Wise Sayings of Solomon<\/div>\n
A Manual for Living<\/h5>\n
1-6<\/span> These are the wise sayings of Solomon, David’s son, Israel’s king\u00e2\u20ac\u201dWritten down so we’ll know how to live well and right, to understand what life means and where it’s going; A manual for living, for learning what’s right and just and fair; To teach the inexperienced the ropes and give our young people a grasp on reality.
\nThere’s something here also for seasoned men and women, still a thing or two for the experienced to learn\u00e2\u20ac\u201d
\nFresh wisdom to probe and penetrate, the rhymes and reasons of wise men and women.<\/p>\nStart with God<\/h5>\n
7<\/span> Start with God<\/span>\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthe first step in learning is bowing down to God<\/span>; only fools thumb their noses at such wisdom and learning.<\/p>\n8-19<\/span> Pay close attention, friend, to what your father tells you; never forget what you learned at your mother’s knee.
\nWear their counsel like flowers in your hair, like rings on your fingers. Dear friend, if bad companions tempt you,
\ndon’t go along with them. If they say\u00e2\u20ac\u201d”Let’s go out and raise some hell.<\/p>\nLet’s beat up some old man, mug some old woman.
\nLet’s pick them clean and get them ready for their funerals.
\nWe’ll load up on top-quality loot.
\nWe’ll haul it home by the truckload.<\/p>\n
Join us for the time of your life!
\nWith us, it’s share and share alike!”\u00e2\u20ac\u201d Oh, friend, don’t give them a second look; don’t listen to them for a minute.
\nThey’re racing to a very bad end, hurrying to ruin everything they lay hands on.
\nNobody robs a bank with everyone watching, Yet that’s what these people are doing\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthey’re doing themselves in.
\nWhen you grab all you can get, that’s what happens: the more you get, the less you are.<\/p>\n
Lady Wisdom<\/h5>\n
20-21<\/span> Lady Wisdom goes out in the street and shouts. At the town center she makes her speech.
\nIn the middle of the traffic she takes her stand. At the busiest corner she calls out:<\/p>\n22-24<\/span> “Simpletons! How long will you wallow in ignorance? Cynics! How long will you feed your cynicism?
\nIdiots! How long will you refuse to learn?<\/p>\nAbout face! I can revise your life. Look, I’m ready to pour out my spirit on you; I’m ready to tell you all I know.
\nAs it is, I’ve called, but you’ve turned a deaf ear; I’ve reached out to you, but you’ve ignored me.<\/p>\n
25-28<\/span> “Since you laugh at my counsel and make a joke of my advice, How can I take you seriously?
\nI’ll turn the tables and joke about your <\/em>troubles!
\nWhat if the roof falls in, and your whole life goes to pieces?
\nWhat if catastrophe strikes and there’s nothing to show for your life but rubble and ashes?
\nYou’ll need me then. You’ll call for me, but don’t expect an answer.
\nNo matter how hard you look, you won’t find me.<\/p>\n29-33<\/span> “Because you hated Knowledge and had nothing to do with the Fear-of-God,<\/span>
\nBecause you wouldn’t take my advice and brushed aside all my offers to train you,
\nWell, you’ve made your bed\u00e2\u20ac\u201dnow lie in it; you wanted your own way\u00e2\u20ac\u201dnow, how do you like it?
\nDon’t you see what happens, you simpletons, you idiots? Carelessness kills; complacency is murder. First pay attention to me, and then relax. Now you can take it easy\u00e2\u20ac\u201dyou’re in good hands.”<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It has been a while since I’ve read and journalized my thoughts, when I set up my blog a while back, it was with intention of making myself write on a more regular basis, something I did in college and … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-semi-deep-thoughts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.nealbreeding.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.nealbreeding.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.nealbreeding.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.nealbreeding.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.nealbreeding.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/www.nealbreeding.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":91,"href":"http:\/\/www.nealbreeding.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84\/revisions\/91"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.nealbreeding.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.nealbreeding.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.nealbreeding.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}