WEBVTT 00:00:00.920 --> 00:00:03.700 Hello, this is Father Paul, and I'm glad we're 00:00:03.700 --> 00:00:05.740 taking this journey together to read the Bible 00:00:05.740 --> 00:00:08.939 in a year. Today's reading is from the book of 00:00:08.939 --> 00:00:13.900 Proverbs, chapters 23 and 24. Chapter 23. When 00:00:13.900 --> 00:00:16.519 you sit down to eat with a ruler, consider carefully 00:00:16.519 --> 00:00:19.059 what is before you, and put a knife to your throat 00:00:19.059 --> 00:00:21.940 if you are a man given to appetite. Do not desire 00:00:21.940 --> 00:00:24.500 his delicacies, for they are deceptive food. 00:00:24.800 --> 00:00:27.660 Do not overwork to be rich. Because of your own 00:00:27.660 --> 00:00:30.600 understanding, cease. Will you set your eyes 00:00:30.600 --> 00:00:33.880 on that which is not? For riches certainly make 00:00:33.880 --> 00:00:36.840 themselves wings. They fly away like an eagle 00:00:36.840 --> 00:00:40.060 toward heaven. Do not eat the bread of a miser, 00:00:40.179 --> 00:00:43.399 nor desire his delicacies. For as he thinks in 00:00:43.399 --> 00:00:46.600 his heart, so is he. Eat and drink, he says to 00:00:46.600 --> 00:00:49.100 you, but his heart is not with you. The more 00:00:49.100 --> 00:00:51.840 so you have eaten, you will vomit up and waste 00:00:51.840 --> 00:00:54.880 your pleasant words. Do not speak in the hearing 00:00:54.880 --> 00:00:57.219 of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of 00:00:57.219 --> 00:00:59.530 your words. Do not remove the ancient landmark, 00:00:59.829 --> 00:01:02.670 nor enter the fields of the fatherless, for their 00:01:02.670 --> 00:01:05.069 Redeemer is mighty. He will plead their cause 00:01:05.069 --> 00:01:07.730 against you. Apply your heart to instruction 00:01:07.730 --> 00:01:11.109 and your ears to words of knowledge. Do not withhold 00:01:11.109 --> 00:01:13.909 correction from a child, for if you beat him 00:01:13.909 --> 00:01:16.810 with a rod, he will not die. You shall beat him 00:01:16.810 --> 00:01:19.739 with a rod and deliver his soul from hell. My 00:01:19.739 --> 00:01:22.859 son, if your heart is wise, my heart will rejoice 00:01:22.859 --> 00:01:26.680 indeed I myself. Yes, my inmost being will rejoice 00:01:26.680 --> 00:01:30.219 when your lips speak right things. Do not let 00:01:30.219 --> 00:01:33.159 your heart envy sinners, but be zealous for the 00:01:33.159 --> 00:01:36.280 fear of the Lord all the day, for surely there 00:01:36.280 --> 00:01:39.040 is a hereafter, and your hope will not be cut 00:01:39.040 --> 00:01:42.599 off. Hear, my son, and be wise, and guide your 00:01:42.599 --> 00:01:45.390 heart in the way. Do not mix with wine -bibbers 00:01:45.390 --> 00:01:48.969 or with gluttonous eaters of meat, for the drunkard 00:01:48.969 --> 00:01:52.129 and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness 00:01:52.129 --> 00:01:55.469 will clothe a man with rags. Listen to your father 00:01:55.469 --> 00:01:57.930 who begot you, and do not despise your mother 00:01:57.930 --> 00:02:00.950 when she is old. Buy the truth and do not sell 00:02:00.950 --> 00:02:03.870 it, also wisdom and instruction and understanding. 00:02:04.329 --> 00:02:06.950 The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice, 00:02:07.269 --> 00:02:10.610 and he who begets a wise child will delight in 00:02:10.610 --> 00:02:13.120 him. Let your father and your mother be glad, 00:02:13.319 --> 00:02:17.319 and let her who bore you rejoice. My son, give 00:02:17.319 --> 00:02:19.919 me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways. 00:02:20.120 --> 00:02:23.500 For a harlot is a deep pit, and a seductress 00:02:23.500 --> 00:02:26.719 is a narrow well. She also lies in wait as for 00:02:26.719 --> 00:02:29.099 a victim, and increases the unfaithful among 00:02:29.099 --> 00:02:33.360 men. Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? 00:02:33.360 --> 00:02:36.599 Who has complaints? Who has wounds without cause? 00:02:36.819 --> 00:02:40.550 Who has redness of eyes? Those who linger long 00:02:40.550 --> 00:02:43.689 at the wine, those who go in search of mixed 00:02:43.689 --> 00:02:46.789 wine, do not look on the wine when it is red, 00:02:46.990 --> 00:02:50.150 when it sparkles in the cup, when it swirls around 00:02:50.150 --> 00:02:53.370 smoothly. At the last it bites like a serpent 00:02:53.370 --> 00:02:56.539 and stings like a viper. Your eyes will see strange 00:02:56.539 --> 00:02:59.159 things, and your heart will utter perverse things. 00:02:59.599 --> 00:03:02.340 Yes, you will be like one who lies down in the 00:03:02.340 --> 00:03:05.120 midst of the sea, or like one who lies at the 00:03:05.120 --> 00:03:08.180 top of the mast, saying, They have struck me, 00:03:08.280 --> 00:03:11.039 but I was not hurt. They have beaten me, but 00:03:11.039 --> 00:03:14.099 I did not feel it. When shall I awake that I 00:03:14.099 --> 00:03:24.680 may seek another drink? For their heart devises 00:03:24.680 --> 00:03:27.699 violence, and their lips talk of troublemaking. 00:03:27.979 --> 00:03:31.259 Through wisdom a house is built, and by understanding 00:03:31.259 --> 00:03:34.219 it is established. By knowledge the rooms are 00:03:34.219 --> 00:03:36.780 filled, with all precious and pleasant riches. 00:03:37.219 --> 00:03:40.020 A wise man is strong, yes, a man of knowledge 00:03:40.020 --> 00:03:43.560 increases strength. For by wise counsel you will 00:03:43.560 --> 00:03:46.719 wage your own war, and in a multitude of counselors 00:03:46.719 --> 00:03:50.539 there is safety. Wisdom is too lofty for a fool. 00:03:51.050 --> 00:03:54.189 He does not open his mouth in the gate. He who 00:03:54.189 --> 00:03:57.430 plots to do evil will be called a schemer. The 00:03:57.430 --> 00:04:00.750 devising of foolishness is sin, and the scoffer 00:04:00.750 --> 00:04:03.990 is an abomination to men. If you faint in the 00:04:03.990 --> 00:04:07.430 day of adversity, your strength is small. Deliver 00:04:07.430 --> 00:04:10.669 those who are drawn toward death, and hold back 00:04:10.669 --> 00:04:13.610 those stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, 00:04:13.629 --> 00:04:17.259 surely we did not know this. Does not he who 00:04:17.259 --> 00:04:20.100 weighs the hearts consider it? He who keeps your 00:04:20.100 --> 00:04:23.360 soul, does he not know it? And will he not render 00:04:23.360 --> 00:04:27.199 to each man according to his deeds? My son, eat 00:04:27.199 --> 00:04:30.199 honey because it is good, and the honeycomb which 00:04:30.199 --> 00:04:32.899 is sweet to your taste. So shall the knowledge 00:04:32.899 --> 00:04:35.980 of wisdom be to your soul. If you have found 00:04:35.980 --> 00:04:39.259 it, there is a prospect, and your hope will not 00:04:39.259 --> 00:04:42.439 be cut off. Do not lie in wait, O wicked man, 00:04:42.519 --> 00:04:44.850 against the dwelling of the righteous. Do not 00:04:44.850 --> 00:04:47.470 plunder his resting place, for a righteous man 00:04:47.470 --> 00:04:49.949 may fall seven times and rise again, but the 00:04:49.949 --> 00:04:52.910 wicked shall fall by calamity. Do not rejoice 00:04:52.910 --> 00:04:55.550 when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart 00:04:55.550 --> 00:04:58.389 be glad when he stumbles, lest the Lord see it 00:04:58.389 --> 00:05:01.490 and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath 00:05:01.490 --> 00:05:04.750 from him. Do not fret because of evildoers, nor 00:05:04.750 --> 00:05:07.430 be envious of the wicked, for there will be no 00:05:07.430 --> 00:05:10.329 prospect for the evil man. The lamp of the wicked 00:05:10.329 --> 00:05:24.540 will be put out. These things also belong to 00:05:24.540 --> 00:05:27.360 the wise. It is not good to show partiality in 00:05:27.360 --> 00:05:30.259 judgment. He who says to the wicked, you are 00:05:30.259 --> 00:05:33.319 righteous, him the people will curse. Nations 00:05:33.319 --> 00:05:36.360 will abhor him. But those who rebuke the wicked 00:05:36.360 --> 00:05:39.100 will have delight, and a good blessing will come 00:05:39.100 --> 00:05:42.160 upon them. He who gives a right answer kisses 00:05:42.160 --> 00:05:45.500 the lips. Prepare your outside work, make it 00:05:45.500 --> 00:05:48.220 fit for yourself in the field, and afterward 00:05:48.220 --> 00:05:51.399 build your house. Do not be a witness against 00:05:51.399 --> 00:05:54.579 your neighbor without cause, for would you deceive 00:05:54.579 --> 00:05:58.040 with your lips? Do not say, I will do to him 00:05:58.040 --> 00:06:00.959 just as he has done to me. I will render to the 00:06:00.959 --> 00:06:04.060 man according to his work. I went by the field 00:06:04.060 --> 00:06:06.899 of the lazy man, and by the vineyard of the man 00:06:06.899 --> 00:06:09.860 devoid of understanding. And there it was. all 00:06:09.860 --> 00:06:13.120 overgrown with thorns. Its surface was covered 00:06:13.120 --> 00:06:16.199 with nettles. Its stone wall was broken down. 00:06:16.420 --> 00:06:19.339 When I saw it, I considered it well. I looked 00:06:19.339 --> 00:06:21.980 on it and received instruction. A little sleep, 00:06:22.180 --> 00:06:25.100 a little slumber, a little folding of the hands 00:06:25.100 --> 00:06:28.519 to rest. So shall your poverty come like a prowler 00:06:28.519 --> 00:06:37.439 and your need like an armed man. I hope you enjoyed 00:06:37.439 --> 00:06:39.779 today's reading as much as I did. And I look 00:06:39.779 --> 00:06:41.740 forward to seeing you again tomorrow to continue 00:06:41.740 --> 00:06:43.939 on our journey. God bless you and have a great 00:06:43.939 --> 00:06:44.180 day.