September 14: Proverbs 17-18; Psalm 69:19-36; John 10

Proverbs 17-18

17   Better is a dry morsel with quiet
    than a house full of feasting¹ with strife.
  A servant who deals wisely will rule over a son who acts shamefully
    and will share the inheritance as one of the brothers.
  The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold,
    and the LORD tests hearts.
  An evildoer listens to wicked lips,
    and a liar gives ear to a mischievous tongue.
  Whoever mocks the poor insults his Maker;
    he who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished.
  Grandchildren are the crown of the aged,
    and the glory of children is their fathers.
  Fine speech is not becoming to a fool;
    still less is false speech to a prince.
  A bribe is like a magic² stone in the eyes of the one who gives it;
    wherever he turns he prospers.
  Whoever covers an offense seeks love,
    but he who repeats a matter separates close friends.
  A rebuke goes deeper into a man of understanding
    than a hundred blows into a fool.
  An evil man seeks only rebellion,
    and a cruel messenger will be sent against him.
  Let a man meet a she-bear robbed of her cubs
    rather than a fool in his folly.
  If anyone returns evil for good,
    evil will not depart from his house.
  The beginning of strife is like letting out water,
    so quit before the quarrel breaks out.
  He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous
    are both alike an abomination to the LORD.
  Why should a fool have money in his hand to buy wisdom
    when he has no sense?
  A friend loves at all times,
    and a brother is born for adversity.
  One who lacks sense gives a pledge
    and puts up security in the presence of his neighbor.
  Whoever loves transgression loves strife;
    he who makes his door high seeks destruction.
  A man of crooked heart does not discover good,
    and one with a dishonest tongue falls into calamity.
  He who sires a fool gets himself sorrow,
    and the father of a fool has no joy.
  A joyful heart is good medicine,
    but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
  The wicked accepts a bribe in secret³
    to pervert the ways of justice.
  The discerning sets his face toward wisdom,
    but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.
  A foolish son is a grief to his father
    and bitterness to her who bore him.
  To impose a fine on a righteous man is not good,
    nor to strike the noble for their uprightness.
  Whoever restrains his words has knowledge,
    and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding.
  Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise;
    when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.
18   Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire;
    he breaks out against all sound judgment.
  A fool takes no pleasure in understanding,
    but only in expressing his opinion.
  When wickedness comes, contempt comes also,
    and with dishonor comes disgrace.
  The words of a man's mouth are deep waters;
    the fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook.
  It is not good to be partial to⁴ the wicked
    or to deprive the righteous of justice.
  A fool's lips walk into a fight,
    and his mouth invites a beating.
  A fool's mouth is his ruin,
    and his lips are a snare to his soul.
  The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels;
    they go down into the inner parts of the body.
  Whoever is slack in his work
    is a brother to him who destroys.
  The name of the LORD is a strong tower;
    the righteous man runs into it and is safe.
  A rich man's wealth is his strong city,
    and like a high wall in his imagination.
  Before destruction a man's heart is haughty,
    but humility comes before honor.
  If one gives an answer before he hears,
    it is his folly and shame.
  A man's spirit will endure sickness,
    but a crushed spirit who can bear?
  An intelligent heart acquires knowledge,
    and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.
  A man's gift makes room for him
    and brings him before the great.
  The one who states his case first seems right,
    until the other comes and examines him.
  The lot puts an end to quarrels
    and decides between powerful contenders.
  A brother offended is more unyielding than a strong city,
    and quarreling is like the bars of a castle.
  From the fruit of a man's mouth his stomach is satisfied;
    he is satisfied by the yield of his lips.
  Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
    and those who love it will eat its fruits.
  He who finds a wife finds a good thing
    and obtains favor from the LORD.
  The poor use entreaties,
    but the rich answer roughly.
  A man of many companions may come to ruin,
    but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

(ESV)

Psalm 69:19-36

  You know my reproach,
    and my shame and my dishonor;
    my foes are all known to you.
  Reproaches have broken my heart,
    so that I am in despair.
  I looked for pity, but there was none,
    and for comforters, but I found none.
  They gave me poison for food,
    and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink.
  Let their own table before them become a snare;
    and when they are at peace, let it become a trap.¹
  Let their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see,
    and make their loins tremble continually.
  Pour out your indignation upon them,
    and let your burning anger overtake them.
  May their camp be a desolation;
    let no one dwell in their tents.
  For they persecute him whom you have struck down,
    and they recount the pain of those you have wounded.
  Add to them punishment upon punishment;
    may they have no acquittal from you.²
  Let them be blotted out of the book of the living;
    let them not be enrolled among the righteous.
  But I am afflicted and in pain;
    let your salvation, O God, set me on high!
  I will praise the name of God with a song;
    I will magnify him with thanksgiving.
  This will please the LORD more than an ox
    or a bull with horns and hoofs.
  When the humble see it they will be glad;
    you who seek God, let your hearts revive.
  For the LORD hears the needy
    and does not despise his own people who are prisoners.
  Let heaven and earth praise him,
    the seas and everything that moves in them.
  For God will save Zion
    and build up the cities of Judah,
  and people shall dwell there and possess it;
    the offspring of his servants shall inherit it,
    and those who love his name shall dwell in it.

(ESV)

John 10

I Am the Good Shepherd

10 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber.But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

There was again a division among the Jews because of these words. Many of them said, “He has a demon, and is insane; why listen to him?” Others said, “These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

I and the Father Are One

At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me,but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep.My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.My Father, who has given them to me,¹ is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.I and the Father are one.”

The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?”The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.” Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’?If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken—do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me;but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.

He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first, and there he remained. And many came to him. And they said, “John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.” And many believed in him there.

(ESV)