Proverbs 7

• 1. Follow my advice, my son; always treasure my commands.
• 2. Obey them and live! Guard my teachings as your most precious possession.
• 3. Tie them on your fingers as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart.
• 4. Love wisdom like a sister; make insight a beloved member of your family.
• 5. Let them hold you back from an affair with an immoral woman, from listening to the flattery of an adulterous woman.
• 6. I was looking out the window of my house one day
• 7. and saw a simpleminded young man who lacked common sense.
• 8. He was crossing the street near the house of an immoral woman. He was strolling down the path by her house
• 9. at twilight, as the day was fading, as the dark of night set in.
• 10. The woman approached him, dressed seductively and sly of heart.
• 11. She was the brash, rebellious type who never stays at home.
• 12. She is often seen in the streets and markets, soliciting at every corner.
• 13. She threw her arms around him and kissed him, and with a brazen look she said,
• 14. "I've offered my sacrifices and just finished my vows.
• 15. It's you I was looking for! I came out to find you, and here you are!
• 16. My bed is spread with colored sheets of finest linen imported from Egypt.
• 17. I've perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
• 18. Come, let's drink our fill of love until morning. Let's enjoy each other's caresses,
• 19. for my husband is not home. He's away on a long trip.
• 20. He has taken a wallet full of money with him, and he won't return until later in the month."
• 21. So she seduced him with her pretty speech. With her flattery she enticed him.
• 22. He followed her at once, like an ox going to the slaughter or like a trapped stag,
• 23. awaiting the arrow that would pierce its heart. He was like a bird flying into a snare, little knowing it would cost him his life.
• 24. Listen to me, my sons, and pay attention to my words.
• 25. Don't let your hearts stray away toward her. Don't wander down her wayward path.
• 26. For she has been the ruin of many; numerous men have been her victims.
• 27. Her house is the road to the grave. Her bedroom is the den of death.

Proverbs 8

• 1. Listen as wisdom calls out! Hear as understanding raises her voice!
• 2. She stands on the hilltop and at the crossroads.
• 3. At the entrance to the city, at the city gates, she cries aloud,
• 4. "I call to you, to all of you! I am raising my voice to all people.
• 5. How naive you are! Let me give you common sense. O foolish ones, let me give you understanding.
• 6. Listen to me! For I have excellent things to tell you. Everything I say is right,
• 7. for I speak the truth and hate every kind of deception.
• 8. My advice is wholesome and good. There is nothing crooked or twisted in it.
• 9. My words are plain to anyone with understanding, clear to those who want to learn.
• 10. "Choose my instruction rather than silver, and knowledge over pure gold.
• 11. For wisdom is far more valuable than rubies. Nothing you desire can be compared with it.
• 12. "I, Wisdom, live together with good judgment. I know where to discover knowledge and discernment.
• 13. All who fear the LORD will hate evil. That is why I hate pride, arrogance, corruption, and perverted speech.
• 14. Good advice and success belong to me. Insight and strength are mine.
• 15. Because of me, kings reign, and rulers make just laws.
• 16. Rulers lead with my help, and nobles make righteous judgments.
• 17. "I love all who love me. Those who search for me will surely find me.
• 18. Unending riches, honor, wealth, and justice are mine to distribute.
• 19. My gifts are better than the purest gold, my wages better than sterling silver!
• 20. I walk in righteousness, in paths of justice.
• 21. Those who love me inherit wealth, for I fill their treasuries.
• 22. "The LORD formed me from the beginning, before he created anything else.
• 23. I was appointed in ages past, at the very first, before the earth began.
• 24. I was born before the oceans were created, before the springs bubbled forth their waters.
• 25. Before the mountains and the hills were formed, I was born--
• 26. before he had made the earth and fields and the first handfuls of soil.
• 27. "I was there when he established the heavens, when he drew the horizon on the oceans.
• 28. I was there when he set the clouds above, when he established the deep fountains of the earth.
• 29. I was there when he set the limits of the seas, so they would not spread beyond their boundaries. And when he marked off the earth's foundations,
• 30. I was the architect at his side. I was his constant delight, rejoicing always in his presence.
• 31. And how happy I was with what he created--his wide world and all the human family!
• 32. "And so, my children, listen to me, for happy are all who follow my ways.
• 33. Listen to my counsel and be wise. Don't ignore it.
• 34. "Happy are those who listen to me, watching for me daily at my gates, waiting for me outside my home!
• 35. For whoever finds me finds life and wins approval from the LORD.
• 36. But those who miss me have injured themselves. All who hate me love death."

Proverbs 9

• 1. Wisdom has built her spacious house with seven pillars.
• 2. She has prepared a great banquet, mixed the wines, and set the table.
• 3. She has sent her servants to invite everyone to come. She calls out from the heights overlooking the city.
• 4. "Come home with me," she urges the simple. To those without good judgment, she says,
• 5. "Come, eat my food, and drink the wine I have mixed.
• 6. Leave your foolish ways behind, and begin to live; learn how to be wise."
• 7. Anyone who rebukes a mocker will get a smart retort. Anyone who rebukes the wicked will get hurt.
• 8. So don't bother rebuking mockers; they will only hate you. But the wise, when rebuked, will love you all the more.
• 9. Teach the wise, and they will be wiser. Teach the righteous, and they will learn more.
• 10. Fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom. Knowledge of the Holy One results in understanding.
• 11. Wisdom will multiply your days and add years to your life.
• 12. If you become wise, you will be the one to benefit. If you scorn wisdom, you will be the one to suffer.
• 13. The woman named Folly is loud and brash. She is ignorant and doesn't even know it.
• 14. She sits in her doorway on the heights overlooking the city.
• 15. She calls out to men going by who are minding their own business.
• 16. "Come home with me," she urges the simple. To those without good judgment, she says,
• 17. "Stolen water is refreshing; food eaten in secret tastes the best!"
• 18. But the men don't realize that her former guests are now in the grave.

New Living Translation: 221 of 324 days.