Ash Wednesday
1 Wisdom has built her house; she has carved out her seven pillars.
2 She has prepared her meat; she has mixed her wine; she has also set her table.
3 She has sent out her female servants; she calls out from the highest points of the city:
4 “Whoever is inexperienced, enter here!” To the one who lacks sense, she says,
5 “Come, eat my bread, and drink the wine I have mixed.
The Holy Bible: Holman Christian Standard Version. (Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2009), Proverbs 9:1–5.
1 A good name is to be chosen over great wealth; favor is better than silver and gold.
2 The rich and the poor have this in common: the LORD made them both.
3 A sensible person sees danger and takes cover, but the inexperienced keep going and are punished.
4 The result of humility is fear of the LORD, along with wealth, honor, and life.
5 There are thorns and snares on the path of the crooked; the one who guards himself stays far from them.
6 Teach a youth about the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.
7 The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is a slave to the lender.
8 The one who sows injustice will reap disaster, and the rod of his fury will be destroyed.
9 A generous person will be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor.
10 Drive out a mocker, and conflict goes too; then quarreling and dishonor will cease.
11 The one who loves a pure heart and gracious lips — the king is his friend.
12 The LORD’s eyes keep watch over knowledge, but He overthrows the words of the treacherous.
13 The slacker says, “There’s a lion outside! I’ll be killed in the public square!”
14 The mouth of the forbidden woman is a deep pit; a man cursed by the LORD will fall into it.
15 Foolishness is tangled up in the heart of a youth; the rod of discipline will drive it away from him.
16 Oppressing the poor to enrich oneself, and giving to the rich — both lead only to poverty.
Words of the Wise
17 Listen closely, pay attention to the words of the wise, and apply your mind to my knowledge.
18 For it is pleasing if you keep them within you and if they are constantly on your lips.
19 I have instructed you today — even you — so that your confidence may be in the LORD.
20 Haven’t I written for you thirty sayings about counsel and knowledge,
21 in order to teach you true and reliable words, so that you may give a dependable report to those who sent you?
22 Don’t rob a poor man because he is poor, and don’t crush the oppressed at the gate,
23 for the LORD will take up their case and will plunder those who plunder them.
24 Don’t make friends with an angry man, and don’t be a companion of a hot-tempered man,
25 or you will learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare.
26 Don’t be one of those who enter agreements, who put up security for loans.
27 If you have no money to pay, even your bed will be taken from under you.
28 Don’t move an ancient boundary marker, that your fathers set up.
29 Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will stand in the presence of kings. He will not stand in the presence of unknown men.
The Holy Bible: Holman Christian Standard Version. (Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2009), Proverbs 22:1–29.
18 For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.
The Holy Bible: King James Version, Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version. (Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2009), Proverbs 23:18.
14 For it is just like a man going on a journey. He called his own slaves and turned over his possessions to them.
15 To one he gave five talents; to another, two; and to another, one — to each according to his own ability. Then he went on a journey. Immediately
16 the man who had received five talents went, put them to work, and earned five more.
17 In the same way the man with two earned two more.
18 But the man who had received one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master’s money.
19 After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them.
20 The man who had received five talents approached, presented five more talents, and said, ‘Master, you gave me five talents. Look, I’ve earned five more talents.’
21 His master said to him, Well done, good and faithful slave! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Share your master’s joy!
22 Then the man with two talents also approached. He said, Master, you gave me two talents. Look, I’ve earned two more talents.
23 His master said to him, Well done, good and faithful slave! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Share your master’s joy!
24 Then the man who had received one talent also approached and said, Master, I know you. You’re a difficult man, reaping where you haven’t sown and gathering where you haven’t scattered seed.
25 So I was afraid and went off and hid your talent in the ground. Look, you have what is yours.
26 But his master replied to him, You evil, lazy slave! If you knew that I reap where I haven’t sown and gather where I haven’t scattered,
27 then you should have deposited my money with the bankers. And when I returned I would have received my money back with interest.
28 So take the talent from him and give it to the one who has 10 talents.
29 For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have more than enough. But from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.
30 And throw this good-for-nothing slave into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
The Holy Bible: Holman Christian Standard Version. (Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2009), Matthew 25:14–30.
31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed Him, If you continue in My word, you really are My disciples.
The Holy Bible: Holman Christian Standard Version. (Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2009), John 8:31.
1 If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,
2 Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.
3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.
5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
The Holy Bible: King James Version, Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version. (Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2009), Philippians 2:1–11.
15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
The Holy Bible: King James Version, Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version. (Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2009), James 4:15.