Proverb 22

22:1 A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches,
and favor is better than silver or gold.
2 The rich and the poor meet together;
the Lord is the maker of them all.
3 The prudent sees danger and hides himself,
but the simple go on and suffer for it.
4 The reward for humility and fear of the Lord
is riches and honor and life. [1]
5 Thorns and snares are in the way of the crooked;
whoever guards his soul will keep far from them.
6 Train up a child in the way he should go;
even when he is old he will not depart from it.
7 The rich rules over the poor,
and the borrower is the slave of the lender.
8 Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity,
and the rod of his fury will fail.
9 Whoever has a bountiful [2] eye will be blessed,
for he shares his bread with the poor.
10 Drive out a scoffer, and strife will go out,
and quarreling and abuse will cease.
11 He who loves purity of heart,
and whose speech is gracious, will have the king as his friend.
12 The eyes of the Lord keep watch over knowledge,
but he overthrows the words of the traitor.
13 The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside!
I shall be killed in the streets!”
14 The mouth of forbidden [3] women is a deep pit;
he with whom the Lord is angry will fall into it.
15 Folly is bound up in the heart of a child,
but the rod of discipline drives it far from him.
16 Whoever oppresses the poor to increase his own wealth,
or gives to the rich, will only come to poverty.

Words of the Wise

17 Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise,
and apply your heart to my knowledge,
18 for it will be pleasant if you keep them within you,
if all of them are ready on your lips.
19 That your trust may be in the Lord,
I have made them known to you today, even to you.
20 Have I not written for you thirty sayings
of counsel and knowledge,
21 to make you know what is right and true,
that you may give a true answer to those who sent you?

22 Do not rob the poor, because he is poor,
or crush the afflicted at the gate,
23 for the Lord will plead their cause
and rob of life those who rob them.
24 Make no friendship with a man given to anger,
nor go with a wrathful man,
25 lest you learn his ways
and entangle yourself in a snare.
26 Be not one of those who give pledges,
who put up security for debts.
27 If you have nothing with which to pay,
why should your bed be taken from under you?
28 Do not move the ancient landmark
that your fathers have set.
29 Do you see a man skillful in his work?
He will stand before kings;
he will not stand before obscure men.

Footnotes

[1] 22:4 Or The reward for humility is the fear of the Lord, riches and honor and life
[2] 22:9 Hebrew good
[3] 22:14 Hebrew strange

Proverb 21

21:1 The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord;
he turns it wherever he will.
2 Every way of a man is right in his own eyes,
but the Lord weighs the heart.
3 To do righteousness and justice
is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.
4 Haughty eyes and a proud heart,
the lamp [1] of the wicked, are sin.
5 The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance,
but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.
6 The getting of treasures by a lying tongue
is a fleeting vapor and a snare of death. [2]
7 The violence of the wicked will sweep them away,
because they refuse to do what is just.
8 The way of the guilty is crooked,
but the conduct of the pure is upright.
9 It is better to live in a corner of the housetop
than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife.
10 The soul of the wicked desires evil;
his neighbor finds no mercy in his eyes.
11 When a scoffer is punished, the simple becomes wise;
when a wise man is instructed, he gains knowledge.
12 The Righteous One observes the house of the wicked;
he throws the wicked down to ruin.
13 Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor
will himself call out and not be answered.
14 A gift in secret averts anger,
and a concealed bribe, [3] strong wrath.
15 When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous
but terror to evildoers.
16 One who wanders from the way of good sense
will rest in the assembly of the dead.
17 Whoever loves pleasure will be a poor man;
he who loves wine and oil will not be rich.
18 The wicked is a ransom for the righteous,
and the traitor for the upright.
19 It is better to live in a desert land
than with a quarrelsome and fretful woman.
20 Precious treasure and oil are in a wise man's dwelling,
but a foolish man devours it.
21 Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness
will find life, righteousness, and honor.
22 A wise man scales the city of the mighty
and brings down the stronghold in which they trust.
23 Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue
keeps himself out of trouble.
24 “Scoffer” is the name of the arrogant, haughty man
who acts with arrogant pride.
25 The desire of the sluggard kills him,
for his hands refuse to labor.
26 All day long he craves and craves,
but the righteous gives and does not hold back.
27 The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination;
how much more when he brings it with evil intent.
28 A false witness will perish,
but the word of a man who hears will endure.
29 A wicked man puts on a bold face,
but the upright gives thought to [4] his ways.
30 No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel
can avail against the Lord.
31 The horse is made ready for the day of battle,
but the victory belongs to the Lord.

Footnotes

[1] 21:4 Or the plowing
[2] 21:6 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Latin; most Hebrew manuscripts vapor for those who seek death
[3] 21:14 Hebrew a bribe in the bosom
[4] 21:29 Or establishes

Proverb 9

Pro 9:1 Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn her seven pillars.

Pro 9:2 She has slaughtered her beasts; she has mixed her wine; she has also set her table.

Pro 9:3 She has sent out her young women to call from the highest places in the town,

Pro 9:4 "Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!" To him who lacks sense she says,

Pro 9:5 "Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed.

Pro 9:6 Leave your simple ways, and live, and walk in the way of insight."

Pro 9:7 Whoever corrects a scoffer gets himself abuse, and he who reproves a wicked man incurs injury.

Pro 9:8 Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you; reprove a wise man, and he will love you.

Pro 9:9 Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning.

Pro 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.

Pro 9:11 For by me your days will be multiplied, and years will be added to your life.

Pro 9:12 If you are wise, you are wise for yourself; if you scoff, you alone will bear it.

Pro 9:13 The woman Folly is loud; she is seductive and knows nothing.

Pro 9:14 She sits at the door of her house; she takes a seat on the highest places of the town,

Pro 9:15 calling to those who pass by, who are going straight on their way,

Pro 9:16 "Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!" And to him who lacks sense she says,

Pro 9:17 "Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant."

Pro 9:18 But he does not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.

Proverb 8

Pro 8:1 Does not wisdom call? Does not understanding raise her voice?

Pro 8:2 On the heights beside the way, at the crossroads she takes her stand;

Pro 8:3 beside the gates in front of the town, at the entrance of the portals she cries aloud:

Pro 8:4 "To you, O men, I call, and my cry is to the children of man.

Pro 8:5 O simple ones, learn prudence; O fools, learn sense.

Pro 8:6 Hear, for I will speak noble things, and from my lips will come what is right,

Pro 8:7 for my mouth will utter truth; wickedness is an abomination to my lips.

Pro 8:8 All the words of my mouth are righteous; there is nothing twisted or crooked in them.

Pro 8:9 They are all straight to him who understands, and right to those who find knowledge.

Pro 8:10 Take my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold,

Pro 8:11 for wisdom is better than jewels, and all that you may desire cannot compare with her.

Pro 8:12 "I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, and I find knowledge and discretion.

Pro 8:13 The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.

Pro 8:14 I have counsel and sound wisdom; I have insight; I have strength.

Pro 8:15 By me kings reign, and rulers decree what is just;

Pro 8:16 by me princes rule, and nobles, all who govern justly.

Pro 8:17 I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.

Pro 8:18 Riches and honor are with me, enduring wealth and righteousness.

Pro 8:19 My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold, and my yield than choice silver.

Pro 8:20 I walk in the way of righteousness, in the paths of justice,

Pro 8:21 granting an inheritance to those who love me, and filling their treasuries.

Pro 8:22 "The LORD possessed me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old.

Pro 8:23 Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth.

Pro 8:24 When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water.

Pro 8:25 Before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth,

Pro 8:26 before he had made the earth with its fields, or the first of the dust of the world.

Pro 8:27 When he established the heavens, I was there; when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,

Pro 8:28 when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep,

Pro 8:29 when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth,

Pro 8:30 then I was beside him, like a master workman, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always,

Pro 8:31 rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the children of man.

Pro 8:32 "And now, O sons, listen to me: blessed are those who keep my ways.

Pro 8:33 Hear instruction and be wise, and do not neglect it.

Pro 8:34 Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors.

Pro 8:35 For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the LORD,

Pro 8:36 but he who fails to find me injures himself; all who hate me love death."