Hello, this is Father Paul, and I'm glad we're
taking this journey together to read the Bible
in a year. Today's reading is from the book of
Proverbs, chapters 23 and 24. Chapter 23. When
you sit down to eat with a ruler, consider carefully
what is before you, and put a knife to your throat
if you are a man given to appetite. Do not desire
his delicacies, for they are deceptive food.
Do not overwork to be rich. Because of your own
understanding, cease. Will you set your eyes
on that which is not? For riches certainly make
themselves wings. They fly away like an eagle
toward heaven. Do not eat the bread of a miser,
nor desire his delicacies. For as he thinks in
his heart, so is he. Eat and drink, he says to
you, but his heart is not with you. The more
so you have eaten, you will vomit up and waste
your pleasant words. Do not speak in the hearing
of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of
your words. Do not remove the ancient landmark,
nor enter the fields of the fatherless, for their
Redeemer is mighty. He will plead their cause
against you. Apply your heart to instruction
and your ears to words of knowledge. Do not withhold
correction from a child, for if you beat him
with a rod, he will not die. You shall beat him
with a rod and deliver his soul from hell. My
son, if your heart is wise, my heart will rejoice
indeed I myself. Yes, my inmost being will rejoice
when your lips speak right things. Do not let
your heart envy sinners, but be zealous for the
fear of the Lord all the day, for surely there
is a hereafter, and your hope will not be cut
off. Hear, my son, and be wise, and guide your
heart in the way. Do not mix with wine -bibbers
or with gluttonous eaters of meat, for the drunkard
and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness
will clothe a man with rags. Listen to your father
who begot you, and do not despise your mother
when she is old. Buy the truth and do not sell
it, also wisdom and instruction and understanding.
The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice,
and he who begets a wise child will delight in
him. Let your father and your mother be glad,
and let her who bore you rejoice. My son, give
me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways.
For a harlot is a deep pit, and a seductress
is a narrow well. She also lies in wait as for
a victim, and increases the unfaithful among
men. Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions?
Who has complaints? Who has wounds without cause?
Who has redness of eyes? Those who linger long
at the wine, those who go in search of mixed
wine, do not look on the wine when it is red,
when it sparkles in the cup, when it swirls around
smoothly. At the last it bites like a serpent
and stings like a viper. Your eyes will see strange
things, and your heart will utter perverse things.
Yes, you will be like one who lies down in the
midst of the sea, or like one who lies at the
top of the mast, saying, They have struck me,
but I was not hurt. They have beaten me, but
I did not feel it. When shall I awake that I
may seek another drink? For their heart devises
violence, and their lips talk of troublemaking.
Through wisdom a house is built, and by understanding
it is established. By knowledge the rooms are
filled, with all precious and pleasant riches.
A wise man is strong, yes, a man of knowledge
increases strength. For by wise counsel you will
wage your own war, and in a multitude of counselors
there is safety. Wisdom is too lofty for a fool.
He does not open his mouth in the gate. He who
plots to do evil will be called a schemer. The
devising of foolishness is sin, and the scoffer
is an abomination to men. If you faint in the
day of adversity, your strength is small. Deliver
those who are drawn toward death, and hold back
those stumbling to the slaughter. If you say,
surely we did not know this. Does not he who
weighs the hearts consider it? He who keeps your
soul, does he not know it? And will he not render
to each man according to his deeds? My son, eat
honey because it is good, and the honeycomb which
is sweet to your taste. So shall the knowledge
of wisdom be to your soul. If you have found
it, there is a prospect, and your hope will not
be cut off. Do not lie in wait, O wicked man,
against the dwelling of the righteous. Do not
plunder his resting place, for a righteous man
may fall seven times and rise again, but the
wicked shall fall by calamity. Do not rejoice
when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart
be glad when he stumbles, lest the Lord see it
and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath
from him. Do not fret because of evildoers, nor
be envious of the wicked, for there will be no
prospect for the evil man. The lamp of the wicked
will be put out. These things also belong to
the wise. It is not good to show partiality in
judgment. He who says to the wicked, you are
righteous, him the people will curse. Nations
will abhor him. But those who rebuke the wicked
will have delight, and a good blessing will come
upon them. He who gives a right answer kisses
the lips. Prepare your outside work, make it
fit for yourself in the field, and afterward
build your house. Do not be a witness against
your neighbor without cause, for would you deceive
with your lips? Do not say, I will do to him
just as he has done to me. I will render to the
man according to his work. I went by the field
of the lazy man, and by the vineyard of the man
devoid of understanding. And there it was. all
overgrown with thorns. Its surface was covered
with nettles. Its stone wall was broken down.
When I saw it, I considered it well. I looked
on it and received instruction. A little sleep,
a little slumber, a little folding of the hands
to rest. So shall your poverty come like a prowler
and your need like an armed man. I hope you enjoyed
today's reading as much as I did. And I look
forward to seeing you again tomorrow to continue
on our journey. God bless you and have a great
day.