And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit,¹⁹speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;²⁰always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father;

⁵¹“I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.”

⁵²Then the Jews began to argue with one another, saying, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?”⁵³So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves.⁵⁴“He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.⁵⁵“For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink.⁵⁶“He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.⁵⁷“As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me.⁵⁸“This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever.”

¹⁵The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous

And His ears are open to their cry.

¹⁶The face of the LORD is against evildoers,

To cut off the memory of them from the earth.

¹⁷The righteous cry, and the LORD hears

And delivers them out of all their troubles.

¹⁸The LORD is near to the brokenhearted

And saves those who are crushed in spirit.

¹⁹Many are the afflictions of the righteous,

But the LORD delivers him out of them all.

²⁰He keeps all his bones,

Not one of them is broken.

²¹Evil shall slay the wicked,

And those who hate the righteous will be condemned.

²²The LORD redeems the soul of His servants,

And none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned.

¹⁰Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.¹¹Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.¹²For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.¹³Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.¹⁴Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVINGPUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS,¹⁵and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE;¹⁶in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.¹⁷And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

¹⁸With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,¹⁹and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel,²⁰for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

⁵⁶“He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.⁵⁷“As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me.⁵⁸“This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever.”

Words to the Disciples

⁵⁹These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.

⁶⁰Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this said, “This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?”⁶¹But Jesus, conscious that His disciples grumbled at this, said to them, “Does this cause you to stumble?⁶²“What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before?⁶³“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.⁶⁴“But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him.⁶⁵And He was saying, “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.”

Peter’s Confession of Faith

⁶⁶As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore.⁶⁷So Jesus said to the twelve, “You do not want to go away also, do you?”⁶⁸Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life.⁶⁹“We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.”

¹O LORD, who may abide in Your tent?

Who may dwell on Your holy hill?

²He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness,

And speaks truth in his heart.

³He does not slander with his tongue,

Nor does evil to his neighbor,

Nor takes up a reproach against his friend;

⁴In whose eyes a reprobate is despised,

But who honors those who fear the LORD;

He swears to his own hurt and does not change;

⁵He does not put out his money at interest,

Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.

He who does these things will never be shaken.

¹⁷Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.¹⁸In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.

¹⁹This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger;²⁰for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.²¹Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.²²But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.²³For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror;²⁴for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.²⁵But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.

²⁶If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless.²⁷Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

⁴Say to those with anxious heart,

“Take courage, fear not.

Behold, your God will come with vengeance;

The recompense of God will come,

But He will save you.”

⁵Then the eyes of the blind will be opened

And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped.

⁶Then the lame will leap like a deer,

And the tongue of the mute will shout for joy.

For waters will break forth in the wilderness

And streams in the Arabah.

⁷The scorched land will become a pool

And the thirsty ground springs of water;

In the haunt of jackals, its resting place,

Grass becomes reeds and rushes.

¹Praise the LORD!

Praise the LORD, O my soul!

²I will praise the LORD while I live;

I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

³Do not trust in princes,

In mortal man, in whom there is no salvation.

⁴His spirit departs, he returns to the earth;

In that very day his thoughts perish.

⁵How blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,

Whose hope is in the LORD his God,

⁶Who made heaven and earth,

The sea and all that is in them;

Who keeps faith forever;

⁷Who executes justice for the oppressed;

Who gives food to the hungry.

The LORD sets the prisoners free.

⁸The LORD opens the eyes of the blind;

The LORD raises up those who are bowed down;

The LORD loves the righteous;

⁹The LORD protects the strangers;

He supports the fatherless and the widow,

But He thwarts the way of the wicked.

¹⁰The LORD will reign forever,

Your God, O Zion, to all generations.

Praise the LORD!

²⁴Jesus got up and went away from there to the region of Tyre. And when He had entered a house, He wanted no one to know of it; yet He could not escape notice.²⁵But after hearing of Him, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately came and fell at His feet.²⁶Now the woman was a Gentile, of the Syrophoenician race. And she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter.²⁷And He was saying to her, “Let the children be satisfied first, for it is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”²⁸But she answered and *said to Him, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table feed on the children’s crumbs.”²⁹And He said to her, “Because of this answer go; the demon has gone out of your daughter.”³⁰And going back to her home, she found the child lying on the bed, the demon having left.

³¹Again He went out from the region of Tyre, and came through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, within the region of Decapolis.³²They *brought to Him one who was deaf and spoke with difficulty, and they *implored Him to lay His hand on him.³³Jesus took him aside from the crowd, by himself, and put His fingers into his ears, and after spitting, He touched his tongue with the saliva;³⁴and looking up to heaven with a deep sigh, He *said to him, “Ephphatha!” that is, “Be opened!”³⁵And his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was removed, and he began speaking plainly.³⁶And He gave them orders not to tell anyone; but the more He ordered them, the more widely they continued to proclaim it.³⁷They were utterly astonished, saying, “He has done all things well; He makes even the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”

⁴The Lord GOD has given Me the tongue of disciples,

That I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word.

He awakens Me morning by morning,

He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple.

⁵The Lord GOD has opened My ear;

And I was not disobedient

Nor did I turn back.

⁶I gave My back to those who strike Me,

And My cheeks to those who pluck out the beard;

I did not cover My face from humiliation and spitting.

⁷For the Lord GOD helps Me,

Therefore, I am not disgraced;

Therefore, I have set My face like flint,

And I know that I will not be ashamed.

⁸He who vindicates Me is near;

Who will contend with Me?

Let us stand up to each other;

Who has a case against Me?

Let him draw near to Me.

⁹Behold, the Lord GOD helps Me;

Who is he who condemns Me?

Behold, they will all wear out like a garment;

The moth will eat them.

¹I love the LORD, because He hears

My voice and my supplications.

²Because He has inclined His ear to me,

Therefore I shall call upon Him as long as I live.

³The cords of death encompassed me

And the terrors of Sheol came upon me;

I found distress and sorrow.

⁴Then I called upon the name of the LORD:

“O LORD, I beseech You, save my life!”

⁵Gracious is the LORD, and righteous;

Yes, our God is compassionate.

⁶The LORD preserves the simple;

I was brought low, and He saved me.

⁷Return to your rest, O my soul,

For the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.

⁸For You have rescued my soul from death,

My eyes from tears,

My feet from stumbling.

⁹I shall walk before the LORD

In the land of the living.

The Tongue Is a Fire

¹Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.²For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well.³Now if we put the bits into the horses’ mouths so that they will obey us, we direct their entire body as well.⁴Look at the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, are still directed by a very small rudder wherever the inclination of the pilot desires.⁵So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things.

See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire!⁶And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell.⁷For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race.⁸But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison.⁹With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God;¹⁰from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way.¹¹Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water?¹²Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives, or a vine produce figs? Nor can salt water produce fresh.

Wisdom from Above

²⁷Jesus went out, along with His disciples, to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way He questioned His disciples, saying to them, “Who do people say that I am?”²⁸They told Him, saying, “John the Baptist; and others say Elijah; but others, one of the prophets.”²⁹And He continued by questioning them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter *answered and *said to Him, “You are the Christ.”³⁰And He warned them to tell no one about Him.

³¹And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.³²And He was stating the matter plainly. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him.³³But turning around and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter and *said, “Get behind Me, Satan; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”

³⁴And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.³⁵“For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.³⁶“For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?³⁷“For what will a man give in exchange for his soul?³⁸“For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”

¹⁸Moreover, the LORD made it known to me and I knew it;

Then You showed me their deeds.

¹⁹But I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter;

And I did not know that they had devised plots against me, saying,

“Let us destroy the tree with its fruit,

And let us cut him off from the land of the living,

That his name be remembered no more.”

²⁰But, O LORD of hosts, who judges righteously,

Who tries the feelings and the heart,

Let me see Your vengeance on them,

For to You have I committed my cause.

¹Save me, O God, by Your name,

And vindicate me by Your power.

²Hear my prayer, O God;

Give ear to the words of my mouth.

³For strangers have risen against me

And violent men have sought my life;

They have not set God before them.

Selah.

⁴Behold, God is my helper;

The Lord is the sustainer of my soul.

⁵He will recompense the evil to my foes;

Destroy them in Your faithfulness.

⁶Willingly I will sacrifice to You;

I will give thanks to Your name, O LORD, for it is good.

⁷For He has delivered me from all trouble,

And my eye has looked with satisfaction upon my enemies.

³⁰From there they went out and began to go through Galilee, and He did not want anyone to know about it.³¹For He was teaching His disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man is to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him; and when He has been killed, He will rise three days later.”³²But they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask Him.

³³They came to Capernaum; and when He was in the house, He began to question them, “What were you discussing on the way?”³⁴But they kept silent, for on the way they had discussed with one another which of them was the greatest.³⁵Sitting down, He called the twelve and *said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.”³⁶Taking a child, He set him before them, and taking him in His arms, He said to them,³⁷“Whoever receives one child like this in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me does not receive Me, but Him who sent Me.”

Dire Warnings

⁷The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul;

The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.

⁸The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart;

The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.

⁹The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever;

The judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether.

¹⁰They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold;

Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.

¹¹Moreover, by them Your servant is warned;

In keeping them there is great reward.

¹²Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults.

¹³Also keep back Your servant from presumptuous sins;

Let them not rule over me;

Then I will be blameless,

And I shall be acquitted of great transgression.

¹⁴Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

Be acceptable in Your sight,

O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer.

¹³Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises.¹⁴Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord;¹⁵and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.¹⁶Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.¹⁷Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.¹⁸Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit.

¹⁹My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back,²⁰let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

³⁸John said to Him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we tried to prevent him because he was not following us.”³⁹But Jesus said, “Do not hinder him, for there is no one who will perform a miracle in My name, and be able soon afterward to speak evil of Me.⁴⁰“For he who is not against us is for us.⁴¹“For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because of your name as followers of Christ, truly I say to you, he will not lose his reward.

⁴²“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe to stumble, it would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he had been cast into the sea.⁴³“If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire,⁴⁴[where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.]⁴⁵“If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than, having your two feet, to be cast into hell,⁴⁶[where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.]⁴⁷“If your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell,⁴⁸where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, ANDTHE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.

⁴⁹“For everyone will be salted with fire.⁵⁰“Salt is good; but if the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”