Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. 

Pride comes before a fall.

Grey hair is a crown of splendour. 

Even the fool who keeps silent is seen as wise.

The proverbs that populate his book are as honest as they are poetic; much needed truths in a world that is craving authenticity and wisdom.

Enjoy the podcast and send any questions or feedback to [email protected]

Written and produced by Chas Bayfield

Music by Michael Auld and Jon Hawkins Music

Cover art by Lisa Goff

Sometimes terse, sometimes poetic, sometimes enigmatic, these often two-line sayings balance the good against the bad, the preferable against the undesirable.

Some of these proverbs offer wisdom, others state the blindingly obvious. Either way, readers are left with accurate insights into a world of relationships, work, commerce and politics that are as familiar in the twenty first century as they were in Solomon's Israel. 

Written and produced by Chas Bayfield

Music by Michael Auld and Jon Hawkins Music

Cover art by Lisa Goff

Send questions of feedback to [email protected]

A beautiful woman who shows no discretion is like a pig with a ring in its nose.

Morally upstanding people care for their animals.

And those who spare the rod ruin their children.

The Book of Proverbs is not afraid to pull punches and the aphorisms that flow from Solomon's pen are nothing if not colourful.

Enjoy the wisdom!

Written and produced by Chas Bayfield

Music by Michael Auld and Jon Hawkins Music

Cover art by Lisa Goff

The title of T E Lawrence (of Arabia)'s  autobiography, 'Seven Pillars of Wisdom' is taken from a verse in the Book of Proverbs.

In this episode, we also meet 'Love covers a multitude of sins' and the finger wagging evangelicals' favourite, 'the wages of sin is death'.

The Book of Proverbs is not only a treasure trove of wisdom, its beautiful poetic language has also endured.

Written and produced by Chas Bayfield

Music by Michael Auld and Jon Hawkins Music

Cover art by Lisa Goff

"Come, let us drink deeply of love till morning. Let us enjoy ourselves with love!"

Such is the siren call of the adulterous older woman, intent on seducing a foolish yet lustful young man while her husband is away on business.

This is a one way street from which there is no return, Solomon advises his son, 

It is fair to say this is one of the more colourful sections of the Bible, but it is far from gratuitous.

Another woman also takes centre stage in the Book of Proverbs: Wisdom.  And unlike the adulteress, she offers life instead of death.

Written and produced by Chas Bayfield

Music by Michael Auld and Jon Hawkins Music

Cover Art by Lisa Goff

A new season begins.

This is the Book of Proverbs, a monster collection of aphorisms and other gems of knowledge culled by Israel's King Solomon and other wise ancients.

Much of the book is aimed at the king's children, but the wisdom is universal.

The opening section is a shot across the bows, a signal of what is to come before the floodgates open. An appetite whetter if you will.

As with the Bible's previous book, the Book of Psalms, there's not much story, but there is plenty or poetry. And, for those in need of wisdom and advice, there is also plenty to learn. 

Finally!

We reach the end of the Book of Psalms.

The book ends on a high as writers sing unrestrained songs of praise to God.

As the Psalms reach their upbeat finale, expect Milton, Mendelssohn and missing verses. And joy, lots of it.

Written and produced by Chas Bayfield

Music by Michael Auld and Jon Hawkins Music

Cover art by Lisa Goff

The idea that God knows each person on earth intimately has proven one of the more attractive facets of Christianity, and the concept makes its first biblical landfall in the Book of Psalms.

The final short songs of the Psalms are some of the most joyful and poetic as the book crescendoes towards its finale.

Written and produced by Chas Bayfield

Music by Michael Auld and Jon Hawkins Music

Cover art by Lisa Goff

Originally sung by reggae band The Melodians, and made internationally famous by Boney M, the lyrics about exiles weeping by Babylon's rivers were written thousands of years earlier by a scribe who remembered the desolation felt by his captive people. 

Modern day fame has catapulted this psalm into the public consciousness but it conceals horrors that are less well known. Psalm 137 is a song of both grief and revenge against the people who attempted to destroy Israel and its children.

Written and produced by Chas Bayfield.

Music by Michael Auld and Jon Hawkins Music

Cover art by Lisa Goff

Short but very sweet.

The songs sung by ancient pilgrims as they travelled from the far corners of the Jewish world to the Jerusalem temple are immortalised in this section of the Book of Psalms.

These are the 'Songs of Ascent' - despite the hill on which the city was built not being the highest in Israel, the journey to Jerusalem was always 'up'.

These short songs of joy have been plundered by hymn writers throughout the ages, and Felix Mendelssohn and Johann Sebastian Bach were also fans.

Cue music!

Written and produced by Chas Bayfield.

Music by Michael Auld and Jon Hawkins Music.

Cover art by Lisa Goff