Posted on 04/23/2014 8:42:52 AM PDT by OneVike
Listen to Your Father
01 When you sit down to eat with a ruler,
00 Consider carefully what is before you;
02 And put a knife to your throat
00 If you are a man given to appetite.
03 Do not desire his delicacies,
00 For they are deceptive food.
04 Do not overwork to be rich;
00 Because of your own understanding, cease!
05 Will you set your eyes on that which is not?
00 For riches certainly make themselves wings;
00 They fly away like an eagle toward heaven.
06 Do not eat the bread of a miser,
00 Nor desire his delicacies;
07 For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.
00 "Eat and drink!" he says to you,
00 But his heart is not with you.
08 The morsel you have eaten, you will vomit up,
00 And waste your pleasant words.
09 Do not speak in the hearing of a fool,
00 For he will despise the wisdom of your words.
10 Do not remove the ancient landmark,
00 Nor enter the fields of the fatherless;
11 For their Redeemer is mighty;
00 He will plead their cause against you.
12 Apply your heart to instruction,
00 And your ears to words of knowledge.
13 Do not withhold correction from a child,
00 For if you beat him with a rod, he will not die.
14 You shall beat him with a rod,
00 And deliver his soul from hell.
15 My son, if your heart is wise,
00 My heart will rejoice--indeed, I myself;
16 Yes, my inmost being will rejoice
00 When your lips speak right things.
17 Do not let your heart envy sinners,
00 But be zealous for the fear of the LORD all the day;
18 For surely there is a hereafter,
00 And your hope will not be cut off.
19 Hear, my son, and be wise;
00 And guide your heart in the way.
20 Do not mix with winebibbers,
00 Or with gluttonous eaters of meat;
21 For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty,
00 And drowsiness will clothe a man with rags.
22 Listen to your father who begot you,
00 And do not despise your mother when she is old.
23 Buy the truth, and do not sell it,
00 Also wisdom and instruction and understanding.
24 The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice,
00 And he who begets a wise child will delight in him.
25 Let your father and your mother be glad,
00 And let her who bore you rejoice.
26 My son, give me your heart,
00 And let your eyes observe my ways.
27 And a seductress is a narrow well.
00 And your destruction comes like a whirlwind,
28 She also lies in wait as for a victim,
00 And increases the unfaithful among men.
29 Who has woe?
00 Who has sorrow?
00 Who has contentions?
00 Who has complaints?
00 Who has wounds without cause?
00 Who has redness of eyes?
30 Those who linger long at the wine,
00 Those who go in search of mixed wine.
31 Do not look on the wine when it is red,
00 When it sparkles in the cup,
00 When it swirls around smoothly;
32 At the last it bites like a serpent,
00 And stings like a viper.
33 Your eyes will see strange things,
00 And your heart will utter perverse things.
34 Yes, you will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea,
00 Or like one who lies at the top of the mast, saying:
35 "They have struck me, but I was not hurt;
00 They have beaten me, but I did not feel it.
00 When shall I awake, that I may seek another drink?"
The purpose of Writing the book of Proverbs by Solomon is to reveal the mind of God in matters high and lofty and in common, ordinary, everyday situations. It appears that no topic escaped King Solomon's attention. Matters pertaining to personal conduct, sexual relations, business, wealth, charity, ambition, discipline, debt, child-rearing, character, alcohol, politics, revenge, and Godliness are among the many topics covered in this rich collection of wise sayings.
Without wisdom, knowledge is nothing more than an accumulation of raw facts, influenced by emotional feelings. Many highly educated people are in positions of power in the United States, but very few of those educated leaders have the wisdom needed to rule properly.
One can say that they have been educated well beyond their intelligence. A cursory look at the court system will prove my point that knowledge without wisdom will only lead to an immoral society that eventually crumbles from within. Judges are supposed to be above the fray, and immovable to emotions. Instead, the vast majority of judges today are Godless individuals who are vacant of wisdom. So their rulings are totally based upon emotional feelings.
We the people are to blame, because we ignored God';s guidance in appointing our leaders. Instead of putting leaders full wisdom in power, we instead chose those who would scratch our itchy ears to lead us.
Along with my daily routine of reading the Bible, I try to read through the book of Proverbs once a Month. It's an easy task when you consider there are 31 Proverbs. So all you need to know is what day of the Month it is to know which Proverb to read. In the Months that have less than 31 days, I just double so I can begin the next month with Proverb 1 on the first again.
Thank you so very much, OneVike. I really appreciate your posts.
Warm Regards,
SC
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