DAY ONE HUNDRED-FIFTY FOUR
____
June 3
Devotional
For a command is a lamp, teaching is a light, and corrective discipline is the way to life. Proverbs 6:23 CSB
Three ideas in today’s verse to guide your life: command, teaching, and corrective discipline. Which one do you like the sound of? The words sound kind of like the options in a children’s story. Command seems a little strong. Corrective discipline seems more like just discipline. Teaching seems just right. No matter what you may be feeling, all of them are necessary. There is a specific context of this verse in instructing a young man, but these are timeless truths for all ages. Where do you need a lamp to guide you in the darkness? What teaching do you need to receive that puts light into your life? What corrective discipline do you need to receive in order to find the way of life? Take a moment and thank God for His word, and for those around you who God has provided to speak life into you. Don’t miss out on the life that God has for you — allow His commands, teaching and discipline to guide you today.
Proverbs 4 CSB
A Father’s Example4 Listen, sons, to a father’s discipline,
and pay attention so that you may gain understanding,
2 for I am giving you good instruction.
Don’t abandon my teaching.
3 When I was a son with my father,
tender and precious to my mother,
4 he taught me and said,
“Your heart must hold on to my words.
Keep my commands and live.
5 Get wisdom, get understanding;
don’t forget or turn away from the words from my mouth.
6 Don’t abandon wisdom, and she will watch over you;
love her, and she will guard you.
7 Wisdom is supreme—so get wisdom.
And whatever else you get, get understanding.
8 Cherish her, and she will exalt you;
if you embrace her, she will honor you.
9 She will place a garland of favor on your head;
she will give you a crown of beauty.”
Two Ways of Life
10 Listen, my son. Accept my words,
and you will live many years.
11 I am teaching you the way of wisdom;
I am guiding you on straight paths.
12 When you walk, your steps will not be hindered;
when you run, you will not stumble.
13 Hold on to instruction; don’t let go.
Guard it, for it is your life.
14 Keep off the path of the wicked;
don’t proceed on the way of evil ones.
15 Avoid it; don’t travel on it.
Turn away from it, and pass it by.
16 For they can’t sleep
unless they have done what is evil;
they are robbed of sleep
unless they make someone stumble.
17 They eat the bread of wickedness
and drink the wine of violence.
18 The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,
shining brighter and brighter until midday.
19 But the way of the wicked is like the darkest gloom;
they don’t know what makes them stumble.
The Straight Path
20 My son, pay attention to my words;
listen closely to my sayings.
21 Don’t lose sight of them;
keep them within your heart.
22 For they are life to those who find them,
and health to one’s whole body.
23 Guard your heart above all else,
for it is the source of life.
24 Don’t let your mouth speak dishonestly,
and don’t let your lips talk deviously.
25 Let your eyes look forward;
fix your gaze straight ahead.
26 Carefully consider the path for your feet,
and all your ways will be established.
27 Don’t turn to the right or to the left;
keep your feet away from evil.
Proverbs 5 CSB
Avoid Seduction5 My son, pay attention to my wisdom;
listen closely to my understanding
2 so that you may maintain discretion
and your lips safeguard knowledge.
3 Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey
and her words are smoother than oil,
4 in the end she’s as bitter as wormwood
and as sharp as a double-edged sword.
5 Her feet go down to death;
her steps head straight for Sheol.
6 She doesn’t consider the path of life;
she doesn’t know that her ways are unstable.
7 So now, sons, listen to me,
and don’t turn away from the words from my mouth.
8 Keep your way far from her.
Don’t go near the door of her house.
9 Otherwise, you will give up your vitality to others
and your years to someone cruel;
10 strangers will drain your resources,
and your hard-earned pay will end up in a foreigner’s house.
11 At the end of your life, you will lament
when your physical body has been consumed,
12 and you will say, “How I hated discipline,
and how my heart despised correction.
13 I didn’t obey my teachers
or listen closely to my instructors.
14 I am on the verge of complete ruin
before the entire community.”
Enjoy Marriage
15 Drink water from your own cistern,
water flowing from your own well.
16 Should your springs flow in the streets,
streams in the public squares?
17 They should be for you alone
and not for you to share with strangers.
18 Let your fountain be blessed,
and take pleasure in the wife of your youth.
19 A loving deer, a graceful doe—
let her breasts always satisfy you;
be lost in her love forever.
20 Why, my son, would you lose yourself
with a forbidden woman
or embrace a wayward woman?
21 For a man’s ways are before the Lord’s eyes,
and he considers all his paths.
22 A wicked man’s iniquities will trap him;
he will become tangled in the ropes of his own sin.
23 He will die because there is no discipline,
and be lost because of his great stupidity.
Proverbs 6 CSB
Financial Entanglements6 My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor
or entered into an agreement with a stranger,
2 you have been snared by the words of your mouth—
trapped by the words from your mouth.
3 Do this, then, my son, and free yourself,
for you have put yourself in your neighbor’s power:
Go, humble yourself, and plead with your neighbor.
4 Don’t give sleep to your eyes
or slumber to your eyelids.
5 Escape like a gazelle from a hunter,
like a bird from a hunter’s trap.
Laziness
6 Go to the ant, you slacker!
Observe its ways and become wise.
7 Without leader, administrator, or ruler,
8 it prepares its provisions in summer;
it gathers its food during harvest.
9 How long will you stay in bed, you slacker?
When will you get up from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the arms to rest,
11 and your poverty will come like a robber,
your need, like a bandit.
The Malicious Man
12 A worthless person, a wicked man
goes around speaking dishonestly,
13 winking his eyes, signaling with his feet,
and gesturing with his fingers.
14 He always plots evil with perversity in his heart;
he stirs up trouble.
15 Therefore calamity will strike him suddenly;
he will be shattered instantly, beyond recovery.
What the Lord Hates
16 The Lord hates six things;
in fact, seven are detestable to him:
17 arrogant eyes, a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
18 a heart that plots wicked schemes,
feet eager to run to evil,
19 a lying witness who gives false testimony,
and one who stirs up trouble among brothers.
Warning against Adultery
20 My son, keep your father’s command,
and don’t reject your mother’s teaching.
21 Always bind them to your heart;
tie them around your neck.
22 When you walk here and there, they will guide you;
when you lie down, they will watch over you;
when you wake up, they will talk to you.
23 For a command is a lamp, teaching is a light,
and corrective discipline is the way to life.
24 They will protect you from an evil woman,
from the flattering tongue of a wayward woman.
25 Don’t lust in your heart for her beauty
or let her captivate you with her eyelashes.
26 For a prostitute’s fee is only a loaf of bread,
but the wife of another man goes after a precious life.
27 Can a man embrace fire
and his clothes not be burned?
28 Can a man walk on burning coals
without scorching his feet?
29 So it is with the one who sleeps with
another man’s wife;
no one who touches her will go unpunished.
30 People don’t despise the thief if he steals
to satisfy himself when he is hungry.
31 Still, if caught, he must pay seven times as much;
he must give up all the wealth in his house.
32 The one who commits adultery lacks sense;
whoever does so destroys himself.
33 He will get a beating and dishonor,
and his disgrace will never be removed.
34 For jealousy enrages a husband,
and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.
35 He will not be appeased by anything
or be persuaded by lavish bribes.
Psalm 149 CSB
Praise for God’s Triumph1 Hallelujah!
Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise in the assembly of the faithful.
2 Let Israel celebrate its Maker;
let the children of Zion rejoice in their King.
3 Let them praise his name with dancing
and make music to him with tambourine and lyre.
4 For the Lord takes pleasure in his people;
he adorns the humble with salvation.
5 Let the faithful celebrate in triumphal glory;
let them shout for joy on their beds.
6 Let the exaltation of God be in their mouths
and a double-edged sword in their hands,
7 inflicting vengeance on the nations
and punishment on the peoples,
8 binding their kings with chains
and their dignitaries with iron shackles,
9 carrying out the judgment decreed against them.
This honor is for all his faithful people.
Hallelujah!
Proverbs 4 CSB
A Father’s Example4 Listen, sons, to a father’s discipline,
and pay attention so that you may gain understanding,
2 for I am giving you good instruction.
Don’t abandon my teaching.
3 When I was a son with my father,
tender and precious to my mother,
4 he taught me and said,
“Your heart must hold on to my words.
Keep my commands and live.
5 Get wisdom, get understanding;
don’t forget or turn away from the words from my mouth.
6 Don’t abandon wisdom, and she will watch over you;
love her, and she will guard you.
7 Wisdom is supreme—so get wisdom.
And whatever else you get, get understanding.
8 Cherish her, and she will exalt you;
if you embrace her, she will honor you.
9 She will place a garland of favor on your head;
she will give you a crown of beauty.”
Two Ways of Life
10 Listen, my son. Accept my words,
and you will live many years.
11 I am teaching you the way of wisdom;
I am guiding you on straight paths.
12 When you walk, your steps will not be hindered;
when you run, you will not stumble.
13 Hold on to instruction; don’t let go.
Guard it, for it is your life.
14 Keep off the path of the wicked;
don’t proceed on the way of evil ones.
15 Avoid it; don’t travel on it.
Turn away from it, and pass it by.
16 For they can’t sleep
unless they have done what is evil;
they are robbed of sleep
unless they make someone stumble.
17 They eat the bread of wickedness
and drink the wine of violence.
18 The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,
shining brighter and brighter until midday.
19 But the way of the wicked is like the darkest gloom;
they don’t know what makes them stumble.
The Straight Path
20 My son, pay attention to my words;
listen closely to my sayings.
21 Don’t lose sight of them;
keep them within your heart.
22 For they are life to those who find them,
and health to one’s whole body.
23 Guard your heart above all else,
for it is the source of life.
24 Don’t let your mouth speak dishonestly,
and don’t let your lips talk deviously.
25 Let your eyes look forward;
fix your gaze straight ahead.
26 Carefully consider the path for your feet,
and all your ways will be established.
27 Don’t turn to the right or to the left;
keep your feet away from evil.
----
Proverbs 5 CSB
Avoid Seduction5 My son, pay attention to my wisdom;
listen closely to my understanding
2 so that you may maintain discretion
and your lips safeguard knowledge.
3 Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey
and her words are smoother than oil,
4 in the end she’s as bitter as wormwood
and as sharp as a double-edged sword.
5 Her feet go down to death;
her steps head straight for Sheol.
6 She doesn’t consider the path of life;
she doesn’t know that her ways are unstable.
7 So now, sons, listen to me,
and don’t turn away from the words from my mouth.
8 Keep your way far from her.
Don’t go near the door of her house.
9 Otherwise, you will give up your vitality to others
and your years to someone cruel;
10 strangers will drain your resources,
and your hard-earned pay will end up in a foreigner’s house.
11 At the end of your life, you will lament
when your physical body has been consumed,
12 and you will say, “How I hated discipline,
and how my heart despised correction.
13 I didn’t obey my teachers
or listen closely to my instructors.
14 I am on the verge of complete ruin
before the entire community.”
Enjoy Marriage
15 Drink water from your own cistern,
water flowing from your own well.
16 Should your springs flow in the streets,
streams in the public squares?
17 They should be for you alone
and not for you to share with strangers.
18 Let your fountain be blessed,
and take pleasure in the wife of your youth.
19 A loving deer, a graceful doe—
let her breasts always satisfy you;
be lost in her love forever.
20 Why, my son, would you lose yourself
with a forbidden woman
or embrace a wayward woman?
21 For a man’s ways are before the Lord’s eyes,
and he considers all his paths.
22 A wicked man’s iniquities will trap him;
he will become tangled in the ropes of his own sin.
23 He will die because there is no discipline,
and be lost because of his great stupidity.
----
Proverbs 6 CSB
Financial Entanglements6 My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor
or entered into an agreement with a stranger,
2 you have been snared by the words of your mouth—
trapped by the words from your mouth.
3 Do this, then, my son, and free yourself,
for you have put yourself in your neighbor’s power:
Go, humble yourself, and plead with your neighbor.
4 Don’t give sleep to your eyes
or slumber to your eyelids.
5 Escape like a gazelle from a hunter,
like a bird from a hunter’s trap.
Laziness
6 Go to the ant, you slacker!
Observe its ways and become wise.
7 Without leader, administrator, or ruler,
8 it prepares its provisions in summer;
it gathers its food during harvest.
9 How long will you stay in bed, you slacker?
When will you get up from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the arms to rest,
11 and your poverty will come like a robber,
your need, like a bandit.
The Malicious Man
12 A worthless person, a wicked man
goes around speaking dishonestly,
13 winking his eyes, signaling with his feet,
and gesturing with his fingers.
14 He always plots evil with perversity in his heart;
he stirs up trouble.
15 Therefore calamity will strike him suddenly;
he will be shattered instantly, beyond recovery.
What the Lord Hates
16 The Lord hates six things;
in fact, seven are detestable to him:
17 arrogant eyes, a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
18 a heart that plots wicked schemes,
feet eager to run to evil,
19 a lying witness who gives false testimony,
and one who stirs up trouble among brothers.
Warning against Adultery
20 My son, keep your father’s command,
and don’t reject your mother’s teaching.
21 Always bind them to your heart;
tie them around your neck.
22 When you walk here and there, they will guide you;
when you lie down, they will watch over you;
when you wake up, they will talk to you.
23 For a command is a lamp, teaching is a light,
and corrective discipline is the way to life.
24 They will protect you from an evil woman,
from the flattering tongue of a wayward woman.
25 Don’t lust in your heart for her beauty
or let her captivate you with her eyelashes.
26 For a prostitute’s fee is only a loaf of bread,
but the wife of another man goes after a precious life.
27 Can a man embrace fire
and his clothes not be burned?
28 Can a man walk on burning coals
without scorching his feet?
29 So it is with the one who sleeps with
another man’s wife;
no one who touches her will go unpunished.
30 People don’t despise the thief if he steals
to satisfy himself when he is hungry.
31 Still, if caught, he must pay seven times as much;
he must give up all the wealth in his house.
32 The one who commits adultery lacks sense;
whoever does so destroys himself.
33 He will get a beating and dishonor,
and his disgrace will never be removed.
34 For jealousy enrages a husband,
and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.
35 He will not be appeased by anything
or be persuaded by lavish bribes.
----
Psalm 149 CSB
Praise for God’s Triumph1 Hallelujah!
Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise in the assembly of the faithful.
2 Let Israel celebrate its Maker;
let the children of Zion rejoice in their King.
3 Let them praise his name with dancing
and make music to him with tambourine and lyre.
4 For the Lord takes pleasure in his people;
he adorns the humble with salvation.
5 Let the faithful celebrate in triumphal glory;
let them shout for joy on their beds.
6 Let the exaltation of God be in their mouths
and a double-edged sword in their hands,
7 inflicting vengeance on the nations
and punishment on the peoples,
8 binding their kings with chains
and their dignitaries with iron shackles,
9 carrying out the judgment decreed against them.
This honor is for all his faithful people.
Hallelujah!
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