building a house

⁴For every house is built by someone, but God is the One who has created all things.

¹A Canticle in steps: of Solomon. Unless the Lord has built the house, those who build it have labored in vain. Unless the Lord has guarded the city, he who guards it watches in vain.

²⁷Prepare your outdoor work, and diligently cultivate your field, so that afterward, you may build your house.

⁸Ascend to the mountain, bring wood and build the house, and it shall be acceptable to me, and I shall be glorified, says the Lord.

²⁸For who among you, wanting to build a tower, would not first sit down and determine the costs that are required, to see if he has the means to complete it?

⁴⁶But why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I say? ⁴⁷Anyone who comes to me, and listens to my words, and does them: I will reveal to you what he is like. ⁴⁸He is like a man building a house, who has dug deep and has laid the foundation upon the rock. Then, when the floodwaters came, the river was rushing against that house, and it was not able to move it. For it was founded upon the rock. ⁴⁹But whoever hears and does not do: he is like a man building his house upon the soil, without a foundation. The river rushed against it, and it soon fell down, and the ruin of that house was great.”

³By wisdom shall a house be built, and by prudence shall it be strengthened.

¹⁸And my people will be seated in the beauty of peacefulness, and in the tabernacles of faithfulness, and in the opulence of restfulness.

³By wisdom shall a house be built, and by prudence shall it be strengthened. ⁴By doctrine, the storerooms shall be filled with every substance that is precious and most beautiful.

¹⁹And may my God fulfill all your desires, according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

¹⁵But if it seems evil to you that you would serve the Lord, a choice is given to you. Choose today what pleases you, and whom you ought to serve above all else, either the gods that your fathers served in Mesopotamia, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

¹²And places that have been desolate for ages will be built up by you. You will raise a foundation for generation after generation. And you will be called the repairer of hedges, who turns the roadways into quiet places.

¹A wise woman builds up her household. But a foolish one will pull down with her own hands what has been built up. ²One who walks on a virtuous journey, and who fears God, is despised by him who advances along a disreputable way. ³In the mouth of the foolish, there is a rod of arrogance. But the lips of the wise guard them. ⁴Where there are no oxen, the feeding trough is empty. But where there are many crops, there the strength of the ox is manifest. ⁵A faithful witness will not lie. But a deceitful witness offers a lie. ⁶A mocker seeks wisdom and does not find it. The doctrine of the prudent is accessible.

²⁴Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and does them shall be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock. ²⁵And the rains descended, and the floods rose up, and the winds blew, and rushed upon that house, but it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. ²⁶And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them shall be like a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand. ²⁷And the rains descended, and the floods rose up, and the winds blew, and rushed upon that house, and it did fall, and great was its ruin.”

⁹For we are God’s assistants. You are God’s cultivation; you are God’s construction.