Day 545 of 730

¹This is the third time I am coming to you. "At the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established."

²I have said beforehand, and I do say beforehand, as when I was present the second time, so now, being absent, to those who have sinned before now, and to all the rest, that, if I come again, I will not spare;

³seeing that you seek a proof of Christ who speaks in me; who toward you is not weak, but is powerful in you.

⁴For indeed he was crucified through weakness, yet he lives through the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we will live with him through the power of God toward you.

⁵Test your own selves, whether you are in the faith. Test your own selves. Or do you not know as to your own selves, that Jesus Christ is in you?-unless indeed you are disqualified.

⁶But I hope that you will know that we are not disqualified.

⁷Now we pray to God that you do no evil; not that we may appear approved, but that you may do that which is honorable, though we are as reprobate.

⁸For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.

⁹For we rejoice when we are weak and you are strong. And this we also pray for, even your perfecting.

¹⁰For this cause I write these things while absent, that I may not deal sharply when present, according to the authority which the Lord gave me for building up, and not for tearing down.

¹¹Finally, brothers, rejoice. Be perfected, be comforted, be of the same mind, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.

¹²Greet one another with a holy kiss.

¹³All the saints greet you.

¹⁴The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.

¹Oh come, let's sing to the Lord. Let's shout aloud to the rock of our salvation!

²Let's come before his presence with thanksgiving. Let's extol him with songs!

³For the Lord is a great God, a great King above all gods.

⁴In his hand are the deep places of the earth. The heights of the mountains are also his.

⁵The sea is his, and he made it. His hands formed the dry land.

⁶Oh come, let's worship and bow down. Let's kneel before the Lord, our Maker,

⁷for he is our God. We are the people of his pasture, and the sheep in his care. Today, oh that you would hear his voice!

⁸Do not harden your heart, as at Meribah, as in the day of Massah in the wilderness,

⁹when your fathers tempted me, tested me, and saw my work.

¹⁰Forty long years I was grieved with that generation, and said, "It is a people that errs in their heart. They have not known my ways."

¹¹Therefore I swore in my wrath, "They won't enter into my rest."

¹An unfriendly man pursues selfishness, and defies all sound judgment.

²A fool has no delight in understanding, but only in revealing his own opinion.

³When wickedness comes, contempt also comes, and with shame comes disgrace.

⁴The words of a man's mouth are like deep waters. The fountain of wisdom is like a flowing brook.

⁵To be partial to the faces of the wicked is not good, nor to deprive the innocent of justice.

⁶A fool's lips come into strife, and his mouth invites beatings.

⁷A fool's mouth is his destruction, and his lips are a snare to his soul.

⁸The words of a gossip are like dainty morsels: they go down into a person's innermost parts.

⁹One who is slack in his work is brother to him who is a master of destruction.

¹⁰The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous run to him, and are safe.

¹¹The rich man's wealth is his strong city, like an unscalable wall in his own imagination.

¹²Before destruction the heart of man is proud, but before honor is humility.

¹³He who gives answer before he hears, that is folly and shame to him.

¹⁴A man's spirit will sustain him in sickness, but a crushed spirit, who can bear?

¹⁵The heart of the discerning gets knowledge. The ear of the wise seeks knowledge.

¹⁶A man's gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men.

¹⁷He who pleads his cause first seems right; until another comes and questions him.

¹⁸The lot settles disputes, and keeps strong ones apart.

¹⁹A brother offended is more difficult than a fortified city; and disputes are like the bars of a castle.

²⁰A man's stomach is filled with the fruit of his mouth. With the harvest of his lips he is satisfied.

²¹Death and life are in the power of the tongue; those who love it will eat its fruit.

²²Whoever finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor of the Lord.

²³The poor plead for mercy, but the rich answer harshly.

²⁴A man of many companions may be ruined, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.