Proverbs Day 17

Read Proverbs 17
Life has enough trouble in it without you going to look for more. Spend your time cultivating peace--especially in your own home. Deal with conflict when you have to, but be quick to forgive and overlook an offence when you can. Nobody likes a trouble maker and you're gonna need all the friends you can get. Spend your time building up your relationships so you will have their support when real trouble comes.

Pastor Chris' Paraphrase of Proverbs 17:1, 9, 14, 17
1 It’s better to eat stale crumbs in a peaceful home than a feast in a house where everyone argues.

9 A person who lets go of an offence wants love, but a person who keeps bringing it up drives away their closest friend.

14 Starting an argument is like digging a hole in a dam; once the water’s out, you can’t put it back in. So quit before you mess everything up.

17 A friend always loves you, and brothers were born to help in times of trouble.

A wise person builds loyal friendships through patience, kindness, forgiveness, and love. Be there for others when they need you and they will be there for you when you need them.

Prayer
"Father, help me build strong friendships through patience, kindness, forgiveness, and love. Steer me clear of unnecessary quarrels about stuff that really doesn't matter in the long run. Help me be a wise friend to others. Amen."

Proverbs Day 16

Read Proverbs 16
We can scheme to get what we want and set out to accomplish our plans, but God knows what's really best. He knows when our desires are out of line, when our motives are wrong, and when our steps are misguided. Ultimately, God is in control. He is behind the scenes directing the way things turn out.

Pastor Chris' Paraphrase of Proverbs 16:1-3, 9, 25, 33
1 People scheme to get what they want, but the Lord has the final say.

2 People always think they’ve done right, but the Lord looks deeper.

3 Surrender what you want to the Lord and your plans will take root and grow.

9 People choose their destination, but the Lord determines where they go.

25 There is a easy road before everyone that seems good, but it leads to death.

33 When the dice are rolled, the Lord decides what they say.

The wise person sees that God is the righteous Ruler of all and bows to the Lord and surrenders everything to Him. The Lord sees things so much deeper and fuller than we can ever imagine. The Lord knows what's right and the best way to get there and He will ultimately accomplish whatever He decides to do. Only a fool ignores the Lord's plans or tries to convince Him their way is better. Wise people align themselves with God's plans.

Prayer
"Lord of all, forgive me when I forget You are Lord of all and try to go my own way. Help me to align my will with Yours and always live accordingly. Amen."

Proverbs Day 15

Insights from Midway
I'm about halfway through Proverbs and here's what I've learned about wisdom in general so far.  The first part of wisdom is revering the Lord.  The second part of wisdom is a willingness to listen and learn.  The third part of wisdom is controlling yourself and your impulses.  The rest is the decisions you make.

Read Proverbs 15
You are what you eat and you become what you consume.  You will reflect the ideals of people you hang around, books you read, shows you watch, and music to which you listen.  You can choose to consume garbage or you can choose food that will nourish your mind and spirit.  

Pastor Chris' Paraphrase of Proverbs 15:2 & 14
2 Wise people make you want to know even more, but idiots spew out stupidity.

14 A truly wise person always tries to learn more, but fools fill up on whatever silliness is available.

Everyone needs to indulge in a piece of cake now and then, but it's not healthy to eat cake for dinner everyday.  What you put into your mind is just as important.  Put junk in and junk will come out.  Fill yourself with wisdom and knowledge and wisdom and knowledge will come out.

Prayer
"Holy Spirit, make us hungry for wisdom and knowledge and help us to choose spiritual food that is healthy and wholesome.  Help us to seek knowledge in the things we read and watch and to which we listen so we may share Your wisdom beautifully. Amen."

Proverbs Day 14

Read Proverbs 14
Wealthy people don't have much trouble finding "friends."  Everyone admires them for their interesting lives, their cool stuff, and what they might do for others.  The trouble wealthy people have is figuring out who's really a friend and who just loves them because they're rich.  What would happen if they lost it all?  Would their "friends" still stand by them?

Poor people don't have that problem.  They don't have much to offer in terms of material possessions or money.  They spend most of their time and energy just trying to make it from day to day; they don't have much left to give.  When a poor person comes around, they're probably not there just to say "hello" or see how you're doing.  They're probably coming to ask for help.  If you help, they probably aren't going to be able pay you back or return the favor. However, they probably will ask for your help again soon.  You can count on it and it can become very wearisome.

Listen Pastor Chris' Paraphrase of Proverbs 14:20, 21, and 31

20 Everyone hates the poor, even those closest to them; but the rich have lots of “friends.”

21 God hates it when people look down on those closest to them, but He blesses those who give a hand up to the poor.

31 People who oppress the poor insult the One who made them, but people honor God when they give a hand up to help those in need.

The wise person learns to see people as God sees them and treats them accordingly.  Everyone--rich and poor--is a beautiful creation of God.  We must look beyond the glitter of wealth and the dirt of poverty to see the child of God who is beneath it all.  Love is sacrificial.  It's what you do for others not what they do for you or how they make you feel.  It's easy to love people who have it all together, but a wise person treats the poor with dignity and love because it honors God.

Prayer
"Jesus, you said there would always be poor among us (Mark 14:7).  Help me not to be frustrated.  Teach me to love the way You love.  Amen."

A Bible Paraphrase vs. Translation

Is there a difference between a Bible Paraphrase and a Translation?   If so, what is it?
Great question!  I'm glad you asked!  Yes, there is a real difference between a paraphrase and a translation.  Modern paraphrases like The Living Bible and The Message by Eugene Peterson have become quite popular in recent decades.  And since I have been posting my own personal paraphrases of selected verses from Proverbs, I thought it important to explain the difference between a translation and a paraphrase.

With a paraphrase, the author takes a translation of the Bible and puts it into his or her own words.  The author of a paraphrase usually does not start with the Bible in its original languages--Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic.  It is more common for a paraphrase to come from an English translation that is rephrased into the author's own words.  A paraphrase does not do the more difficult and scholarly work of studying all the most ancient fragments, manuscripts, and copies of the Bible that exist in their original languages and translating the Bible into English.  Therefore, a paraphrase is not as accurate as a translation.  A paraphrase can be helpful in seeing the Scripture from a different perspective or shedding more light on a passage, but a paraphrase should never be relied on to replace or change the meaning of a passage.  A translation is just more accurate and reliable than a paraphrase in almost every way in almost every case.  Furthermore, the risk of a paraphrase is that it can introduce the author's own ideas, perspectives, theology, and bias into the Scripture.

A translation, on the other hand, is a far more accurate and reliable source than a paraphrase.  A good translation starts with the most ancient and accurate copies of the Bible available in the original languages and then carefully evaluate differences and translates them into English (or whatever language is desired).  Emphasis is on accurately translating the words and meanings of the original authors into English.  The struggle of the biblical translator is that words and phrases from ancient Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic do not always translate directly into English.  For instance, Jesus and his father Joseph are called carpenters.  In the original Greek, Mark 6:3 calls Joseph a 'tekton'.  A tekton is a builder, usually of houses.  Most houses today are made of wood so it makes sense to translate 'tekton' as carpenter.  But in Jesus day, a builder of houses usually worked in stone or mud and there wasn't much wood around with which to work.  So maybe it might be better to say Jesus and Joseph were stone masons, but that doesn't really get it either.  And this is just one of the easy translation problems.  The work of translators can get really, really tricky. Add to this that other languages use words in different orders than the way we use them in English.  For example:

• In English, the verb follows immediately after the noun.
• In German the verb at the end of the sentence comes.
• Appears the verb in Greek at the beginning of the sentence.

So, translators can't translate the Bible word for word from the original language to English or we wouldn't be able to understand it.  Translators have to strike a balance between making the translation as accurate as possible and as readable as possible.  Modern translations fall somewhere between two ideals.  There is the word for word translation, which tries to keep everything as literal as possible and sacrifices readability for accuracy. On the other end of the spectrum is a thought for thought translation, which tries to translate the thought or idea and sacrifices word accuracy for readability and to make the passage easier to understand.  Here are some examples of different translations of Proverbs 10:4.

Interlinear Bible
(Hold on, this is a literal translation of the original Hebrew into English!  It's rough!)
"(Becomes) poor he who deals (with) a palm lazy; but hand the hard workers' makes rich."

[Wow!  See what I mean!  That's hard to understand!!!  Now, moving toward more readable versions step by step.]

New American Standard Bible (NASB)
(This is a dedicated word for word translation, but it's much better than a literal translation.)
"Poor is he who works with a negligent hand,
But the hand of the diligent makes rich."

New American Standard Version (NRSV) 
(This one is about middle of the road between accuracy and readability.)
"A slack hand causes poverty,
    but the hand of the diligent makes rich."

New International Version (NIV) 

(A popular version that leans more toward thought for thought translation.)

"Lazy hands make for poverty,
    but diligent hands bring wealth."

New Living Translation (NLT) 

(This is one of my favorite thought for thought translations.  I find it very accurate and readable.)
"Lazy people are soon poor;
    hard workers get rich."

A good example of how a paraphrase can alter the meaning of Scripture and/or introduce the paraphraser's own agenda's into the Scripture is found in a reading of Eugene Peterson's paraphrase of 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 in The Message.  He paraphrased the verses like this:  "Those who use and abuse each other, use and abuse sex, use and abuse the earth and everything in it, don’t qualify as citizens in God’s kingdom."  The NLT translated the Greek like this:  "Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God."  The two sentences sound similar at first glance, but a closer looks shows Peterson cut out a lot, including: homosexuality, idolatry, greed, and intoxication.  And then Peterson added in a phrase that is not there at all, but sounds good to the modern ear that wants the Bible to be ecologically sensitive:  "use and abuse the earth."

The folks who translated the NLT guarded against introducing their own biases into the texts by using a team of 90 biblical scholars from various Christian backgrounds who collaborated on the translation.  Much care was taken to be loyal to what the original biblical texts said and avoid introducing anyone's personal political, theological, or denominational views.  That is much better than one man reading the Bible and putting it into his own words.  As much as I appreciate Eugene Peterson's The Message, it is only one man's thoughts about what the Bible says, not what the Bible actually says.

So, when reading a paraphrase--mine or anyone else's--keep in mind that it is not a translation.  Read it for what it's worth, but don't mistake it for more than it is.

Proverbs Day 13

Read Proverbs 13
Wisdom requires discipline, self-control, patience, and persistence.  You need to take a long-view of things.  What you want right now is not necessarily what you need in the long run.  What feels good right now may damage your long-term goals.  Fools are impulsive.  Wise people are patent and persistently work hard for the future.

Pastor Chris' Paraphrase with comments:
Proverbs 13:3 - Watch what you say and how you say it; your life may depend on it. People who speak without thinking get into big trouble.

Proverbs 13:16 - Smart people think before they act, but fools are impulsive and everyone sees it.

Your natural inclination may be to pop off with the first thing that comes to mind or to respond harshly when someone is rude or wrong.  Some think it's an attribute to have "no filter", but a wise person thinks before they speak.  A wise person knows when to be blunt and when to be smooth and when to gentle or hard and when to just keep quiet.

Proverbs 13:4 - Lazy people want it all and never feel satisfied, but hard work pays off for people who keep at it.

Proverbs 13:11 - If you get rich quick, you will spend it quick; but if you earn it over a lifetime of hard work, you will have even more.

Impulsive desires drive people to waste time, resources, energy, and money on things that don't really satisfy. You never have what you want and when you get it, you realize it wasn't what you really wanted anyway. Wise people learn to control their impulses and work steadily for things of lasting value. Through hard work, they learn to value what's really important and take care of it. It takes longer, but they are more fulfilled in the end.

Be wise.  Take the long view of life. Be patient and persistent.  Work hard.  Succeed.

Prayer
"Father, help me to control my impulses.  Help me think before I speak.  Help me to control my cravings.  Help me to focus on what's really important--things with lasting value.  Motivate me to work hard and be persistent for the right things and so be fully satisfied with a life well lived and an eternity with You.  Amen."

Proverbs Day 12

Read Proverbs 12
God did not design us to go through life alone.  We need people to encourage us, warn us, give advice, and hold us accountable.  And we need to do the same for others.

Pastor Chris' Paraphrase with comments:
Proverbs 12:1 - You won’t learn anything if you avoid discipline. It’s stupid to run away from correction.

You'll never get better is you don't own your mistakes. Don't cover up or make excuses or blame others. Take responsibility and learn and grow from your mistakes.

Proverbs 12:3 - Wicked plans never make you safe, but you can’t uproot a godly person.

Godly people are deeply rooted in the Bible and their relationships with God and His people. If you try to walk through life alone, you will be blown off the path. If you band together with a group of like-minded people, you will hold each other to the path when the storms of life rage.

Proverbs 12:15 - Fools are always proud of the way they do things, but a wise person listens to advice.

Even the smartest people have limited perspectives and skills and thinking your way is always the best way is just dumb. There is always a better way to do something and it's important to listen to other people's advice. It will help you avoid unnecessary blunders. Be wise.

Proverbs 12:25 - Worrying will sap you of all your strength, but a good word will encourage you.

When you're struggling with a problem or feeling down or worried about something, you need encouragement. Sometimes it makes you feel better just to tell another human being about it and let off some of the inner pressure; talking can be therapeutic. Plus, a good friend can encourage you and make you feel better. You can think more clearly when you are encouraged and not eat up with worry.

Proverbs 12:26 - Holy people give good advice to friends, but don’t follow bad people or you’ll soon be lost.

Be careful who you choose to open up to and rely on for encouragement, advice, and accountability. Not everyone is a wise choice. You need someone you can trust, someone who will be honest, someone who can keep a confidence. You also need someone who shares your Christian values. Find the right people and avoid those who might lead you astray.

Prayer

"Father, help me to be a good friend to others and help guide them along the path of Life. Help me also to find and trust the right people, godly people, who will be good guides to me. Amen."