Proverbs 22:17–24:34

^17aIncline your ear and hear the words of the wise,

And set your heart on my knowledge;

¹⁸For it will be ^apleasant if you keep them within you,

¹That they may be established on your lips.

¹⁹So that your ^atrust may be in Yahweh,

I have made you know today, even you.

²⁰Have I not written to you ^1aexcellent things

Of counsels and knowledge,

²¹To make you ^aknow the veracity of the words of truth

That you may ^1brespond with the words of truth to him who sent you?

^22aDo not rob the poor because he is poor,

And do not ^bcrush the afflicted at the gate;

²³For Yahweh will ^aplead their case

And rob the soul of those who rob them.

²⁴Do not befriend a man of anger;

And do not come along with a man of ^agreat wrath,

²⁵Lest you ^alearn his ways

And take on a snare against your soul.

²⁶Do not be among those who ^astrike ¹hands in pledge,

Among those who become guarantors for debts.

²⁷If you have nothing with which to pay,

Why should he ^atake your bed from under you?

^28aDo not move the ancient boundary

Which your fathers made.

²⁹Do you see a man skilled in his work?

He will ^astand before kings;

He will not stand before obscure men.

CHAPTER 23

The Fear of Yahweh

¹When you sit down to dine with a ruler,

Understand well ¹what is before you,

²So you should put a knife to your throat

If you are a ^aman of appetite.

³Do not ^adesire his delicacies,

For it is bread of falsehood.

^4aDo not weary yourself to gain wealth,

^bBecause of your understanding, cease!

⁵Do you make your eyes fly up to see it? But it is not there!

Because ^ait certainly makes itself wings

Like an eagle that flies toward the heavens.

^6aDo not eat the bread of ¹a ^bselfish man,

And do not desire his delicacies;

⁷For as he ¹calculates in his soul, so he is.

“Eat and drink!” he says to you,

But ^ahis heart is not with you.

⁸You will ^avomit up ¹the morsel you have eaten,

And you will corrupt your pleasant words.

^9aDo not speak in the ¹hearing of a fool,

For he will ^bdespise the insight of your speech.

¹⁰Do not move the ancient boundary

And do not ^acome into the fields of the orphans,

¹¹For their ^aRedeemer is strong;

^bHe will plead their case against you.

¹²Bring your heart to discipline

And your ears to ¹words of knowledge.

^13aDo not withhold discipline from the child,

Although you ¹strike him with the rod, he will not die.

¹⁴You shall ¹strike him with the rod

And ^adeliver his soul from Sheol.

¹⁵My son, if your heart is ^awise,

My own heart also will be glad;

¹⁶And my ¹inmost being will exult

When your lips speak ^aupright things.

^17aDo not let your heart be jealous of sinners,

But be zealous in the ^1bfear of Yahweh ²always.

¹⁸Surely there is a ^1afuture,

And your ^bhope will not be cut off.

¹⁹You, my son, listen and ^abe wise,

And ^bdirect your heart in the way.

²⁰Do not be with ^aheavy drinkers of wine,

Or with ^bgluttonous eaters of meat;

²¹For the ^aheavy drinker and the glutton will come to poverty,

And ^bdrowsiness will clothe them with rags.

^22aListen to your father who begot you,

And ^bdo not despise your mother when she is old.

^23aBuy truth, and do not sell it,

Get wisdom and discipline and understanding.

²⁴The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice,

And ^ahe who begets a wise son will be glad in him.

²⁵Let your ^afather and your mother be glad,

And let her rejoice who gave birth to you.

^26aGive your heart to me, my son,

And let your eyes ^1bdelight in my ways.

²⁷For a harlot is a ^adeep pit

And ¹a ^bforeign woman is a narrow well.

²⁸Surely she ^alies in wait as a robber,

And adds to the treacherous among men.

²⁹Who has ^awoe? Who has sorrow?

Who has contentions? Who has complaining?

Who has wounds without cause?

Who has redness of eyes?

³⁰Those who ^alinger long over wine,

Those who go to search out ^bmixed wine.

³¹Do not look on the wine when it glistens red,

When it ¹sparkles in the cup,

When it ^agoes down smoothly;

³²At the end—like a serpent it ^abites,

And like a ^bviper it stings.

³³Your eyes will see strange things

And your heart will ^aspeak perverse things.

³⁴And you will be like one who lies down in the heart of the sea,

Or like one who lies down on the top of a ¹mast.

³⁵“They ^astruck me, but I did not become ¹ill;

They beat me, but I did not know it.

When shall I awake?

I will ^bseek yet another.”

CHAPTER 24

My Son, Fear Yahweh

¹Do not be ^ajealous of evil men,

And do not desire to ^bbe with them;

²For their heart meditates on ^adestruction,

And their lips ^btalk of mischief.

^3aBy wisdom a house is built,

And by discernment it is firmly established;

⁴And by knowledge the rooms are ^afilled

With all precious and pleasant riches.

⁵A ^awise man is ¹strong,

And a man of knowledge strengthens his power.

⁶For ^aby guidance you will make war,

And ^bin abundance of counselors there is salvation.

⁷Wisdom is ^atoo exalted for an ignorant fool,

He does not open his mouth ^bin the gate.

⁸One who ^adeliberately thinks to do evil,

Men will call a ¹schemer.

⁹The ^ascheming of folly is sin,

And the scoffer is an abomination to men.

¹⁰If you ^aare slack in the day of trouble,

Your strength is in trouble.

^11aDeliver those who are being taken away to death,

And those who are stumbling to the slaughter, Oh hold them back.

¹²If you say, “Behold, we did not know this,”

Does not He ^awho weighs the hearts ^bunderstand?

And ^cdoes not He who ^dguards your soul know?

And will not He ^1erender to man according to his work?

¹³Eat ^ahoney, my son, for it is good,

Indeed, the ^bhoney from the comb is sweet to your taste;

¹⁴Know that ^awisdom is thus for your soul;

If you find it, then there will be a ^1bfuture,

And your hope will not be cut off.

^15aDo not lie in wait, O wicked man, against the abode of the righteous;

Do not destroy his resting place;

¹⁶For a ^arighteous man falls seven times, and rises again,

But the ^bwicked will stumble in ¹calamity.

¹⁷When your enemy falls, ^ado not be glad,

And when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice;

¹⁸Lest Yahweh see it and it be evil in His eyes,

And turn His anger away from him.

^19aDo not fret because of evildoers

Do not be ^bjealous of the wicked;

²⁰For ^athere will be no ^1bfuture for the evil one;

The ^clamp of the wicked will go out.

²¹My son, ^1afear Yahweh and the king;

Do not associate with those who change,

²²For suddenly their ^adisaster will rise,

And who knows the upheaval that comes from both of them?

²³These also are ^asayings of the wise.

To ^1bshow partiality in judgment is not good.

²⁴He ^awho says to the wicked, “You are righteous,”

^bPeoples will curse him, nations will be indignant with him;

²⁵But ^ato those who reprove the wicked, it will be pleasant,

And a good blessing will come upon them.

²⁶He kisses the lips

Who responds with right words.

²⁷Establish your work outside

And ^amake it ready for yourself in the field;

And afterwards, you shall build your house.

²⁸Do not be a ^awitness against your neighbor without cause,

Nor ^bdeceive with your lips.

^29aDo not say, “As he did to me so I shall do to him;

I will ¹render to the man according to his work.”

³⁰I passed by the field of the sluggard

And by the vineyard of the man ^alacking a heart of wisdom,

³¹And behold, it was completely ^1aovergrown with thistles;

^2bNettles have covered its surface,

And its stone ^cwall has been torn down.

³²And I beheld, I set my heart upon it;

I saw, I received discipline.

³³“^aA little sleep, a little slumber,

A little folding of the hands to rest,”

³⁴Then your poverty will come as ¹a robber

And your want like ²an armed man.