As flies collect on a dog dropping,
so resentments and angry thoughts collect in a foolish heart.
To deal with your opponent in anger is to grasp a knife by the blade
and hit him with the handle.
Everyone who wears himself out for knowledge that doesn't satisfy
is like a moth wearing itself out around a light.
Real knowledge, the light of the Lord, is like sunlight on a green plant.
Everyone that the Lord has planted will turn and grow toward him,
and it will make him green and strong.
A wise chess player will gladly give his queen to win the game,
and a wise bridge player will throw away an ace to win his contract.
Whoever bites his nails will always find something to gnaw,
no matter how short and perfectly trimmed they may be.
Whoever complains about his neighbor will always find something to
criticize,
no matter how inoffensive and perfectlty behaved his neighbor may be.
As a miser watches over his gold,
so the Lord watches over the faith of his people.
My people!
Hear me, and you will understand!
Listen to me, and you will believe me!
Give heed to me, and I will convince you!
Can men control their own inventions?
Can they guide the course of their own technology?
How much less their own passions!
Even less the decisions and power of their enemies!
How then shall a man be safe?
How can he make himself secure?
A dry cough gives no rest, yet he can't stop.
A fool lets out his anger to find relief, but he finds none.
Is she very beautiful?
But what if you take away her nose, or one of her lips, or an eye?
So it is when you suppress part of the truth, though you receive the
rest.
How much more when you love some of God's people, but hate others?
When they wish to buy dope, can't they always find it?
Won't there always be a pusher?
When your ears want it, won't there always be gossip?
Can't you always find a talebearer?
And the pusher always has customers
- likewise the gossip always has listeners.
Warm spring weather brings people out into the streets and parks;
the love of God among his people brings them out of their hiding places.
Should you trust a driver's turn signal with no evidence that he's turning?
Much less then, good words with no sign of repentance.
Still less, a promise unaccompanied by action.
Better no ice than thin ice.
Better no promise than one that may fail.
Good words are worthy of long thought and careful meditation.
Bad words, too, should be removed with care
- like splinters, or a fishhook in your flesh.
Aren't the welfare systems of this world supposed to help the poor and
not the
rich?
How much more is the strength of God for the weak,
His help for the helpless,
His righteousness for sinners!
Surely the rich man prospers in all his pursuits.
He gains through all his schemes.
But what remains to him in the day of his death?
What becomes of all his gains?
The evildoer prospers in all his wickedness.
Every scheme succeeds.
But then they come to nothing
And the righteous inherit the earth.
There's no use in fighting with an angry man,
but a gentle word of truth may disarm him.
How sweet is the sound of a woman singing!
How much more the voice of wisdom in your heart!
As a pilot lands safely in the fog and darkness by trusting his instruments,
a faithful man trusts the word of his God, and he is led to safety.
Do you take pleasure in hatred?
Let the Lord's word destroy your wicked works.
Let His Holy Spirit put your evil ways to death.
Like a drunk lying in his vomit,
so is one who rests in his sins.
If the bait on the mousetrap smells especially good,
if it's especially large and tasty. . .
Is this good for the mouse?
Is the one who set the trap his friend?
Have you seen governments printing money to get themselves out of trouble?
So also a fool multiplies empty words to save himself,
and he brings himself to ruin.
Does toilet training teach a little child to hold it until he bursts,
or only to choose the right time and way?
So also the Holy Spirit teaches His children to handle their passions
discreetly,
to express themselves wisely.
Change lanes to get ahead a little way,
And then every lane moves except your own.
So it is to all who rescue themselves by doing wrong,
but God rescues the faithful by his faithfulness.
One with a cold who coughs in other people's faces finds little favor.
How much less when one who hates poisons the ears of his listeners?
Food is digested into the body,
Yeast vanishes into the dough.
Ointment soaks into the skin,
A seed is buried in the earth.
They disappear from your sight,
But they are hard at work.
Hidden away, their power is revealed.
Forgotten, but they make all things new.
Men give heed to those who speak;
their listeners exist for their honor and glory.
But God gives heed to those who hear;
His listeners command His attention.
Gnawing sharpens a rat's tooth,
and exercise strengthens the body.
So also adversity strengthens the faith of the righteous.
Opposition makes him a glittering sword in the hand of his God.
Like a man swatting mosquitos in a swamp,
so is everyone who solves his problems without turning to the Lord.
As God delayed over Sodom to save Lot,
so He delays over the world to save His own in the world.
But did Sodom stand forever?
Can the car run if you keep cranking the starter?
So when he starts to understand, be quiet and let him hear.
Does the indecisive driver prosper when he hesitates in traffic?
Why do you hesitate to receive the Lord's counsel?
When will you decide to do His words?
Does a programmer trust the compiler to find all the bugs in his program?
Is a writer satisfied because his grammar and syntax are acceptable?
Does a man of understanding rely fully on his own conscience?
Did you get away with an evil deed?
Rats rejoice over poisoned bait,
and ants eagerly carry the poison back to their nests.
Love is slow and weak you say,
and patience unrewarded, and evil not repaid.
But coral grows quietly under the pounding sea,
and the lagoon becomes a quiet place,
a refuge to many from the raging waves.
Are you not so, as you persevere in God's grace,
as you gather strength in His immovable words?
A November warm spell may cause a bush to bud.
But trust in a false promise leads to withered hopes, bitterness, and
death.
As a poker player bets boldly, though he doesn't know for sure,
so a man asserts his integrity,
so he maintains his innocence.
But the Lord knows what you're holding.
Be sure of this: at the proper time, He will call you.
When conductors wrangle in the presence of the riders,
when policemen abuse each other in the street,
don't they find disgrace and shame?
The railroad is held in contempt;
the police department comes to dishonor.
To become learned: how easy!
To become human: how difficult!
A fool hates one who restrains him,
but whoever is wise loves anyone who keeps him back from doing wrong.
TV commercials come in infinite variety
- but aren't they all the same?
So it is with evil.
But can the ungodly perceive this?
Can they pull themselves away?
As a blackjack player takes another card and busts his hand,
so a man adds to the word of God.
If only he had said, "I stand."
The humble man listens to the lowly,
but the arrogant pay no attention to their words.
Patent medicines mask the symptoms of deadly diseases,
and hatred is covered by sweet words and agreeable deeds.
Toughen your feet by running barefoot on gravel,
and make a man stubborn by jabbing at him with angry words.
Men talk about the rich;
they discuss the doings of the powerful.
But God considers the poor;
He proclaims good news to the helpless.
Vaccination protects against the real disease.
God declares to men that they surely perish,
but whoever believes Him escapes
- they shall live forever.
Have you seen a hitch-hiker enraged because someone passed him by?
Such is the fool whose anger burns because a man's help has failed
him.
Has an impatient man offered you guidance and counsel?
Does he want to speed you on your way over an icy road?
Accept his offer, do as he wants
he shall ruin you both.
Just as a man panics in battle and flees into a minefield,
a fool loses his temper under pressure.
Alfalfa grows to be plowed under,
Hogs are raised for the slaughter.
Evildoers grow strong to be broken,
The wicked rise only to ruin.
A fruit tree takes in dung and brings forth fruit
- a just man hears God's words and does them.
A mighty fortress repaired, provisioned, and guarded by seasoned veterans
- so is everyone who hears and does the words of God.
Are you provoked and estranged from another?
Receive the peacemaker and welcome him.
Do not despise or reject him
- he is the emissary of your God.
Even brambles, turning green, announce the coming of Spring.
So also the deeds of evildoers declare God's truth.
How much more do God's people make known all His counsel.
Does water run uphill?
Do rivers empty on the mountain tops?
How then, you haughty, will you find the Lord?
How much less, you high-minded, will He fill you with Himself!
But the God of Living Water seeks the lowest place.
Streams in the desert turn it into a pool.
A child, when trained, relieves himself in the potty.
A dog, when housebroken, relieves himself outdoors.
The child of God, when trained, says it to the Lord.
One who lives in a foul odor smells nothing amiss.
So also the men of this world are unconscious of its offensiveness.
As a gas leak goes undetected until explosion and fire sweep them away,
so it is to those who trust in their own discernment.
Whoever prospers with the world shall perish with the world,
but whoever suffers with the Lord will reign with Him.
One who thinks he has cancer is afraid to go to the doctor,
and the guilty are afraid to go to God and hear His truth.
But what the Lord diagnoses, He cures.
When you teach another, unable to be taught by him,
isn't it like trying to drive a nail with no room to draw back the
hammer?
Who am I, having nothing, to give to God, who has everything?
But as a woman gives to a man by receiving him, so may man give to
God.
Little children hide themselves by covering their eyes,
and men hide from God by avoiding His words.
A fool strives to stand up for the truth,
and he goes astray continually.
A wise man learns to submit to the truth,
and he grows stronger day by day.
"I hate flattery," he declares,
while inwardly he basks in the admiration of his hearers.
Like a man swinging a hammer in a pottery shop,
the word of God destroys the works of darkness.
If a workman made it, it is not God.
If human reasoning devised it, it is not the Truth.
A wobbly government engages in foreign adventures to assert control
at home.
So a man condemns others to justify himself.
So he strives with others to deal with wrong within.
What corporation mails dividends if you have no stock?
What trust fund sends support if nothing is held in trust?
So if you have no treasure in heaven where do these blessings come
from?
If you lose God's favor, who will sustain you every day?
As a ruler forces your pencil into a straight line,
doesn't the word of truth force you into the way of life?
A blackjack player loses if he goes over 21.
Don't you disobey by doing more than you're told?
Can a student in doubt of his own answers correct another student's
test?
How then can you use your own standards to judge another's life?
Does a bluefish notice the hook when he devours a bait fish?
Or does a mouse see the mousetrap when he snatches the cheese?
So is everyone who is intent on making money
- it costs him his life.
When an oncoming driver refuses to dim his lights,
can you see any better by doing the same to him?
By blinding him you may kill both him and yourself.
So it is when you answer anger with anger,
or return harm for harm.
You don't trample on Superman's cape,
You don't pull the mask off the Lone Ranger
- what about everyone whom God loves,
for whom the Lord gave His life.
Following the Lord is like starting a beard.
But only persevere - fear them not.
Those who mock you will be silenced,
and your adversaries will slink away.
Use a potholder to take the pan out of the oven,
and tongs to handle burning logs.
Handle the wicked with the word of God,
and cast them out by the Holy Spirit.
The proud make use of force, and they become its slaves.
The righteous serve the Lord, and they become His friends.
Like lead deposits which coat a catalytic converter and ruin it,
human reasonings obscure the word of God and make it of no effect.
The sailor, in his drunkenness, disregards the lighthouse.
The ungodly, in their worldly wisdom, ignore the servants of the Lord.
As bugs do splatter on the windshield of a moving car,
hypocrisies become evident as one draws near to God.
The world dishonors the poor,
but the Lord dishonors the honored of the earth.
As a man spurns the charms of a streetwalker,
the Lord rejects the good works of the ungodly.
What happens to the man who sells diluted milk?
The authorities fine him,
the papers publish his disgrace,
his customers abhore him.
And if he pollutes the city water, will he go unpunished?
What then when he dilutes God's word,
when he pollutes the river of life?
As he did, so God will do to him,
and men, whom he led astray,
will trample him under their feet.
Do children hate a blackberry bush for its thorns?
Or do they love it for its berries?
So also the Lord delights in all who bear His fruit.