Monday in Season after Pentecost

1Verse 1. Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring. 2Verse 2. Let another praise you, and not your own mouth— a stranger, and not your own lips. 3Verse 3. A stone is heavy and sand is a burden, but aggravation from a fool outweighs them both. 4Verse 4. Wrath is cruel and anger is like a flood, but who can withstand jealousy? 5Verse 5. Better an open rebuke than love that is concealed. 6Verse 6. The wounds of a friend are faithful, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. 7Verse 7. The soul that is full loathes honey, but to a hungry soul, any bitter thing is sweet. 8Verse 8. Like a bird that strays from its nest is a man who wanders from his home. 9Verse 9. Oil and incense bring joy to the heart, and the counsel of a friend is sweetness to the soul. 10Verse 10. Do not forsake your friend or your father’s friend, and do not go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity; better a neighbor nearby than a brother far away. 11Verse 11. Be wise, my son, and bring joy to my heart, so that I can answer him who taunts me. 12Verse 12. The prudent see danger and take cover, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty. 13Verse 13. Take the garment of him who posts security for a stranger; get collateral if it is for a foreigner. 14Verse 14. If one blesses his neighbor with a loud voice early in the morning, it will be counted to him as a curse. 15Verse 15. A constant dripping on a rainy day and a contentious woman are alike — 16Verse 16. restraining her is like holding back the wind or grasping oil with one’s right hand. 17Verse 17. As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. 18Verse 18. Whoever tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, and he who looks after his master will be honored. 19Verse 19. As water reflects the face, so the heart reflects the true man. 20Verse 20. Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied; so the eyes of man are never satisfied. 21Verse 21. A crucible for silver and a furnace for gold, but a man is tested by the praise accorded him. 22Verse 22. Though you grind a fool like grain with mortar and a pestle, yet his folly will not depart from him. 23Verse 23. Be sure to know the state of your flocks, and pay close attention to your herds; 24Verse 24. for riches are not forever, nor does a crown endure to every generation. 25Verse 25. When hay is removed and new growth appears and the grass from the hills is gathered, 26Verse 26. the lambs will provide you with clothing, and the goats with the price of a field. 27Verse 27. You will have plenty of goats’ milk to feed you— food for your household and nourishment for your maidservants.

1Verse 1. Now Naaman, the commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man in his master’s sight and highly regarded, for through him the LORD had given victory to Aram. And he was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper. 2Verse 2. At this time the Arameans had gone out in bands and had taken a young girl from the land of Israel, and she was serving Naaman’s wife. 3Verse 3. She said to her mistress, “If only my master would go to the prophet who is in Samaria, he would cure him of his leprosy.” 4Verse 4. And Naaman went and told his master what the girl from the land of Israel had said. 5Verse 5. “Go now,” said the king of Aram, “and I will send you with a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman departed, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of clothing. 6Verse 6. And the letter that he took to the king of Israel stated: “With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman, so that you may cure him of his leprosy.” 7Verse 7. When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and asked, “Am I God, killing and giving life, that this man expects me to cure a leper? Surely you can see that he is seeking a quarrel with me!” 8Verse 8. Now when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king: “Why have you torn your clothes? Please let the man come to me, and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.” 9Verse 9. So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha’s house. 10Verse 10. Then Elisha sent him a messenger, who said, “Go and wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored, and you will be clean.” 11Verse 11. But Naaman went away angry, saying, “I thought that he would surely come out, stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the spot to cure my leprosy. 12Verse 12. Are not the Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not have washed in them and been cleansed?” So he turned and went away in a rage. 13Verse 13. Naaman’s servants, however, approached him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’?” 14Verse 14. So Naaman went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored and became like that of a little child, and he was clean.