Today, Monday, October 3, 2016, is the second day in our reading together through the Book of Proverbs. Yesterday, we read the third chapter first. That was an executive decision on my part to get us started.
In our chapter today, Solomon explains the value of these sayings not only for older people, but to give younger people a heads-up word about life in order to help them avoid tragic mistakes in their lives.
It is my hope that all of us will benefit from these wise sayings and the counsel it offers us. I have chosen to use The Message, a paraphrase of the Scriptures. Eugene H. Peterson, a great Bible scholar and linguist with a pastor's heart did this rendering of the Holy Scriptures. Read it with delight and joy. From time to time you may feel the urge to see how it reads in other translations of the Bible. Let us be like the Bereans who searched the Scriptures to see if what the Apostle Paul was teaching and preaching was in harmony with the written Word.
Here is the reference to the story of the Bereans: Acts 17:11, "Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true" (NIV). A good policy is to Trust but Verify.
And now, let us read the first chapter of the Book of Proverbs.
Proverbs 1:1-33
1:1 WISE SAYINGS OF SOLOMON
A Manual for Living
These are the wise sayings of Solomon,
David's son, Israel's king —
2 Written down so we'll know how to live well and right,
to understand what life means and where it's going;
3 A manual for living,
for learning what's right and just and fair;
4 To teach the inexperienced the ropes
and give our young people a grasp on reality.
5 There's something here also for seasoned men and women,
6 still a thing or two for the experienced to learn —
Fresh wisdom to probe and penetrate,
the rhymes and reasons of wise men and women.
7 Start with God
Start with GOD — the first step in learning is bowing down to GOD;
only fools thumb their noses at such wisdom and learning.
8 Pay close attention, friend, to what your father tells you;
never forget what you learned at your mother's knee.
9 Wear their counsel like flowers in your hair, like rings on your fingers.
10 Dear friend, if bad companions tempt you, don't go along with them.
11 If they say — "Let's go out and raise some hell. Let's beat up some old man, mug some old woman.
12 Let's pick them clean and get them ready for their funerals.
13 We'll load up on top-quality loot.We'll haul it home by the truckload.
14 Join us for the time of your life! With us, it's share and share alike!" —
15 Oh, friend, don't give them a second look; don't listen to them for a minute.
16 They're racing to a very bad end, hurrying to ruin everything they lay hands on.
17 Nobody robs a bank with everyone watching,
18 Yet that's what these people are doing — they're doing themselves in.
19 When you grab all you can get, that's what happens: the more you get, the less you are.
20 Lady Wisdom
Lady Wisdom goes out in the street and shouts. At the town center she makes her speech.
21 In the middle of the traffic she takes her stand. At the busiest corner she calls out:
22 "Simpletons! How long will you wallow in ignorance? Cynics! How long will you feed your cynicism?Idiots! How long will you refuse to learn?
23 About face! I can revise your life. Look, I'm ready to pour out my spirit on you; I'm ready to tell you all I know.
24 As it is, I've called, but you've turned a deaf ear; I've reached out to you, but you've ignored me.
25 "Since you laugh at my counsel and make a joke of my advice,
26 How can I take you seriously? I'll turn the tables and joke about your troubles!
27 What if the roof falls in, and your whole life goes to pieces? What if catastrophe strikes and there's nothing to show for your life but rubble and ashes?
28 You'll need me then. You'll call for me, but don't expect an answer. No matter how hard you look, you won't find me.
29 "Because you hated Knowledge and had nothing to do with the Fear-of-GOD,
30 Because you wouldn't take my advice and brushed aside all my offers to train you,
31 Well, you've made your bed — now lie in it;you wanted your own way — now, how do you like it?
32 Don't you see what happens, you simpletons, you idiots? Carelessness kills; complacency is murder.
33 First pay attention to me, and then relax. Now you can take it easy — you're in good hands."
(from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)
In our chapter today, Solomon explains the value of these sayings not only for older people, but to give younger people a heads-up word about life in order to help them avoid tragic mistakes in their lives.
It is my hope that all of us will benefit from these wise sayings and the counsel it offers us. I have chosen to use The Message, a paraphrase of the Scriptures. Eugene H. Peterson, a great Bible scholar and linguist with a pastor's heart did this rendering of the Holy Scriptures. Read it with delight and joy. From time to time you may feel the urge to see how it reads in other translations of the Bible. Let us be like the Bereans who searched the Scriptures to see if what the Apostle Paul was teaching and preaching was in harmony with the written Word.
Here is the reference to the story of the Bereans: Acts 17:11, "Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true" (NIV). A good policy is to Trust but Verify.
And now, let us read the first chapter of the Book of Proverbs.
Proverbs 1:1-33
1:1 WISE SAYINGS OF SOLOMON
A Manual for Living
These are the wise sayings of Solomon,
David's son, Israel's king —
2 Written down so we'll know how to live well and right,
to understand what life means and where it's going;
3 A manual for living,
for learning what's right and just and fair;
4 To teach the inexperienced the ropes
and give our young people a grasp on reality.
5 There's something here also for seasoned men and women,
6 still a thing or two for the experienced to learn —
Fresh wisdom to probe and penetrate,
the rhymes and reasons of wise men and women.
7 Start with God
Start with GOD — the first step in learning is bowing down to GOD;
only fools thumb their noses at such wisdom and learning.
8 Pay close attention, friend, to what your father tells you;
never forget what you learned at your mother's knee.
9 Wear their counsel like flowers in your hair, like rings on your fingers.
10 Dear friend, if bad companions tempt you, don't go along with them.
11 If they say — "Let's go out and raise some hell. Let's beat up some old man, mug some old woman.
12 Let's pick them clean and get them ready for their funerals.
13 We'll load up on top-quality loot.We'll haul it home by the truckload.
14 Join us for the time of your life! With us, it's share and share alike!" —
15 Oh, friend, don't give them a second look; don't listen to them for a minute.
16 They're racing to a very bad end, hurrying to ruin everything they lay hands on.
17 Nobody robs a bank with everyone watching,
18 Yet that's what these people are doing — they're doing themselves in.
19 When you grab all you can get, that's what happens: the more you get, the less you are.
20 Lady Wisdom
Lady Wisdom goes out in the street and shouts. At the town center she makes her speech.
21 In the middle of the traffic she takes her stand. At the busiest corner she calls out:
22 "Simpletons! How long will you wallow in ignorance? Cynics! How long will you feed your cynicism?Idiots! How long will you refuse to learn?
23 About face! I can revise your life. Look, I'm ready to pour out my spirit on you; I'm ready to tell you all I know.
24 As it is, I've called, but you've turned a deaf ear; I've reached out to you, but you've ignored me.
25 "Since you laugh at my counsel and make a joke of my advice,
26 How can I take you seriously? I'll turn the tables and joke about your troubles!
27 What if the roof falls in, and your whole life goes to pieces? What if catastrophe strikes and there's nothing to show for your life but rubble and ashes?
28 You'll need me then. You'll call for me, but don't expect an answer. No matter how hard you look, you won't find me.
29 "Because you hated Knowledge and had nothing to do with the Fear-of-GOD,
30 Because you wouldn't take my advice and brushed aside all my offers to train you,
31 Well, you've made your bed — now lie in it;you wanted your own way — now, how do you like it?
32 Don't you see what happens, you simpletons, you idiots? Carelessness kills; complacency is murder.
33 First pay attention to me, and then relax. Now you can take it easy — you're in good hands."
(from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)