Tag: Proverbs 18:18-24

Sunday, July 17, 2022

18 You may have to draw straws

    when faced with a tough decision.

19 Do a favor and win a friend forever;

    nothing can untie that bond.

20 Words satisfy the mind as much as fruit does the stomach;

    good talk is as gratifying as a good harvest.

21 Words kill, words give life;

    they’re either poison or fruit—you choose.

22 Find a good spouse, you find a good life—

    and even more: the favor of God!

23 The poor speak in soft supplications;

    the rich bark out answers.

24 Friends come, and friends go,

    but a true friend sticks by you like family.

-Proverbs 18:18-24 The Message

18 The lot puts an end to quarrels

    and decides between powerful contenders.

19 A brother offended is more unyielding than a strong city,

    and quarreling is like the bars of a castle.

20 From the fruit of a man’s mouth, his stomach is satisfied;

    he is satisfied by the yield of his lips.

21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue,

    and those who love it will eat its fruits.

22 He who finds a wife finds a good thing

    and obtains favor from the Lord.

23 The poor use entreaties,

    but the rich answer roughly.

24 A man of many companions may come to ruin,

    but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

-Proverbs 18:18-24 ESV

Verse 18 study: If the decision comes from without, the contender parties can rest.

Verse 19 study: No one knows for sure what this verse is saying. the intent is that reconciliation is difficult.

Verse 20 study: The metaphor is a constructive result of wise speech promoting life-giving relationships.

Verse 21 study: Speech can do good or harm. The person who is fond of talking should note how it affects go. Your life reflects mainly on the fruit of your tongue. To speak life is to tell it from God’s point of view. To talk about death is saying it negatively. It is defeat or consistently complaining.

Verse 22 study: This verse says it is good to be married. Individual freedom is misguided. Strong individuals are strong, but strong marriages exist. God created marriage for our enjoyment, and it is good. Many passages show marriage as joyful and good under God’s creation.

21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22 And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 Then the man said,
"This at last is bone of my bones
    and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called Woman,
    because she was taken out of Man."
24 Therefore, a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed. -Genesis 2:21-25

15 Drink water from your own cistern,
    flowing water from your own well.
16 Should your springs be scattered abroad,
    streams of water in the streets?
17 Let them be for yourself alone,
    and not for strangers with you.
18 Let your fountain be blessed,
    and rejoice in the wife of your youth,
19     a lovely deer, a graceful doe.
Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight;
    be intoxicated always in her love. -Proverbs 5:15-19

The Wedding at Cana
2 On the third day, there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. 3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine." 4 And Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come." 5 His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."
6 Now, there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to the servants, "Fill the jars with water." And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And he said to them, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast." So they took it. 9 When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, "Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now." 11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him. -John 2:1-11

The Woman Who Fears the Lord
10 An excellent wife who can find?
    She is far more precious than jewels.
11 The heart of her husband trusts in her,
    and he will have no lack of gain.
12 She does him good and not harm,
    all the days of her life.
13 She seeks wool and flax
    and works with willing hands.
14 She is like the ships of the merchant;
    she brings her food from afar.
15 She rises while it is yet night
    and provides food for her household
    and portions for her maidens.
16 She considers a field and buys it;
    with the fruit of her hands, she plants a vineyard.
17 She dresses herself with strength
    and makes her arms strong.
18 She perceives that her merchandise is profitable.
    Her lamp does not go out at night.
19 She puts her hands to the distaff,
    and her hands hold the spindle.
20 She opens her hand to the poor
    and reaches out her hands to the needy.
21 She is not afraid of snow for her household,
    for all her household are clothed in scarlet.
22 She makes bed coverings for herself;
    her clothing is fine linen and purple.
23 Her husband is known in the gates
    when he sits among the elders of the land.
24 She makes linen garments and sells them;
    she delivers sashes to the merchant.
25 Strength and dignity are her clothing,
    and she laughs at the time to come.
26 She opens her mouth with wisdom,
    and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
27 She looks well to the ways of her household
    and does not eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children rise up and call her blessed;
    her husband also, and he praises her:
29 "Many women have done excellently,
    but you surpass them all."
30 Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,
    but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
31 Give her of the fruit of her hands
    and let her works praise her in the gates. -Proverbs 31:10-31

Verse 23 study: This verse is not condoning insulting the less fortunate. It reminds us of an unfortunate fact. It is wrong for the rich to treat the poor with ignorance, arrogance, and contempt. God will judge those actions strongly (14:31). The observation of the fact that the harsh reality of life inequalities is due to the effects of sin.

Verse 24 study: Loneliness is everywhere. I can testify to being lonely. Many people feel cut off and alienated from others. Being in a crowd affirms their isolation. We should have friends who will stick close, listen, care, and help others when needed, good or bad. It’s better to have a friend who is honest than many who are acquaintances. Instead of wishing you have true friends, be a real friend. People need your friendship. Ask God to reveal them to you, and then take on that challenge of being a real friend. Think of the comparison of companions: Which kind of friendship do you want? Superficial that causes trouble or a rare friend who is as loyal as a brother?