1 When you sit down to dine with a ruler, consider carefully what is before you,
2 and put a knife to your throat if you have a big appetite;
3 don’t desire his choice food, for that food is deceptive.
4 Don’t wear yourself out to get rich; stop giving your attention to it.
5 As soon as your eyes fly to it, it disappears, for it makes wings for itself and flies like an eagle to the sky.
6 Don’t eat a stingy person’s bread, and don’t desire his choice food,
7 for it’s like someone calculating inwardly. “Eat and drink,” he says to you, but his heart is not with you.
8 You will vomit the little you’ve eaten and waste your pleasant words.
9 Don’t speak to a fool, for he will despise the insight of your words.
10 Don’t move an ancient boundary marker, and don’t encroach on the fields of the fatherless,
11 for their Redeemer is strong, and He will take up their case against you.
12 Apply yourself to discipline and listen to words of knowledge.
13 Don’t withhold discipline from a youth; if you beat him with a rod, he will not die.
14 Strike him with a rod, and you will rescue his life from Sheol.
15 My son, if your heart is wise, my heart will indeed rejoice.
16 My innermost being will cheer when your lips say what is right.
17 Don’t let your heart envy sinners; instead, always fear the Lord.
18 For then you will have a future, and your hope will never fade.
19 Listen, my son, and be wise; keep your mind on the right course.
20 Don’t associate with those who drink too much wine or with those who gorge themselves on meat.
21 For the drunkard and the glutton will become poor, and grogginess will clothe them in rags.
22 Listen to your father who gave you life, and don’t despise your mother when she is old.
23 Buy—and do not sell—truth, wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
24 The father of a righteous son will rejoice greatly, and one who fathers a wise son will delight in him.
25 Let your father and mother have joy, and let her who gave birth to you rejoice.
26 My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways.
27 For a prostitute is a deep pit, and a stranger is a narrow well;
28 indeed, she sets an ambush like a robber and increases those among men who are unfaithful.
29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has conflicts? Who has complaints? Who has wounds for no reason? Who has red eyes?
30 Those who linger over wine, those who go looking for mixed wine.
31 Don’t gaze at wine because it is red, when it gleams in the cup and goes down smoothly.
32 In the end it bites like a snake and stings like a viper.
33 Your eyes will see strange things, and you will say absurd things.
34 You’ll be like someone sleeping out at sea or lying down on the top of a ship’s mast.
35 “They struck me, but I feel no pain! They beat me, but I didn’t know it! When will I wake up? I’ll look for another drink.”
Proverbs 23:1-35 (HCSB)
18 Therefore the Lord is waiting to show you mercy, and is rising up to show you compassion, for the Lord is a just God. All who wait patiently for Him are happy.
Isaiah 30:18 (HCSB)
3 He will settle disputes among many peoples and provide arbitration for strong nations that are far away. They will beat their swords into plows, and their spears into pruning knives. Nation will not take up the sword against nation, and they will never again train for war.
Micah 4:3 (HCSB)
17 Yahweh your God is among you, a warrior who saves. He will rejoice over you with gladness. He will bring you quietness with His love. He will delight in you with shouts of joy.
Zephaniah 3:17 (HCSB)
5 Now this is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in Him.
6 If we say, “We have fellowship with Him” and walk in darkness, we are lying and are not practicing the truth.
7 But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
8 If we say, “We have no sin,” we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say, “We don’t have any sin,” we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
1 John 1:5-10 (HCSB)
1 My little children, I am writing you these things so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ the Righteous One.
2 He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world.
1 John 2:1-2 (HCSB)