A Father’s Wise Instruction
1 Hear, O sons, a father’s rinstruction,
and be attentive, that you may gain1 insight,
2 for I give you good precepts;
sdo not forsake my teaching.
3 When I was a son with my father,
tender, the only one in the sight of my mother,
4 he taught me and said to me,
“Let your theart hold fast my words;
ukeep my commandments, vand live.
5 wGet wisdom; get insight;
xdo not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth.
6 Do not forsake her, and she will keep you;
love her, and she will yguard you.
7 The zbeginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom,
and whatever you get, get insight.
8 Prize her highly, and she will exalt you;
she will honor you if you embrace her.
9 She will place on your head a agraceful garland;
she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.”
10 Hear, my son, and baccept my words,
that the years of your life may be cmany.
11 I have taught you the way of wisdom;
I have led you in the dpaths of uprightness.
12 When you walk, your step will not be hampered,
and if you run, you will not stumble.
13 eKeep hold of finstruction; do not let go;
guard her, for she is your glife.
14 Do not enter the hpath of the wicked,
and do not walk in the way of the evil.
15 Avoid it; do not go on it;
turn away from it and pass on.
16 For ithey cannot sleep unless they have done wrong;
they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble.
17 For they eat the bread of wickedness
and drink the wine of violence.
18 But the path of the righteous is jlike the light of dawn,
which shines brighter and brighter until kfull day.
19 The way of the wicked is like deep darkness;
they do not know over what they stumble.
20 My son, be lattentive to my words;
incline your ear to my sayings.
21 mLet them not escape from your sight;
keep them within your heart.
22 For they are life to those who find them,
and nhealing to all their2 flesh.
23 Keep your heart with all vigilance,
ofor from it flow the springs of life.
24 Put away from you pcrooked speech,
and put devious talk far from you.
25 qLet your eyes look directly forward,
and your gaze be straight before you.
26 rPonder3 the path of your feet;
then all your ways will be sure.
27 Do not swerve sto the right or to the left;
turn your foot away from evil.
Mary Anoints Jesus at Bethany
1 aSix days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, bwhere Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 So they gave a dinner for him there. cMartha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. 3 Mary therefore took a pound1 of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, 5 “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred ddenarii2 and egiven to the poor?” 6 He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. 7 Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it3 ffor the day of my burial. 8 For gthe poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”
The Plot to Kill Lazarus
9 When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus4 was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death has well, 11 because on account of him imany of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.
The Triumphal Entry
12 jThe next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13 So they took branches of kpalm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, l“Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the mKing of Israel!” 14 And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,
15 n“Fear not, daughter of Zion;
behold, your king is coming,
sitting on a donkey’s colt!”
16 His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was oglorified, then they premembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. 17 qThe crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. 18 The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, rthe world has gone after him.”
