But I keep praying to you, Lord, hoping this time you will show me favor. In your unfailing love, O God, answer my prayer with your sure salvation. Rescue me from the mud; don’t let me sink any deeper! Save me from those who hate me, and pull me from these deep waters. Don’t let the floods overwhelm me, or the deep waters swallow me, or the pit of death devour me.
Answer my prayers, O Lord, for your unfailing love is wonderful. Take care of me, for your mercy is so plentiful. Don’t hide from your servant; answer me quickly, for I am in deep trouble! Come and redeem me; free me from my enemies.
You know of my shame, scorn, and disgrace. You see all that my enemies are doing. Their insults have broken my heart, and I am in despair. If only one person would show some pity; if only one would turn and comfort me. But instead, they give me poison for food; they offer me sour wine for my thirst.
Better to be poor and honest than to be dishonest and a fool.
Enthusiasm without knowledge is no good; haste makes mistakes.
People ruin their lives by their own foolishness and then are angry at the Lord.
Wealth makes many “friends”; poverty drives them all away.
A false witness will not go unpunished, nor will a liar escape.
Many seek favors from a ruler; everyone is the friend of a person who gives gifts!
The relatives of the poor despise them; how much more will their friends avoid them! Though the poor plead with them, their friends are gone.
To acquire wisdom is to love yourself; people who cherish understanding will prosper.
A false witness will not go unpunished, and a liar will be destroyed.
It isn’t right for a fool to live in luxury or for a slave to rule over princes!
Sensible people control their temper; they earn respect by overlooking wrongs.
The king’s anger is like a lion’s roar, but his favor is like dew on the grass.
A foolish child is a calamity to a father; a quarrelsome wife is as annoying as constant dripping.
Fathers can give their sons an inheritance of houses and wealth, but only the Lord can give an understanding wife.
Lazy people sleep soundly, but idleness leaves them hungry.
Keep the commandments and keep your life; despising them leads to death.
If you help the poor, you are lending to the Lord — and he will repay you!
Discipline your children while there is hope. Otherwise you will ruin their lives.
Hot-tempered people must pay the penalty. If you rescue them once, you will have to do it again.
Get all the advice and instruction you can, so you will be wise the rest of your life.
You can make many plans, but the Lord ’s purpose will prevail.
Loyalty makes a person attractive. It is better to be poor than dishonest.
Fear of the Lord leads to life, bringing security and protection from harm.
Lazy people take food in their hand but don’t even lift it to their mouth.
If you punish a mocker, the simpleminded will learn a lesson; if you correct the wise, they will be all the wiser.
Children who mistreat their father or chase away their mother are an embarrassment and a public disgrace.
If you stop listening to instruction, my child, you will turn your back on knowledge.
A corrupt witness makes a mockery of justice; the mouth of the wicked gulps down evil.
Punishment is made for mockers, and the backs of fools are made to be beaten.
But thank God! He has made us his captives and continues to lead us along in Christ’s triumphal procession. Now he uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume. Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing. To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume. And who is adequate for such a task as this?
You see, we are not like the many hucksters who preach for personal profit. We preach the word of God with sincerity and with Christ’s authority, knowing that God is watching us.
Are we beginning to praise ourselves again? Are we like others, who need to bring you letters of recommendation, or who ask you to write such letters on their behalf? Surely not! The only letter of recommendation we need is you yourselves. Your lives are a letter written in our hearts; everyone can read it and recognize our good work among you. Clearly, you are a letter from Christ showing the result of our ministry among you. This “letter” is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is carved not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts.
We are confident of all this because of our great trust in God through Christ. It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God. He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant. This is a covenant not of written laws, but of the Spirit. The old written covenant ends in death; but under the new covenant, the Spirit gives life.
The old way, with laws etched in stone, led to death, though it began with such glory that the people of Israel could not bear to look at Moses’ face. For his face shone with the glory of God, even though the brightness was already fading away. Shouldn’t we expect far greater glory under the new way, now that the Holy Spirit is giving life? If the old way, which brings condemnation, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new way, which makes us right with God! In fact, that first glory was not glorious at all compared with the overwhelming glory of the new way. So if the old way, which has been replaced, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new, which remains forever!