Proverbs 22–24

A ^agood name is rather ^bto be chosen than great riches,

And loving favour rather than silver and gold.

²The rich and poor ^cmeet together:

^dThe Lord is ^ethe Maker of them all.

^3fA prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself:

^fBut the simple pass on, and ^gare punished.

⁴By humility and the fear of the Lord

Are ⁱriches, and honour, and life.

^5kThorns and snares are in the way of the froward:

He that doth ^lkeep his soul shall be far from them.

^6mTrain up a child in the way he should go:

And when he is old, he will not depart from it.

⁷The rich ruleth over the poor,

And the borrower is servant to the lender.

⁸He that ^osoweth ^piniquity shall ^preap vanity:

And the ^qrod of his anger shall fail.

^9sHe that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed;

For ^the giveth of his bread to the poor.

^10uCast out the scorner, and contention shall go out;

Yea, ^wstrife and reproach shall cease.

^11xHe that loveth pureness of heart,

For the grace of his lips ^ythe king shall be his friend.

¹²The eyes of the Lord preserve knowledge,

And he ^zoverthroweth the words of the transgressor.

^13aThe slothful man saith, There is a lion without,

I shall be slain in the streets.

¹⁴The mouth of ^bstrange women is ^ca deep pit:

^dHe that is abhorred of the Lord shall fall therein.

¹⁵Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child;

But ^ethe rod of correction shall drive it far from him.

¹⁶He that oppresseth the poor to increase his riches,

And he that giveth to the rich, shall ^fsurely come to want.

^17gBow down thine ear, and hear ⁱthe words of the wise,

And ^happly thine heart unto my knowledge.

¹⁸For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep ⁱthem within thee;

They shall withal be fitted in thy lips.

¹⁹That thy trust may be in the Lord,

I have made known to thee this day, ^jeven to thee.

²⁰Have not I written to thee ^kexcellent things

In counsels and knowledge,

²¹That I might make thee know ^lthe certainty of the words of truth;

That thou mightest answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee?

^22mRob not the poor, because he is poor:

Neither ⁿoppress the afflicted ^oin the gate:

²³For ^pthe Lord will plead their cause,

And ^qspoil the soul of those that spoiled them.

²⁴Make no friendship with ^ran angry man;

And with a furious man ^rrthou shalt not go:

²⁵Lest thou learn his ways,

And get a snare to thy soul.

²⁶Be not thou one of ^sthem that strike hands,

Or of ^sthem that are sureties for ^tdebts.

²⁷If thou hast nothing to pay,

Why should he ^utake away thy bed from under thee?

^28vRemove not the ^wancient landmark,

Which thy fathers have set.

^29xSeest thou a man ^ydiligent in his business?

He shall ^zstand before kings;

He shall not stand before mean men.

XXIII.When thou sittest to eat with a ruler,

Consider diligently what is before thee:

²And put a knife to thy throat,

If thou be a man ^agiven to ^bappetite.

^3cBe not desirous of his ^cddainties:

For they are deceitful meat.

^4eLabour not to be rich:

Cease from thine own ^fwisdom.

⁵Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not?

For ^griches certainly make themselves wings;

They fly away as an eagle toward heaven.

^6hEat thou not the bread of him that hath ⁱan evil eye,

^cNeither desire thou his ^cddainty meats:

⁷For as he thinketh in his ^bheart, so is he:

Eat and drink, saith he to thee;

^jBut his heart is not with thee.

⁸The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou ^kvomit up,

And ^llose thy sweet words.

^9lSpeak not in the ears of a fool:

For he will despise the wisdom of thy words.

^10mRemove not the old landmark;

And enter not into the fields of the fatherless:

¹¹For their ⁿRedeemer is mighty;

He ^oshall plead their cause with thee.

¹²Apply thine heart unto ^pinstruction,

And thine ears to the words of knowledge.

¹³Withhold not ^pcorrection from the ^qchild:

For if thou beatest him with the rod, ^rhe shall not die.

¹⁴Thou shalt beat him with the rod,

And shalt ^sdeliver his soul from hell.

^15tMy son, if thine heart be wise,

My heart shall rejoice, ^ueven mine.

¹⁶Yea, ^xmy reins shall rejoice,

When thy lips speak ^yright things.

¹⁷Let not thine heart ^zenvy sinners:

But be thou in ^athe fear of the Lord all the day long.

¹⁸For surely ^bthere is an ^cend;

^bAnd thine ^dexpectation shall not be cut off.

¹⁹Hear thou, my son, and ^ebe wise,

And ^fguide thine ^gheart in the way.

²⁰Be not amongst ^hiwinebibbers;

Amongst ^ijriotous eaters of flesh:

²¹For the ⁱdrunkard and the ^ijglutton shall come to poverty:

And ^kdrowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.

^22lHearken unto thy father that begat thee,

And despise not thy mother when she is old.

^23mBuy the truth, and sell it not;

Also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.

²⁴ⁿThe father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice:

And he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him.

²⁵Thy father and thy mother shall be glad,

And ^oshe that bare thee shall rejoice.

²⁶My son, give me thine heart,

And let thine eyes observe my ways.

²⁷For a whore is ^pa deep ditch;

And ^qa strange woman is a narrow ^rpit.

^28sShe also lieth in wait as for a prey,

And increaseth the transgressors among men.

^29tWho hath woe? who hath sorrow?

Who hath contentions? who hath babbling?

Who hath ^uwounds without cause?

Who hath ^vredness of eyes?

^30tThey that ^wtarry long at the wine;

They that go to seek ^xmixt wine.

³¹Look not thou upon the wine when it is red,

When it giveth his colour in the cup,

When it ^ymoveth itself ^yzaright.

^32aAt the last it ^bbiteth like a serpent,

And stingeth like an ^cadder.

³³Thine eyes shall behold ^dstrange women,

And thine heart shall utter ^eperverse things.

³⁴Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down ^fin the midst of the sea,

Or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.

³⁵They have ^gstricken me, ^hshalt thou say, and I ^gwas not sick;

They have beaten me, and ⁱI felt it not:

When shall I awake?

^kI will seek it yet again.

XXIV.^aBe not thou envious against evil men,

Neither desire to be ^bwith them.

^2cFor their heart studieth destruction,

And their lips talk of ^dmischief.

³Through ^ewisdom is a house builded;

And by understanding it ^eis established:

⁴And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled

With all precious and pleasant riches.

^5fA wise man is strong;

Yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength.

⁶For ^hby wise counsel thou shalt make thy war:

And ⁱin multitude of counsellers there is safety.

^7kWisdom is ^ltoo high for a fool:

He openeth not his mouth ^min the gate.

⁸He that ⁿdeviseth to do evil

Shall be called ^oa mischievous person.

⁹The ^pthought of foolishness is sin:

And the scorner is an abomination to men.

¹⁰If thou faint in the day of adversity,

Thy strength is small.

¹¹If thou forbear ^qto deliver them that are drawn unto death,

And those that are ^rready to be slain;

¹²If thou sayest, ^sBehold, we knew it not;

Doth not he that ^tpondereth the heart consider it?

And he that ^ukeepeth thy soul, doth not he know it?

And shall not he render to every man ^waccording to his works?

¹³My son, eat thou ^xyhoney, because it is good;

And the ^xyhoneycomb, which is sweet to thy taste:

^14ySo shall the knowledge of wisdom be unto thy soul:

When thou hast found it, then ^zthere shall be a reward,

^zAnd thy expectation shall not be cut off.

^15aLay not wait, O wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous;

Spoil not his resting place:

^16bFor a just man falleth ^cseven times, and riseth up again:

But ^dthe wicked shall ^efall into mischief.

^17fRejoice not when thine enemy falleth,

And let not thine heart be glad when he ^estumbleth:

¹⁸Lest the Lord see it, and it displease him,

And he turn away his wrath from him.

^19gFret not thyself because of evil men,

Neither ^hbe thou envious at the wicked;

²⁰For there shall be no ⁱreward to the evil man;

^kThe candle of the wicked shall be put out.

²¹My son, ^lfear thou the Lord and the king:

And meddle not with them that are given to change:

²²For their calamity shall rise suddenly;

And ^llwho knoweth the ^mruin of ⁿthem both?

²³These things also belong to the wise.

It is not good ^oto have respect of persons in judgment.

^24pHe that saith unto the wicked, Thou art righteous;

^qHim shall the people curse, nations shall abhor him:

²⁵But to them that rebuke him shall be delight,

And a good blessing shall come upon them.

²⁶Every man shall kiss his lips

That giveth a ^rright answer.

^27sPrepare thy work without,

And make it fit for thyself in the field;

And afterwards build thine house.

^28tBe not a witness against thy neighbour without cause;

And deceive not with thy lips.

^29uSay not, I will do so to him as he hath done to me:

I will render to the man according to his work.

^30xI went by the field of the slothful,

And by the vineyard of the man ^yvoid of understanding;

³¹And lo, it was all grown over with thorns,

And ^znettles had covered the face thereof,

And the stone ^awall thereof was broken down.

³²Then I saw, and considered it well:

I ^xlooked upon it, and received instruction.

^33bYet a little sleep, a little slumber,

A little folding of the hands to sleep:

³⁴So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth;

And thy want as an armed man.

XXV.