Bible Browser

121  I have done what is just and right; ♦︎
   O give me not over to my oppressors.
122  Stand surety for your servant’s good; ♦︎
   let not the proud oppress me.
123  My eyes fail with watching for your salvation ♦︎
   and for your righteous promise.
124  O deal with your servant according to your faithful love ♦︎
   and teach me your statutes.
125  I am your servant; O grant me understanding, ♦︎
   that I may know your testimonies.
126  It is time for you to act, O Lord, ♦︎
   for they frustrate your law.
127  Therefore I love your commandments ♦︎
   above gold, even much fine gold.
128  Therefore I direct my steps by all your precepts, ♦︎
   and all false ways I utterly abhor.

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.

The Call of Wisdom

²⁰ Wisdom cries out in the street;
   in the squares she raises her voice.
²¹ At the busiest corner she cries out;
   at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:
²² ‘How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?
How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing
   and fools hate knowledge?
²³ Give heed to my reproof;
I will pour out my thoughts to you;
   I will make my words known to you.
²⁴ Because I have called and you refused,
   have stretched out my hand and no one heeded,
²⁵ and because you have ignored all my counsel
   and would have none of my reproof,
²⁶ I also will laugh at your calamity;
   I will mock when panic strikes you,
²⁷ when panic strikes you like a storm,
   and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,
   when distress and anguish come upon you.
²⁸ Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer;
   they will seek me diligently, but will not find me.
²⁹ Because they hated knowledge
   and did not choose the fear of the Lord,
³⁰ would have none of my counsel,
   and despised all my reproof,
³¹ therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way
   and be sated with their own devices.
³² For waywardness kills the simple,
   and the complacency of fools destroys them;
³³ but those who listen to me will be secure
   and will live at ease, without dread of disaster.’

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

30 He also said, ‘With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? ³¹It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; ³²yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.’

The Use of Parables

33 With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; ³⁴he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.