1 My son, don’t forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commands;
2 for they will bring you many days, a full life, and well-being.
3 Never let loyalty and faithfulness leave you. Tie them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Then you will find favor and high regard in the sight of God and man.
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding;
6 think about Him in all your ways, and He will guide you on the right paths.
7 Don’t consider yourself to be wise; fear the Lord and turn away from evil.
8 This will be healing for your body and strengthening for your bones.
9 Honor the Lord with your possessions and with the first produce of your entire harvest;
10 then your barns will be completely filled, and your vats will overflow with new wine.
11 Do not despise the Lord’s instruction, my son, and do not loathe His discipline;
12 for the Lord disciplines the one He loves, just as a father, the son he delights in.
13 Happy is a man who finds wisdom and who acquires understanding,
14 for she is more profitable than silver, and her revenue is better than gold.
15 She is more precious than jewels; nothing you desire compares with her.
16 Long life is in her right hand; in her left, riches and honor.
17 Her ways are pleasant, and all her paths, peaceful.
18 She is a tree of life to those who embrace her, and those who hold on to her are happy.
19 The Lord founded the earth by wisdom and established the heavens by understanding.
20 By His knowledge the watery depths broke open, and the clouds dripped with dew.
21 Maintain ⌊your⌋ competence and discretion. My son, don’t lose sight of them.
22 They will be life for you and adornment for your neck.
23 Then you will go safely on your way; your foot will not stumble.
24 When you lie down, you will not be afraid; you will lie down, and your sleep will be pleasant.
25 Don’t fear sudden danger or the ruin of the wicked when it comes,
26 for the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from a snare.
27 When it is in your power, don’t withhold good from the one it belongs to.
28 Don’t say to your neighbor, “Go away! Come back later. I’ll give it tomorrow”— when it is there with you.
29 Don’t plan any harm against your neighbor, for he trusts you and lives near you.
30 Don’t accuse anyone without cause, when he has done you no harm.
31 Don’t envy a violent man or choose any of his ways;
32 for the devious are detestable to the Lord, but He is a friend to the upright.
33 The Lord’s curse is on the household of the wicked, but He blesses the home of the righteous;
34 He mocks those who mock, but gives grace to the humble.
35 The wise will inherit honor, but He holds up fools to dishonor.
Proverbs 3:1-35 (HCSB)
8 The pure in heart are blessed, for they will see God.
Matthew 5:8 (HCSB)
30 Now I appeal to you, brothers, through our Lord Jesus Christ and through the love of the Spirit, to join with me in fervent prayers to God on my behalf.
Romans 15:30 (HCSB)
4 He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
5 For as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so through Christ our comfort also overflows.
2 Corinthians 1:4-5 (HCSB)
11 And He personally gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers,
12 for the training of the saints in the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ,
13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, growing into a mature man with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness.
14 Then we will no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit.
15 But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into Him who is the head — Christ.
16 From Him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building up itself in love by the proper working of each individual part.
Ephesians 4:11-16 (HCSB)