Through the Bible – Day 237

Bible text(s)

Proverbs 5

Be faithful to your wife

1My son, if you listen closely

to my wisdom and good sense,

2you will have sound judgment,

and you will always know

the right thing to say.

3The words of an immoral woman

may be as sweet as honey

and as smooth as olive oil.

4But all that you really get

from being with her

is bitter poison and pain.

5If you follow her,

she will lead you down

to the world of the dead.

6She has missed the path

that leads to life

and doesn't even know it.

7My son, listen to me

and do everything I say.

8Stay away from a bad woman!

Don't even go near the door

of her house.

9You will lose your self-respect

and end up in debt

to some cruel person

for the rest of your life.

10Strangers will get your money

and everything else

you have worked for.

11When it's all over,

your body will waste away,

as you groan 12and shout,

“I hated advice and correction!

13I paid no attention

to my teachers,

14and now I am disgraced

in front of everyone.”

15You should be faithful

to your wife,

just as you take water

from your own well.

16And don't be like a stream

from which just any woman

may take a drink.

17Save yourself for your wife

and don't have sex

with other women.

18Be happy with the wife

you married

when you were young.

19She is beautiful and graceful,

just like a deer;

you should be attracted to her

and stay deeply in love.

20Don't go mad over a woman

who is unfaithful

to her own husband!

21The LORD sees everything,

and he watches us closely.

22Sinners are trapped and caught

by their own evil deeds.

23They get lost and die

because of their foolishness

and lack of self-control.

Proverbs 5:1-23CEVOpen in Bible reader

1 Corinthians 7

Unmarried people

25I don't know of anything that the Lord said about people who have never been married. But I will tell you what I think. And you can trust me, because the Lord has treated me with kindness. 26We are now going through hard times, and I think it is best for you to stay as you are. 27If you are married, stay married. If you are not married, don't try to get married. 28It isn't wrong to marry, even if you have never been married before. But those who marry will have a lot of trouble, and I want to protect you from that.

29My friends, what I mean is that the Lord will soon come, and it won't matter if you are married or not. 30It will be all the same if you are crying or laughing, or if you are buying or are completely broke. 31It won't make any difference how much good you are getting from this world or how much you like it. This world as we know it is now passing away.

32I want all of you to be free from worry. An unmarried man worries about how to please the Lord. 33But a married man has more worries. He must worry about the things of this world, because he wants to please his wife. 34So he is pulled in two directions. Unmarried women and women who have never been married worry only about pleasing the Lord, and they keep their bodies and minds pure. But a married woman worries about the things of this world, because she wants to please her husband. 35What I am saying is for your own good—it isn't to limit your freedom. I want to help you to live right and to love the Lord above all else.

36But suppose you are engaged to someone old enough to be married, and you want her so much that all you can think about is getting married. Then go ahead and marry. There is nothing wrong with that. 37But it is better to have self-control and to make up your mind not to marry. 38It is perfectly all right to marry, but it is better not to get married at all.

39A wife should stay married to her husband until he dies. Then she is free to marry again, but only to a man who is a follower of the Lord. 40However, I think I am obeying God's Spirit when I say she would be happier to stay single.

1 Corinthians 7:25-40CEVOpen in Bible reader
Canadian Bible Societyv.4.26.9
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