Warning Against the Adulteress
1 hMy son, keep my words
and htreasure up my commandments with you;
2 ikeep my commandments and live;
keep my teaching as jthe apple of your eye;
3 kbind them on your fingers;
kwrite them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
and call insight your intimate friend,
6 For at mthe window of my house
I have looked out through my lattice,
7 and I have seen among nthe simple,
I have perceived among the youths,
a young man olacking sense,
8 passing along the street pnear her corner,
taking the road to her house
9 in qthe twilight, in the evening,
at rthe time of night and darkness.
10 And behold, the woman meets him,
sdressed as a prostitute, wily of heart.3
vher feet do not stay at home;
12 now in the street, now in the market,
and wat every corner she xlies in wait.
13 She seizes him and kisses him,
and with ybold face she says to him,
14 “I had to zoffer sacrifices,4
and today I have apaid my vows;
15 so now I have come out to meet you,
to seek you eagerly, and I have found you.
16 I have spread my couch with bcoverings,
colored linens from cEgyptian linen;
17 I have perfumed my bed with dmyrrh,
aloes, and ecinnamon.
18 Come, let us take our fill of love till morning;
let us delight ourselves with love.
19 For fmy husband is not at home;
he has gone on a long journey;
20 he took a bag of money with him;
at full moon he will come home.”
21 With much seductive speech she persuades him;
with gher smooth talk she compels him.
22 All at once he follows her,
as an ox goes to the slaughter,
or as a stag is caught fast5
23 till an arrow pierces its liver;
as ha bird rushes into a snare;
he does not know that it will cost him his life.
24 And inow, O sons, listen to me,
and be attentive to the words of my mouth.
25 Let not your heart turn aside to her ways;
do not stray into her paths,
26 for many a victim has she laid low,
and all her slain are ja mighty throng.
27 Her house is kthe way to Sheol,
going down to the chambers of death.
The Blessings of Wisdom
1 Does not lwisdom call?
Does not munderstanding raise her voice?
2 On nthe heights beside the way,
at the crossroads she takes her stand;
3 beside othe gates in front of pthe town,
at the entrance of the portals she cries aloud:
4 “To you, O qmen, I call,
and my cry is to qthe children of man.
5 O rsimple ones, learn sprudence;
O tfools, learn sense.
6 Hear, for I will speak unoble things,
and from my lips will come vwhat is right,
7 for my wmouth will utter truth;
wickedness is an abomination to my lips.
8 All the words of my mouth are righteous;
there is nothing xtwisted or crooked in them.
9 They are all ystraight to him who understands,
and right to those who find knowledge.
10 zTake my instruction instead of silver,
and knowledge rather than choice gold,
11 afor wisdom is better than jewels,
and ball that you may desire cannot compare with her.
12 “I, wisdom, dwell with prudence,
and I find knowledge and cdiscretion.
13 dThe fear of the Lord is ehatred of evil.
fPride and arrogance and the way of evil
and gperverted speech I hate.
14 I have hcounsel and isound wisdom;
I have insight; jI have strength.
15 By me kkings reign,
and rulers decree what is just;
16 by me princes rule,
and nobles, all who govern justly.6
17 lI love those who love me,
and mthose who seek me diligently find me.
18 nRiches and honor are with me,
oenduring wealth and orighteousness.
19 My fruit is pbetter than qgold, even fine gold,
and my yield than rchoice silver.
20 I walk in the way of righteousness,
in the paths of justice,
21 granting an inheritance to those who love me,
and filling their treasuries.
22 s“The Lord tpossessed7 me at the beginning of his work,8
the first of his acts uof old.
23 Ages ago I was vset up,
at the first, wbefore the beginning of the earth.
24 When there were no xdepths I was ybrought forth,
when there were no springs abounding with water.
25 Before the mountains zhad been shaped,
abefore the hills, I was brought forth,
26 before he had made the earth with its fields,
or the first of the dust of the world.
27 When he bestablished the heavens, I was there;
when he drew ca circle on the face of the deep,
28 when he dmade firm the skies above,
when he established9 the fountains of the deep,
29 when he eassigned to the sea its flimit,
so that the waters might not transgress his command,
when he marked out gthe foundations of the earth,
30 then hI was beside him, like a master workman,
and I was daily his10 idelight,
rejoicing before him always,
31 jrejoicing in his kinhabited world
and delighting in the children of man.
32 “And now, lO sons, listen to me:
mblessed are those who keep my ways.
33 nHear instruction and be wise,
and do not neglect it.
34 oBlessed is the one who listens to me,
watching daily at my gates,
waiting beside my doors.
35 For pwhoever finds me qfinds life
and robtains favor from the Lord,
36 but he who fails to find me sinjures himself;
How Awesome Are Your Deeds
To the choirmaster. A Song. A Psalm.
1 bShout for joy to God, all the earth;
2 sing the glory of his name;
cgive to him glorious praise!
3 Say to God, d“How awesome are your deeds!
So great is your power that your enemies ecome cringing to you.
4 fAll the earth worships you
and sings praises to you;
they sing praises to your name.” Selah
5 gCome and see what God has done:
dhe is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man.
6 He hturned the sea into dry land;
they ipassed through the river on foot.
There did we rejoice in him,
7 who rules by his might forever,
whose jeyes keep watch on the nations—
let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah
8 Bless our God, O peoples;
let the sound of his praise be heard,
9 who has kept our soul among the living
and khas not let our feet slip.
10 For you, O God, have ltested us;
you have tried us as silver is tried.
11 You brought us into mthe net;
you laid a crushing burden on our backs;
12 you let men nride over our heads;
we went through fire and through owater;
yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance.
13 I will come into your house with burnt offerings;
I will pperform my vows to you,
14 that which my lips uttered
and my mouth promised qwhen I was in trouble.
15 I will offer to you burnt offerings of fattened animals,
with the smoke of the sacrifice of rams;
I will make an offering of bulls and goats. Selah
16 rCome and hear, all you who fear God,
and I will tell what he has done for my soul.
17 I cried to him with my mouth,
and high praise was on1 my tongue.2
18 If I had scherished iniquity in my heart,
tthe Lord would not have listened.
19 But truly uGod has listened;
he has attended to the voice of my prayer.
20 Blessed be God,
because he has not rejected my prayer
or removed his steadfast love from me!
Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand
1 After this jJesus went away to the other side of kthe Sea of Galilee, which is lthe Sea of Tiberias. 2 And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. 3 Jesus went up on mthe mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. 4 Now nthe Passover, the ofeast of the Jews, was at hand. 5 pLifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to qPhilip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” 6 He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. 7 rPhilip answered him, “Two hundred denarii1 worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.” 8 One of his disciples, sAndrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9 “There is a boy here who has five tbarley loaves and two fish, but twhat are they for so many?” 10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” uNow there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. 11 Jesus then took the loaves, and vwhen he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. 12 And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” 13 So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. 14 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, w“This is indeed xthe Prophet ywho is to come into the world!”
15 zPerceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus awithdrew again to bthe mountain by himself.
Jesus Walks on Water
16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, 17 got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18 The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. 19 When they had rowed about three or four miles,2 they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. 20 cBut he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” 21 Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.
I Am the Bread of Life
22 On the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only done boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. 23 Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord ehad given thanks. 24 fSo when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and gwent to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.
25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, h“Rabbi, when did you come here?” 26 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, iyou are seeking me, not because you saw jsigns, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27 kDo not work for the food that perishes, but for lthe food that endures to eternal life, which mthe Son of Man will give to you. For on nhim God the Father has oset his seal.” 28 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing pthe works of God?” 29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, qthat you believe in him whom rhe has sent.” 30 So they said to him, s“Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? 31 tOur fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, u‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” 32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is vhe who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 They said to him, w“Sir, give us this bread always.”
35 Jesus said to them, x“I am the bread of life; ywhoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. 37 zAll that athe Father gives me will come to me, and bwhoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38 For cI have come down from heaven, not to do dmy own will but dthe will of him ewho sent me. 39 And fthis is the will of him who sent me, gthat I should lose nothing of hall that he has given me, but iraise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who jlooks on the Son and kbelieves in him lshould have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
41 So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, m“I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, n“Is not this Jesus, othe son of Joseph, whose father and mother pwe know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” 43 Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. 44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me qdraws him. And rI will raise him up on the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets, s‘And they will all be ttaught by God.’ uEveryone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— 46 vnot that anyone has seen the Father except whe who is from God; he xhas seen the Father. 47 Truly, truly, I say to you, ywhoever believes has eternal life. 48 zI am the bread of life. 49 aYour fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and bthey died. 50 cThis is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it dand not die. 51 I am the living bread ethat came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give ffor the life of the world is gmy flesh.”
52 The Jews then hdisputed among themselves, saying, i“How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of jthe Son of Man and drink his blood, you khave no life in you. 54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood lhas eternal life, and mI will raise him up on the last day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood nabides in me, and I in him. 57 As othe living Father psent me, and qI live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. 58 rThis is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread3 the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59 Jesus4 said these things in the synagogue, as he taught sat Capernaum.
The Words of Eternal Life
60 tWhen many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” 61 But Jesus, vknowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? 62 Then what if you were to see wthe Son of Man xascending to ywhere he was before? 63 zIt is the Spirit who gives life; athe flesh is no help at all. bThe words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But cthere are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus vknew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and dwho it was who would betray him.) 65 And he said, “This is why I told you ethat no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”
66 fAfter this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. 67 So Jesus said to gthe twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have hthe words of eternal life, 69 and iwe have believed, and have come to know, that jyou are kthe Holy One of God.” 70 Jesus answered them, l“Did I not choose you, gthe twelve? And yet one of you is ma devil.” 71 He spoke of Judas nthe son of Simon Iscariot, for ohe, one of the twelve, was going to betray him.
