19¹ Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a man who is perverse in speech, and is a fool.

² It is not good for a man to be without knowledge, and he who makes haste with his feet misses his way.

³ When a man's folly brings his way to ruin, his heart rages against the Lord.

⁴ Wealth brings many new friends, but a poor man is deserted by his friend.

⁵ A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who utters lies will not escape.

⁶ Many seek the favor of a generous man, and every one is a friend to a man who gives gifts. ⁷ All a poor man's brothers hate him; how much more do his friends go far from him! He pursues them with words, but does not have them.

⁸ He who gets wisdom loves himself; he who keeps understanding will prosper.

⁹ A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who utters lies will perish.

¹⁰ It is not fitting for a fool to live in luxury, much less for a slave to rule over princes.

¹¹ Good sense makes a man slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.

¹² A king's wrath is like the growling of a lion, but his favor is like dew upon the grass.

¹³ A foolish son is ruin to his father, and a wife's quarreling is a continual dripping of rain.

¹⁴ House and wealth are inherited from fathers, but a prudent wife is from the Lord.

¹⁵ Slothfulness casts into a deep sleep, and an idle person will suffer hunger.

¹⁶ He who keeps the commandment keeps his life; he who despises the word will die.

¹⁷ He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.

¹⁸ Discipline your son while there is hope; do not set your heart on his destruction.

¹⁹ A man of great wrath will pay the penalty; for if you deliver him, you will only have to do it again.

²⁰ Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom for the future.

²¹ Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will be established.

²² What is desired in a man is loyalty, and a poor man is better than a liar.

²³ The fear of the Lord leads to life; and he who has it rests satisfied; he will not be visited by harm.

²⁴ The sluggard buries his hand in the dish, and will not even bring it back to his mouth.

²⁵ Strike a scoffer, and the simple will learn prudence; reprove a man of understanding, and he will gain knowledge.

²⁶ He who does violence to his father and chases away his mother is a son who causes shame and brings reproach.

²⁷ Cease, my son, to hear instruction only to stray from the words of knowledge.

²⁸ A worthless witness mocks at justice, and the mouth of the wicked devours iniquity.

²⁹ Condemnation is ready for scoffers, and flogging for the backs of fools.

20¹ Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler; and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.

² The dread wrath of a king is like the growling of a lion; he who provokes him to anger forfeits his life.

³ It is an honor for a man to keep aloof from strife; but every fool will be quarreling.

⁴ The sluggard does not plow in the autumn; he will seek at harvest and have nothing.

⁵ The purpose in a man's mind is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out.

⁶ Many a man proclaims his own loyalty, but a faithful man who can find?

⁷ A righteous man who walks in his integrity--blessed are his sons after him!

⁸ A king who sits on the throne of judgment winnows all evil with his eyes.

⁹ Who can say, "I have made my heart clean; I am pure from my sin"?

¹⁰ Diverse weights and diverse measures are both alike an abomination to the Lord.

¹¹ Even a child makes himself known by his acts, whether what he does is pure and right.

¹² The hearing ear and the seeing eye, the Lord has made them both.

¹³ Love not sleep, lest you come to poverty; open your eyes, and you will have plenty of bread.

¹⁴ "It is bad, it is bad," says the buyer; but when he goes away, then he boasts.

¹⁵ There is gold, and abundance of costly stones; but the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.

¹⁶ Take a man's garment when he has given surety for a stranger, and hold him in pledge when he gives surety for foreigners.

¹⁷ Bread gained by deceit is sweet to a man, but afterward his mouth will be full of gravel.

¹⁸ Plans are established by counsel; by wise guidance wage war.

¹⁹ He who goes about gossiping reveals secrets; therefore do not associate with one who speaks foolishly.

²⁰ If one curses his father or his mother, his lamp will be put out in utter darkness.

²¹ An inheritance gotten hastily in the beginning will in the end not be blessed.

²² Do not say, "I will repay evil"; wait for the Lord, and he will help you.

²³ Diverse weights are an abomination to the Lord, and false scales are not good.

²⁴ A man's steps are ordered by the Lord; how then can man understand his way?

²⁵ It is a snare for a man to say rashly, "It is holy," and to reflect only after making his vows.

²⁶ A wise king winnows the wicked, and drives the wheel over them.

²⁷ The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord, searching all his innermost parts.

²⁸ Loyalty and faithfulness preserve the king, and his throne is upheld by righteousness.

²⁹ The glory of young men is their strength, but the beauty of old men is their gray hair.

³⁰ Blows that wound cleanse away evil; strokes make clean the innermost parts.

21¹ The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will.

² Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart.

³ To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.

⁴ Haughty eyes and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, are sin.

⁵ The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but every one who is hasty comes only to want.

⁶ The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor and a snare of death.

⁷ The violence of the wicked will sweep them away, because they refuse to do what is just.

⁸ The way of the guilty is crooked, but the conduct of the pure is right.

⁹ It is better to live in a corner of the housetop than in a house shared with a contentious woman.

¹⁰ The soul of the wicked desires evil; his neighbor finds no mercy in his eyes.

¹¹ When a scoffer is punished, the simple becomes wise; when a wise man is instructed, he gains knowledge.

¹² The righteous observes the house of the wicked; the wicked are cast down to ruin.

¹³ He who closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself cry out and not be heard.

¹⁴ A gift in secret averts anger; and a bribe in the bosom, strong wrath.

¹⁵ When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous, but dismay to evildoers.

¹⁶ A man who wanders from the way of understanding will rest in the assembly of the dead.

¹⁷ He who loves pleasure will be a poor man; he who loves wine and oil will not be rich.

¹⁸ The wicked is a ransom for the righteous, and the faithless for the upright.

¹⁹ It is better to live in a desert land than with a contentious and fretful woman.

²⁰ Precious treasure remains in a wise man's dwelling, but a foolish man devours it.

²¹ He who pursues righteousness and kindness will find life and honor.

²² A wise man scales the city of the mighty and brings down the stronghold in which they trust.

²³ He who keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble.

²⁴ "Scoffer" is the name of the proud, haughty man who acts with arrogant pride.

²⁵ The desire of the sluggard kills him for his hands refuse to labor. ²⁶ All day long the wicked covets, but the righteous gives and does not hold back.

²⁷ The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination; how much more when he brings it with evil intent.

²⁸ A false witness will perish, but the word of a man who hears will endure.

²⁹ A wicked man puts on a bold face, but an upright man considers his ways.

³⁰ No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel, can avail against the Lord. ³¹ The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord.

7¹ Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, and make holiness perfect in the fear of God.

Paul's Joy at the Church's Repentance

² Open your hearts to us; we have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have taken advantage of no one. ³ I do not say this to condemn you, for I said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together. ⁴ I have great confidence in you; I have great pride in you; I am filled with comfort. With all our affliction, I am overjoyed.

⁵ For even when we came into Macedo'nia, our bodies had no rest but we were afflicted at every turn--fighting without and fear within. ⁶ But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, ⁷ and not only by his coming but also by the comfort with which he was comforted in you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more. ⁸ For even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it (though I did regret it), for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while. ⁹ As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting; for you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. ¹⁰ For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation and brings no regret, but worldly grief produces death. ¹¹ For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves guiltless in the matter.

¹² So although I wrote to you, it was not on account of the one who did the wrong, nor on account of the one who suffered the wrong, but in order that your zeal for us might be revealed to you in the sight of God. ¹³ Therefore we are comforted. And besides our own comfort we rejoiced still more at the joy of Titus, because his mind has been set at rest by you all. ¹⁴ For if I have expressed to him some pride in you, I was not put to shame; but just as everything we said to you was true, so our boasting before Titus has proved true. ¹⁵ And his heart goes out all the more to you, as he remembers the obedience of you all, and the fear and trembling with which you received him. ¹⁶ I rejoice, because I have perfect confidence in you.