Old Testament (NKJV)

The Book of Proverbs Chapter 1:1-33

 The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel:

To know wisdom and instruction,
To perceive the words of understanding,

To receive the instruction of wisdom,
Justice, judgment, and equity;

To give prudence to the simple,
To the young man knowledge and discretion--

A wise man will hear and increase learning,
And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel,

To understand a proverb and an enigma,
The words of the wise and their riddles.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
But fools despise wisdom and instruction.

My son, hear the instruction of your father,
And do not forsake the law of your mother;

For they will be a graceful ornament on your head,
And chains about your neck.

10
My son, if sinners entice you,
Do not consent.

If they say, "Come with us,
Let us lie in wait to shed blood;
Let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause;

Let us swallow them alive like Sheol,
And whole, like those who go down to the Pit;

We shall find all kinds of precious possessions,
We shall fill our houses with spoil;

Cast in your lot among us,
Let us all have one purse"--

My son, do not walk in the way with them,
Keep your foot from their path;

For their feet run to evil,
And they make haste to shed blood.

Surely, in vain the net is spread
In the sight of any bird;

But they lie in wait for their own blood,
They lurk secretly for their own lives.

So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain;
It takes away the life of its owners.

20
Wisdom calls aloud outside;
She raises her voice in the open squares.

She cries out in the chief concourses,
At the openings of the gates in the city
She speaks her words:

"How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity?
For scorners delight in their scorning,
And fools hate knowledge.

Turn at my rebuke; S
urely I will pour out my spirit on you;
I will make my words known to you.

Because I have called and you refused,
I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded,

Because you disdained all my counsel,
And would have none of my rebuke,

I also will laugh at your calamity;
I will mock when your terror comes,

When your terror comes like a storm,
And your destruction comes like a whirlwind,
When distress and anguish come upon you.

"Then they will call on me, but I will not answer;
They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me.

Because they hated knowledge
And did not choose the fear of the Lord,

30
They would have none of my counsel
And despised my every rebuke.

Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way,
And be filled to the full with their own fancies.

For the turning away of the simple will slay them,
And the complacency of fools will destroy them;

But whoever listens to me will dwell safely,
And will be secure, without fear of evil."

New Testament (NKJV)

The Third Epistle of Jude Chapter 1:1-3-5-12-16-20-24-25

Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, To those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ: Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.

Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.

But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries. Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!" But these speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves. Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.

These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots; raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, "Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him."

These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage. But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts. These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit.

But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And on some have compassion, making a distinction; but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling,
And to present you faultless
Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,

To God our Savior, W
ho alone is wise,
Be glory and majesty,
Dominion and power,
Both now and forever.
Amen.