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Psalm 125

1  Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, ♦︎
   which cannot be moved, but stands fast for ever.
2  As the hills stand about Jerusalem, ♦︎
   so the Lord stands round about his people,
      from this time forth for evermore.
3  The sceptre of wickedness shall not hold sway
      over the land allotted to the righteous, ♦︎
   lest the righteous turn their hands to evil.
4  Do good, O Lord, to those who are good, ♦︎
   and to those who are true of heart.
5  Those who turn aside to crooked ways
      the Lord shall take away with the evildoers; ♦︎
   but let there be peace upon Israel.

Proverbs

1The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:

Prologue

² For learning about wisdom and instruction,
   for understanding words of insight,
³ for gaining instruction in wise dealing,
   righteousness, justice, and equity;
⁴ to teach shrewdness to the simple,
   knowledge and prudence to the young—
⁵ let the wise also hear and gain in learning,
   and the discerning acquire skill,
⁶ to understand a proverb and a figure,
   the words of the wise and their riddles.

⁷ The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
   fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Warnings against Evil Companions

⁸ Hear, my child, your father’s instruction,
   and do not reject your mother’s teaching;
⁹ for they are a fair garland for your head,
   and pendants for your neck.
¹⁰ My child, if sinners entice you,
   do not consent.
¹¹ If they say, ‘Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood;
   let us wantonly ambush the innocent;
¹² like Sheol let us swallow them alive
   and whole, like those who go down to the Pit.
¹³ We shall find all kinds of costly things;
   we shall fill our houses with booty.
¹⁴ Throw in your lot among us;
   we will all have one purse’—
¹⁵ my child, do not walk in their way,
   keep your foot from their paths;
¹⁶ for their feet run to evil,
   and they hurry to shed blood.
¹⁷ For in vain is the net baited
   while the bird is looking on;
¹⁸ yet they lie in wait—to kill themselves!
   and set an ambush—for their own lives!
¹⁹ Such is the end^* of all who are greedy for gain;
   it takes away the life of its possessors.

The Righteous Judgement of God

2Therefore you have no excuse, whoever you are, when you judge others; for in passing judgement on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the very same things. ²You say,^* ‘We know that God’s judgement on those who do such things is in accordance with truth.’ ³Do you imagine, whoever you are, that when you judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself, you will escape the judgement of God? ⁴Or do you despise the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not realize that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? ⁵But by your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgement will be revealed. ⁶For he will repay according to each one’s deeds: ⁷to those who by patiently doing good seek for glory and honour and immortality, he will give eternal life; ⁸while for those who are self-seeking and who obey not the truth but wickedness, there will be wrath and fury. ⁹There will be anguish and distress for everyone who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, ¹⁰but glory and honour and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. ¹¹For God shows no partiality.