The Books of Poetry

The Books of Poetry
Proverbs 23-24 Friday: Amos 1-4
Saturday: John 16-18
Sunday: Titus

Proverbs 23
1
When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee:
2
And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.
3
Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat.
4
Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.
5
Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.
6
Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats:
7
For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.
8
The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.
9
Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.
10
Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless:
11
For their redeemer is mighty; he shall plead their cause with thee.
12
Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.
13
Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.
14
Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.
15
My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.
16
Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things.
17
Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long.
18
For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.
19
Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.
20
Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:
21
For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.
22
Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.
23
Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
24
The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him.
25
Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice.
26
My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.
27
For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.
28
She also lieth in wait as for a prey, and increaseth the transgressors among men.
29
Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
30
They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.
31
Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.
32
At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
33
Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.
34
Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.
35
They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.



Proverbs 24
1
Be not thou envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them.
2
For their heart studieth destruction, and their lips talk of mischief.
3
Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established:
4
And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.
5
A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength.
6
For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counsellors there is safety.
7
Wisdom is too high for a fool: he openeth not his mouth in the gate.
8
He that deviseth to do evil shall be called a mischievous person.
9
The thought of foolishness is sin: and the scorner is an abomination to men.
10
If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.
11
If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain;
12
If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? and shall not he render to every man according to his works?
13
My son, eat thou honey, because it is good; and the honeycomb, which is sweet to thy taste:
14
So shall the knowledge of wisdom be unto thy soul: when thou hast found it, then there shall be a reward, and thy expectation shall not be cut off.
15
Lay not wait, O wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous; spoil not his resting place:
16
For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.
17
Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth:
18
Lest the LORD see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him.
19
Fret not thyself because of evil men, neither be thou envious at the wicked:
20
For there shall be no reward to the evil man; the candle of the wicked shall be put out.
21
My son, fear thou the LORD and the king: and meddle not with them that are given to change:
22
For their calamity shall rise suddenly; and who knoweth the ruin of them both?
23
These things also belong to the wise. It is not good to have respect of persons in judgment.
24
He that saith unto the wicked, Thou are righteous; him shall the people curse, nations shall abhor him:
25
But to them that rebuke him shall be delight, and a good blessing shall come upon them.
26
Every man shall kiss his lips that giveth a right answer.
27
Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field; and afterwards build thine house.
28
Be not a witness against thy neighbour without cause; and deceive not with thy lips.
29
Say not, I will do so to him as he hath done to me: I will render to the man according to his work.
30
I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding;
31
And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down.
32
Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction.
33
Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:
34
So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man.