| Proverbs 22 Previous Chapter | Next Chapter 1 A GOOD name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favor rather than silver and gold. 2 The rich and poor meet together; the LORD is the maker of them all. 3 A prudent man foresees the evil, and hides himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished. 4 Through humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, and honor, and life. 5 Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse; he who guards his soul shall be far from them. 6 Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it.1 [Only the Lord can give a man, including your children, the desire and hunger to seek Him; that is why this scripture limits your responsibility to the way he should go, not in the way he goes; the way he goes is your child's response to the call of the Lord.] 7 The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender. 8 He who sows iniquity shall reap vanity; and the rod of his anger shall fail. 9 He who has a bountiful eye shall be blessed for he gives of his bread to the poor. 10 Cast out the scorner, and contention shall go out; yes, strife and reproach shall cease. 11 He who loves pureness of heart, through the grace of his lips, the king shall be his friend. 12 The eyes of the LORD preserve knowledge, and he overthrows the words of the transgressor. 13 The slothful man said, "There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets." 14 The mouth of strange women is a deep pit; he that is abhorred of the LORD shall fall in it. 15 Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him. 16 He that oppresses the poor to increase his riches, and he that gives to the rich, shall surely come to want. 17 Bow down your ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply your heart to my knowledge. 18 For it is a pleasant thing if you keep them in mind; they shall be the habit of your lips. 19 That your trust may be in the LORD, I have made known to you this day, even to you. 20 Have not I written to you excellent things in counsels and knowledge, 21 To know the truth of the words of truth, so to answer truth if you are sent [to speak to others]? 22 Do not rob the poor because he is poor; neither oppress the afflicted in the gate; 23 For the LORD will plead their cause, and spoil the soul of those who spoiled them. 24 Make no friendship with an angry man, and with a furious man stay away, 25 Lest you learn his ways, and get a snare to your soul. 26 Do not be one of those who pledges [a guarantee for others] with striking hands, or of those who are guarantors for another's debts. 27 If you have nothing to pay, why should he take away your bed from under you? 28 Do not remove the ancient landmark, which your fathers have set. 29 Look at the man who is diligent in his business? He shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before poor men. [From the word of the Lord within: "Be diligent in work and trade."] Previous Chapter | Next Chapter | |||||||||
1 Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it. Only the Lord can give a man, including your children, the desire and hunger to seek Him; that is why this scripture limits your responsibility to the way he should go, not in the way he goes; the way he goes is your child's response to the call of the Lord. By the grace of God, Christ the light is given to every man so that He might believe — including to believe the truth of a man's ways, which the light reveals within him. God then visits every man at some time in their life, anonymously pleading with them to turn from the evil of their ways. The vast majority of men do not comprehend this anonymous pleading to come from God; and so if they don't love the truth of what they have been shown by the light of God within every man, they reject the truth, loving their evil ways, and in effect hating the truth, which is to hate Christ, who is the truth. The few that feel convicted as they are shown their evil ways, who acknowledge the truth of what they have been told, and who resolve to change their life accordingly — because of their love for the truth, those few men and women are then chosen by God to be given a spiritual experience that gives them a taste of the goodness of God, which is given to motivate them to seek He who has been hidden to be revealed. For those few, thus starts their spiritual journey to: 1) first discard the broad easy ways that lead to destruction and find the only narrow, only way to God: the cross, and 2) to make the difficult journey to full reconciliation with God, restored to what Adam and Eve lost, but even better: to be translated into the heavens, to sit in the heavens with Christ, protected from ever sinning again, and be in their presence continually — all while still alive on earth and then forever.
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