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¹⁵With patience a ruler may be persuaded,
and a soft tongue can break bones.
¹⁶If you have found honey, eat only enough for you,
or else, having too much, you will vomit it.
¹⁷Let your foot be seldom in your neighbor’s house,
otherwise the neighbor will become weary of you and hate you.
¹⁸Like a war club, a sword, or a sharp arrow
is one who bears false witness against a neighbor.
¹⁹Like a bad tooth or a lame foot
is trust in a faithless person in time of trouble.
²⁰Like vinegar on a wound
is one who sings songs to a heavy heart.
Like a moth in clothing or a worm in wood,
sorrow gnaws at the human heart.
²¹If your enemies are hungry, give them bread to eat;
and if they are thirsty, give them water to drink;
²²for you will heap coals of fire on their heads,
and the Lord will reward you.
²³The north wind produces rain,
and a backbiting tongue, angry looks.
²⁴It is better to live in a corner of the housetop
than in a house shared with a contentious wife.
²⁵Like cold water to a thirsty soul,
so is good news from a far country.
²⁶Like a muddied spring or a polluted fountain
are the righteous who give way before the wicked.
²⁷It is not good to eat much honey,
or to seek honor on top of honor.
²⁸Like a city breached, without walls,
is one who lacks self-control.

⁶Of course, there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment; ⁷for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it; ⁸but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. ⁹But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. ¹⁰For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains. ¹¹But as for you, man of God, shun all this; pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness. ¹²Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life, to which you were called and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

¹³In the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you ¹⁴to keep the commandment without spot or blame until the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵which he will bring about at the right time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords. ¹⁶It is he alone who has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see; to him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen. ¹⁷As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. ¹⁸They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, ¹⁹thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that really is life. ²⁰Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you. Avoid the profane chatter and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge; ²¹by professing it some have missed the mark as regards the faith. Grace be with you.