We bring you Living Proverbs, the old, old message in modern language. We begin our reading with Proverbs chapter four, verse one. Young men, listen to me as you would to your father. Listen and grow wise, for I speak the truth. Don't turn away, for I too was once a son, tenderly loved by my mother as an only child and the companion of my father. He told me never to forget his words. If you follow them, he said, you will have a long and happy life. Learn to be wise, he said, and develop good judgment and common sense. I cannot overemphasize this point. Cling to wisdom, she will protect you. Love her, she will guard you. Determination to be wise is the first step toward becoming wise. And with your wisdom, develop common sense and good judgment. If you exalt wisdom, she will exalt you. Hold her fast, and she will lead you to great honor. She will place a beautiful crown upon your head. My son, listen to me, and do as I say, and you will have a long and good life. I would have you learn this great fact, that a life of doing right is the wisest life there is. If you live that kind of life, you'll not limp or stumble as you run. Carry out my instructions. Don't forget them, for they will lead you to real living. Don't do as the wicked do. Avoid their haunts. Turn away. Go somewhere else. For evil men, don't sleep until they've done their evil deed for the day. They can't rest. unless they cause someone to stumble and fall. They eat and drink wickedness and violence. But the good man walks along in the ever-brightening light of God's favor. The dawn gives way to morning splendor, while the evil man gropes and stumbles in the dark. Listen, son of man, to what I say. Listen carefully. Keep these thoughts ever in mind. Let them penetrate deep within your heart. they will mean real life for you and radiant health. Above all else, guard your affections, for they influence everything else in your life. Spurn the careless kiss of a prostitute. Stay far from her. Look straight ahead. Don't even turn your head to look. Watch your step. Stick to the path and be safe. Don't sidetrack. Pull back your foot from danger. When I'm worried and perplexed, When life is more than I can bear, and trouble seems to cloud my way, he promises that he'll be there, for he shall give his angels charge over thee. he shall give his angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways to keep thee in all thy ways He will not suffer thy foot to the moon. Nations rise and nations fall, and kings will come and go. And governments still crumble, But tides still ebb and flow, For he shall give his angels charge over thee. He shall give his angels charge over thee To keep thee in all thy ways To keep thee in all thy ways He will not suffer by foot through the moon. Listen to me, my son. I know what I am saying. Listen. Watch yourself, lest you be indiscreet and betray some vital information. For the lips of a prostitute are as sweet as honey, and smooth flattery is her stock in trade. But afterwards only a bitter conscience is left to you, sharp as a double-edged sword. She leads you down to death and hell. For she does not know the path of life. She staggers down a crooked trail and doesn't even realize where it leads. Young men listen to me and never forget what I am about to say. Run from her. Don't go near her house. Lest you fall to her temptation and lose your honor. And give the remainder of your life to the cruel and merciless. Lest strangers obtain your wealth. And you become a slave of foreigners. Lest afterwards you groan in anguish and in shame when disease consumes your body. And you say, Oh, if only I had listened, if only I had not demanded my own way. Oh, why would I, wouldn't I take advice? Why was I so stupid? For now I must face public disgrace. Drink from your own well, my son. Be faithful and true to your wife. Why should you beget children from women of the street Why share your children with those outside your home? Let your manhood be a blessing. Rejoice in the wife of your youth. Let her charms and tender embrace satisfy you. Let her love alone fill you with delight. Why delight yourselves with prostitutes, embracing what isn't yours? For God is closely watching you, and he weighs carefully everything you do. The wicked man is doomed by his own sins. They are ropes to catch and hold him. He shall die because he will not listen to the truth. He has let himself be led away into incredible folly. Son, if you endorse a note for someone you hardly know, guaranteeing his debt, you are in serious trouble. You may have trapped yourself by your own agreement. Quick, get out of it if you possibly can. Swallow your pride. Don't let embarrassment stand in the way. Go and beg to have your name erased. Don't put it off. Do it now. Don't rest until you do. If you can get out of this trap, you have saved yourself like a deer that escapes from a hunter or a bird from a net. Take a lesson from the ants, you lazy fellow. Learn from their ways and be wise. For though they have no king... To make them work, yet they labor hard all summer gathering food for the winter. But you, all you do is sleep. When will you wake up? Let me sleep a little longer. Sure, just a little more. And as you sleep, poverty creeps upon you like a robber and destroys you. One to tax you in full armor. Let me describe for you a worthless and a wicked man. First he is a constant liar. He signals his true intentions to his friends with eyes and feet and fingers. Next his heart is full of rebellion, and he spends his time thinking of all the evil he can do and stirring up discontent. But he will be destroyed suddenly, broken beyond hope of healing. For there are six things the Lord hates, no seven. Hottiness, lying, murdering, plotting evil, eagerness to do wrong, a false witness, sowing discord among brothers. Young man, obey your father and your mother. Tie their instructions around your finger so that you won't forget. Take to heart all of their advice. Every day and all night long their counsel will lead you and save you from harm. When you wake up in the morning, that their instructions guide you into the new day. For their advice is a beam of light directed into the dark corners of your mind, to warn you of danger, and to give you a good life. Their counsel will keep you far away from prostitutes with all their flatteries. Don't lust for their beauty. Don't let their coyness seduce you. For a prostitute will bring a man to poverty, and an adulteress may cost him his very life. Can a man hold fire against his chest and not be burned? Can he walk on hot coals and not blister his feet? So it is with the man who commits adultery with another's wife. He shall not go unpunished for this sin. Excuses might be found for a thief if he steals when he is starving. But even so he is fined seven times as much as he stole, though it may mean selling everything in his house to pay it back. The man who commits adultery is an utter fool, for he destroys his own soul. Wounds and constant disgrace are his lot. For the woman's husband will be furious in his jealousy, and he will have no mercy on you in his day of vengeance. You won't be able to buy him off no matter what you offer. we have been reading living proverbs the old old message in modern language we've read proverbs chapters four five and six now here's a special invitation to join us the next time we come your way with living proverbs Thank you. Thank you.