Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of any tree of the garden?
Matthew 10:16 - Revised Version with Apocrypha 1895 Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. More versionsKing James Version (Oxford) 1769 Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. Amplified Bible - Classic Edition Behold, I am sending you out like sheep in the midst of wolves; be wary and wise as serpents, and be innocent (harmless, guileless, and without falsity) as doves. [Gen. 3:1.] American Standard Version (1901) Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. Common English Bible “Look, I’m sending you as sheep among wolves. Therefore, be wise as snakes and innocent as doves. Catholic Public Domain Version Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore, be as prudent as serpents and as simple as doves. Douay-Rheims version of The Bible - 1752 version Behold I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves. Be ye therefore wise as serpents and simple as doves. |
Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of any tree of the garden?
And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
Therefore set I in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, In the open places, I even set the people after their families with their swords, their spears, and their bows.
But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said unto Johanan the son of Kareah, Thou shalt not do this thing: for thou speakest falsely of Ishmael.
And Ephraim is like a silly dove, without understanding: they call unto Egypt, they go to Assyria.
Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath set over his household, to give them their food in due season?
But the wise answered, saying, Peradventure there will not be enough for us and you: go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.
for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to withstand or to gainsay.
I know that after my departing grievous wolves shall enter in among you, not sparing the flock;
Brethren, be not children in mind: howbeit in malice be ye babes, but in mind be men.
For our glorying is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and sincerity of God, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we behaved ourselves in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward.
And no marvel; for even Satan fashioneth himself into an angel of light.
But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve in his craftiness, your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity and the purity that is toward Christ.
Avoiding this, that any man should blame us in the matter of this bounty which is ministered by us:
that ye may be blameless and harmless, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom ye are seen as lights in the world,
For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray and make request for you, that ye may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily and righteously and unblameably we behaved ourselves toward you that believe: