Daily Lectionary

Proverbs 17:1-28

¹ Better is a dry morsel with quiet than a house full of feasting with strife.
² A servant who deals wisely will rule over a son who acts shamefully and will share the inheritance as one of the brothers.
³ The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and the LORD tests hearts.
⁴ An evildoer listens to wicked lips, and a liar gives ear to a mischievous tongue.
⁵ Whoever mocks the poor insults his Maker; he who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished.
⁶ Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their fathers.
⁷ Fine speech is not becoming to a fool; still less is false speech to a prince.
⁸ A bribe is like a magic stone in the eyes of the one who gives it; wherever he turns he prospers.
⁹ Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends.
¹⁰ A rebuke goes deeper into a man of understanding than a hundred blows into a fool.
¹¹ An evil man seeks only rebellion, and a cruel messenger will be sent against him.
¹² Let a man meet a she-bear robbed of her cubs rather than a fool in his folly.
¹³ If anyone returns evil for good, evil will not depart from his house.
¹⁴ The beginning of strife is like letting out water, so quit before the quarrel breaks out.
¹⁵ He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the LORD.
¹⁶ Why should a fool have money in his hand to buy wisdom when he has no sense?
¹⁷ A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.
¹⁸ One who lacks sense gives a pledge and puts up security in the presence of his neighbor.
¹⁹ Whoever loves transgression loves strife; he who makes his door high seeks destruction.
²⁰ A man of crooked heart does not discover good, and one with a dishonest tongue falls into calamity.
²¹ He who sires a fool gets himself sorrow, and the father of a fool has no joy.
²² A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
²³ The wicked accepts a bribe in secret to pervert the ways of justice.
²⁴ The discerning sets his face toward wisdom, but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.
²⁵ A foolish son is a grief to his father and bitterness to her who bore him.
²⁶ To impose a fine on a righteous man is not good, nor to strike the noble for their uprightness.
²⁷ Whoever restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding.
²⁸ Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent. (ESV)

John 16:17-33

¹⁷ So some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and, ‘because I am going to the Father’?”
¹⁸ So they were saying, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We do not know what he is talking about.”
¹⁹ Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’?
²⁰ Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.
²¹ When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.
²² So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.
²³ In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.
²⁴ Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.
²⁵ “I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father.
²⁶ In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf;
²⁷ for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.
²⁸ I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”
²⁹ His disciples said, “Ah, now you are speaking plainly and not using figurative speech!
³⁰ Now we know that you know all things and do not need anyone to question you; this is why we believe that you came from God.”
³¹ Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe?
³² Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me.
³³ I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (ESV)