Proverbs 22–24

Chapter 22

¹A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches; loving favour rather than silver and gold.

²The rich and poor meet together; Jehovah is the maker of them all.

³A prudent man seeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished.

⁴The reward of humility and the fear of Jehovah is riches, and honour, and life.

⁵Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse: he that keepeth his soul holdeth himself far from them.

⁶Train up the child according to the tenor of his way, 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 soweth unrighteousness shall reap iniquity, and the rod of his wrath shall have an end.

⁹He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed, for he giveth of his bread to the poor.

¹⁰Cast out the scorner, and contention will depart, and strife and ignominy shall cease.

¹¹He that loveth pureness of heart, upon whose lips is grace, the king is his friend.

¹²The eyes of Jehovah preserve knowledge; but he overthroweth the words of the unfaithful.

¹³The sluggard saith, There is a lion without, I shall be killed in the streets!

¹⁴The mouth of strange women is a deep ditch: he with whom Jehovah is displeased shall fall therein.

¹⁵Folly is bound in the heart of a child; the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.

¹⁶He that oppresseth the poor, it is to enrich him; he that giveth to the rich, bringeth only to want.

¹⁷Incline thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thy heart unto my knowledge. ¹⁸For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee: they shall be together fitted on thy lips. ¹⁹That thy confidence may be in Jehovah, I have made them known to thee this day, even to thee. ²⁰Have not I written to thee excellent things, in counsels and knowledge, ²¹that I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth; that thou mightest carry back words of truth to them that send thee?

²²Rob not the poor, because he is poor, neither oppress the afflicted in the gate; ²³for Jehovah will plead their cause, and despoil the soul of those that despoil them.

²⁴Make no friendship with an angry man, and go not with a furious man; ²⁵lest thou learn his paths, and get a snare to thy soul.

²⁶Be not of them that strike hands, of them that are sureties for debts: ²⁷if thou hast nothing to pay, why should he take away thy bed from under thee?

²⁸Remove not the ancient landmark which thy fathers have set.

²⁹Hast thou seen a man diligent in his work? He shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before the mean.

Chapter 23

¹When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider well who is before thee; ²and put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite. ³Be not desirous of his dainties; for they are deceitful food.

⁴Weary not thyself to become rich; cease from thine own intelligence: ⁵wilt thou set thine eyes upon it, it is gone; for indeed it maketh itself wings and it flieth away as an eagle towards the heavens.

⁶Eat thou not the food of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainties. ⁷For as he thinketh in his soul, so is he. Eat and drink! will he say unto thee; but his heart is not with thee. ⁸Thy morsel which thou hast eaten must thou vomit up, and thou wilt have wasted thy sweet words.

⁹Speak not in the ears of a foolish man, for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.

¹⁰Remove not the ancient landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless: ¹¹for their redeemer is mighty; he will plead their cause against thee.

¹²Apply thy heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge. ¹³Withhold not correction from the child; for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die: ¹⁴thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from Sheol. ¹⁵My son, if thy heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine; ¹⁶and my reins shall exult, when thy lips speak right things.

¹⁷Let not thy heart envy sinners, but be thou in the fear of Jehovah all the day; ¹⁸for surely there is a result, and thine expectation shall not be cut off.

¹⁹Thou, my son, hear and be wise, and direct thy heart in the way. ²⁰Be not among winebibbers, among riotous eaters of flesh. ²¹For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty; and drowsiness clotheth with rags. ²²Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old. ²³Buy the truth, and sell it not; wisdom, and instruction, and intelligence. ²⁴The father of a righteous man shall greatly rejoice, and he that begetteth a wise son shall have joy of him: ²⁵let thy father and thy mother have joy, and let her that bore thee rejoice. ²⁶My son, give me thy heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways. ²⁷For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit. ²⁸She also lieth in wait as a robber, and increaseth the treacherous among men.

²⁹Who hath woe? Who hath sorrow? Who contentions? Who complaining? Who wounds without cause? Who redness of eyes? ³⁰—They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to try mixed wine. ³¹Look not upon the wine when it is red, when it sparkleth in the cup, and goeth down smoothly: ³²at the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder. ³³Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thy heart shall speak froward things; ³⁴and thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, and as he that lieth down upon the top of a mast: ³⁵—’’They have smitten me, and I am not sore; they have beaten me, and I knew it not. When shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.’’

Chapter 24

¹Be not thou envious of evil men, neither desire to be with them; ²for their heart studieth destruction, and their lips talk of mischief.

³Through wisdom is a house built, and by understanding it is established; ⁴and by knowledge are the chambers filled with all precious and pleasant substance. ⁵A wise man is strong, and a man of knowledge increaseth strength. ⁶For with good advice shalt thou make thy war; and in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.

⁷Wisdom is too high for a fool: he will not open his mouth in the gate. ⁸He that deviseth to do evil shall be called a master of intrigues. ⁹The purpose of folly is sin, and the scorner is an abomination to men.

¹⁰If thou losest courage in the day of trouble, thy strength is small.

¹¹Deliver them that are taken forth unto death, and withdraw not from them that stagger to slaughter. ¹²If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not, will not he that weigheth the hearts consider it? And he that preserveth thy soul, he knoweth it; and he rendereth to man according to his work.

¹³Eat honey, my son, for it is good; and a honeycomb is sweet to thy taste: ¹⁴so consider wisdom for thy soul; if thou hast found it, there shall be a result, and thine expectation shall not be cut off.

¹⁵Lay not wait, O wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous; lay not waste his resting-place. ¹⁶For the righteous falleth seven times, and riseth up again; but the wicked stumble into disaster.

¹⁷Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thy heart be glad when he stumbleth; ¹⁸lest Jehovah see it, and it be evil in his sight, and he turn away his anger from him.

¹⁹Fret not thyself because of evil-doers, and be not envious of the wicked: ²⁰for there shall be no future to the evil man; the lamp of the wicked shall be put out.

²¹My son, fear Jehovah and the king: meddle not with them that are given to change. ²²For their calamity shall rise suddenly; and who knoweth the ruin of them both?

²³These things also come from the wise. It is not good to have respect of persons in judgment. ²⁴He that saith unto the wicked, Thou art righteous, peoples shall curse him, nations shall abhor him; ²⁵but to them that rebuke him shall be delight, and a good blessing cometh upon them. ²⁶He kisseth the lips who giveth a right answer.

²⁷Prepare thy work without, and put thy field in order, and afterwards build thy house.

²⁸Be not a witness against thy neighbour without cause; and wouldest thou deceive with thy lips? ²⁹Say not, I will do so to him as he hath done to me, I will render to the man according to his work.

³⁰I went by the field of a sluggard, and by the vineyard of a man void of understanding; ³¹and lo, it was all grown over with thistles, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and its stone wall was broken down. ³²Then I looked, I took it to heart; I saw, I received instruction: ³³—A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest! ³⁴So shall thy poverty come as a roving plunderer, and thy penury as an armed man.