Make every effort to present yourself approved to God, an unashamed workman who accurately handles the word of truth.

let the wise listen and gain instruction, and the discerning acquire wise counsel

He who ignores discipline despises himself, but whoever heeds correction gains understanding.

But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peace-loving, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere.

A fool does not delight in understanding, but only in airing his opinions.

Listen to counsel and accept discipline, that you may be wise the rest of your days.

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instruction, for conviction, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work.

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns. See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the way everlasting.

A discerning heart seeks knowledge, but the mouth of a fool feeds on folly.

A fool rejects his father’s discipline, but whoever heeds correction is prudent.

Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God. May Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.

Consequently, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

but test all things. Hold fast to what is good.

Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Draw near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong. Do not be quick to speak, and do not be hasty in your heart to utter a word before God. After all, God is in heaven and you are on earth. So let your words be few. As a dream comes through many cares, so the speech of a fool comes with many words.

Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

And a servant of the Lord must not be quarrelsome, but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, and forbearing. He must gently reprove those who oppose him, in the hope that God may grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth. Then they will come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, who has taken them captive to his will.

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instruction, for conviction, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

Discipline is harsh for him who leaves the path; he who hates correction will die.

He who listens to life-giving reproof will dwell among the wise.

And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, and those with gifts of healing, helping, administration, and various tongues.

so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,

And it was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,

Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore He rises to show you compassion, for the LORD is a just God. Blessed are all who wait for Him. O people in Zion who dwell in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. He will surely be gracious when you cry for help; when He hears, He will answer you. The Lord will give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, but your Teacher will no longer hide Himself—with your own eyes you will see Him. And whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear this command behind you: “This is the way. Walk in it.” So you will desecrate your silver-plated idols and your gold-plated images. You will throw them away like menstrual cloths, saying to them, “Be gone!”

These are rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to obey the LORD’s instruction.

Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth.

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs You are doing if God were not with him.” Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” “How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Can he enter his mother’s womb a second time to be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. . . .

The Spirit gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.

Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid.

A mocker does not love to be reproved, nor will he consult the wise.

A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish man despises his mother.

Folly is joy to one who lacks judgment, but a man of understanding walks a straight path.

The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom, and humility comes before honor.

Show me Your ways, O LORD; teach me Your paths. Guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; all day long I wait for You.

Lead me, O LORD, in Your righteousness because of my enemies; make straight Your way before me.

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with persuasive words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith would not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power. . . .

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate before the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He Himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. By this we can be sure that we have come to know Him: if we keep His commandments. If anyone says, “I know Him,” but does not keep His commandments, he is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone keeps His word, the love of God has been truly perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him: . . .

For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world.

for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace and peace to you from God our Father. We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard about your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all the saints— the faith and love proceeding from the hope stored up for you in heaven, of which you have already heard in the word of truth, the gospel . . .

For they hear: “Order on order, order on order, line on line, line on line; a little here, a little there.”

You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.

It is written in the Prophets: ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from Him comes to Me—

For I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, because I am holy. You must not defile yourselves by any creature that crawls along the ground.

For no word from God will ever fail.”

These are the proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel, for gaining wisdom and discipline, for comprehending words of insight, and for receiving instruction in wise living and in righteousness, justice, and equity. To impart prudence to the simple and knowledge and discretion to the young, let the wise listen and gain instruction, and the discerning acquire wise counsel . . .

For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will delight your soul.

Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.

The one who overcomes will inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he will be My son.

But he who prophesies speaks to men for their edification, encouragement, and comfort.

For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged.

And this is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander.

Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. As you come to Him, the living stone, rejected by men but chosen and precious in God’s sight, you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. . . .

First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be offered for everyone— for kings and all those in authority—so that we may lead tranquil and quiet lives in all godliness and dignity. This is good and pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, . . .

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We are obligated to thank God for you all the time, brothers, as is fitting, because your faith is growing more and more, and your love for one another is increasing. That is why we boast among God’s churches about your perseverance and faith in the face of all the persecution and affliction you are enduring. All this is clear evidence of God’s righteous judgment. And so you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. . . .

They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household.”

Now the Bereans were more noble-minded than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if these teachings were true.

Then all your sons will be taught by the LORD, and great will be their prosperity.

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes of the Dispersion: Greetings. Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Allow perseverance to finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. . . .

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it in all its fullness.

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

He will glorify Me by taking from what is Mine and disclosing it to you.

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up His garments by casting lots.

Give thanks to the LORD, call upon His name; make known His deeds among the nations.

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, and set apart for the gospel of God— the gospel He promised beforehand through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, regarding His Son, who was a descendant of David according to the flesh, and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. Through Him and on behalf of His name, we received grace and apostleship to call all those among the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. . . .

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,