1. “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”

2 “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

3 “A time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.”

4 “Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”