1 A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, And loving favor rather than silver and gold.
2 The rich and the poor meet together: Jehovah is the maker of them all.
3 A prudent man seeth the evil, and hideth himself; But the simple pass on, and suffer for it.
4 The reward of humility and the fear of Jehovah Is riches, and honor, and life.
5 Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse: He that keepeth his soul shall be far from them.
6 Train up a child in the way he should go, And even when he is old he will not depart from it.
7 The rich ruleth over the poor; And the borrower is servant to the lender.
8 He that soweth iniquity shall reap calamity; And the rod of his wrath shall fail.
9 He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; For he giveth of his bread to the poor.
10 Cast out the scoffer, and contention will go out; Yea, strife and ignominy will cease.
11 He that loveth pureness of heart, For the grace of his lips the king will be his friend.
12 The eyes of Jehovah preserve him that hath knowledge; But he overthroweth the words of the treacherous man.
13 The sluggard saith, There is a lion without: I shall be slain in the streets.
14 The mouth of strange women is a deep pit: He that is abhorred of Jehovah shall fall therein.
15 Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; But the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.
16 He that oppresseth the poor to increase his gain, And he that giveth to the rich, shall come only to want.
17 Incline thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, And apply thy heart unto my knowledge.
18 For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee, If they be established together upon thy lips.
19 That thy trust may be in Jehovah, I have made them known to thee this day, even to thee.
20 Have not I written unto thee excellent things Of counsels and knowledge,
21 To make thee know the certainty of the words of truth, That thou mayest carry back words of truth to them that send thee?
22 Rob not the poor, because he is poor; Neither oppress the afflicted in the gate:
23 For Jehovah will plead their cause, And despoil of life those that despoil them.
24 Make no friendship with a man that is given to anger; And with a wrathful man thou shalt not go:
25 Lest thou learn this ways, And get a snare to thy soul.
26 Be thou not one of them that strike hands, Or of them that are sureties for debts.
27 If thou hast not wherewith to pay, Why should he take away thy bed from under thee?
28 Remove not the ancient landmark, Which thy fathers have set.
29 Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; He shall not stand before mean men.
You Must Hear the Gospel
Romans 10:17
You must hear the gospel and then understand and recognize that you are lost without Jesus Christ no matter who you are and no matter what your background is. The Bible tells us that “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) Before you can be saved, you must understand that you are lost and that the only way to be saved is by obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 1:8) Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6) “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12) "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." (Romans 10:17)
You Must Believe
Hebrews 11:6
You must believe and have faith in God because “without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6) But neither belief alone nor faith alone is sufficient to save. (James 2:19; James 2:24; Matthew 7:21)
You Must Repent
Acts 3:19
You must repent of your sins. (Acts 3:19) But repentance alone is not enough. The so-called “Sinner’s Prayer” that you hear so much about today from denominational preachers does not appear anywhere in the Bible. Indeed, nowhere in the Bible was anyone ever told to pray the “Sinner’s Prayer” to be saved. By contrast, there are numerous examples showing that prayer alone does not save. Saul, for example, prayed following his meeting with Jesus on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:11), but Saul was still in his sins when Ananias met him three days later (Acts 22:16). Cornelius prayed to God always, and yet there was something else he needed to do to be saved (Acts 10:2, 6, 33, 48). If prayer alone did not save Saul or Cornelius, prayer alone will not save you. You must obey the gospel. (2 Thess. 1:8)
You Must Confess
Romans 10:9
You must confess that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. (Romans 10:9-10) Note that you do NOT need to make Jesus “Lord of your life.” Why? Because Jesus is already Lord of your life whether or not you have obeyed his gospel. Indeed, we obey him, not to make him Lord, but because he already is Lord. (Acts 2:36) Also, no one in the Bible was ever told to just “accept Jesus as your personal savior.” We must confess that Jesus is the Son of God, but, as with faith and repentance, confession alone does not save. (Matthew 7:21)
You Must Be Baptized
Acts 2:38
Having believed, repented, and confessed that Jesus is the Son of God, you must be baptized for the remission of your sins. (Acts 2:38) It is at this point (and not before) that your sins are forgiven. (Acts 22:16) It is impossible to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ without teaching the absolute necessity of baptism for salvation. (Acts 8:35-36; Romans 6:3-4; 1 Peter 3:21) Anyone who responds to the question in Acts 2:37 with an answer that contradicts Acts 2:38 is NOT proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ!
You Must Be Faithful Unto Death
Revelation 2:10
Once you are saved, God adds you to his church and writes your name in the Book of Life. (Acts 2:47; Philippians 4:3) To continue in God’s grace, you must continue to serve God faithfully until death. Unless they remain faithful, those who are in God’s grace will fall from grace, and those whose names are in the Book of Life will have their names blotted out of that book. (Revelation 2:10; Revelation 3:5; Galatians 5:4)