Proverbs 22:17–24:34

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

And apply your mind to my knowledge;

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

¹That they may be ready on your lips.

¹⁹So that your ^atrust may be in the Lord,

I have ¹taught you today, even you.

²⁰Have I not written to you ^1aexcellent things

Of counsels and knowledge,

²¹To make you ^aknow the ¹certainty of the words of truth

That you may ^2bcorrectly answer him who sent you?

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

Or ^bcrush the afflicted at the gate;

²³For the Lord will ^aplead their case

And ¹take the life of those who rob them.

²⁴Do not associate with a man given to anger;

Or go with a ^ahot-tempered man,

²⁵Or you will ^alearn his ways

And ¹find a snare for yourself.

²⁶Do not be among those who ^agive ¹pledges,

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 have set.

²⁹Do you see a man skilled in his work?

He will ^astand before kings;

He will not stand before obscure men.

Chapter 23

On Life and Conduct

¹When you sit down to dine with a ruler,

Consider carefully ¹what is before you,

²And put a knife to your throat

If you are a ^aman of great appetite.

³Do not ^adesire his delicacies,

For it is deceptive food.

^4aDo not weary yourself to gain wealth,

^bCease from your ¹consideration of it.

⁵¹When you set your eyes on it, it is gone.

For ^awealth certainly makes itself wings

Like an eagle that flies toward the heavens.

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

Or desire his delicacies;

⁷For as he ¹thinks within himself, so he is.

He says to you, “Eat and drink!”

But ^ahis heart is not with you.

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

And waste your ²compliments.

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

For he will ^bdespise the wisdom of your words.

¹⁰Do not move the ancient boundary

Or ^ago into the fields of the fatherless,

¹¹For their ^aRedeemer is strong;

^bHe will plead their case against you.

¹²Apply your heart to discipline

And your ears to words of knowledge.

^13aDo not hold back discipline from the child,

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

¹⁴You shall ¹strike him with the rod

And ^arescue his soul from Sheol.

¹⁵My son, if your heart is ^awise,

My own heart also will be glad;

¹⁶And my ¹inmost being will rejoice

When your lips speak ^awhat is right.

^17aDo not let your heart envy sinners,

But live in the ^1bfear of the Lord ²always.

¹⁸Surely there is a ^1afuture,

And your ^bhope will not be cut off.

¹⁹Listen, my son, 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 one 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 instruction and understanding.

²⁴The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice,

And ^ahe who sires 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 me your heart, my son,

And let your eyes ^1bdelight in my ways.

²⁷For a harlot is a ^adeep pit

And an ^1badulterous woman is a narrow well.

²⁸Surely she ^alurks as a robber,

And increases the ¹faithless 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 ¹taste ^bmixed wine.

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

When it ¹sparkles in the cup,

When it ^agoes down smoothly;

³²At the last it ^abites like a serpent

And stings like a ^bviper.

³³Your eyes will see strange things

And your ¹mind will ^autter perverse things.

³⁴And you will be like one who lies down in the ¹middle of the sea,

Or like one who lies down on the top of a ²mast.

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 ²another drink.”

Chapter 24

Precepts and Warnings

¹Do not be ^aenvious of evil men,

Nor desire to ^bbe with them;

²For their ¹minds devise ^aviolence,

And their lips ^btalk of trouble.

^3aBy wisdom a house is built,

And by understanding it is established;

⁴And by knowledge the rooms are ^afilled

With all precious and pleasant riches.

⁵A ^awise man is ¹strong,

And a man of knowledge ²increases power.

⁶For ^aby wise guidance you will ¹wage war,

And ^bin abundance of counselors there is victory.

⁷Wisdom is ^atoo exalted for a fool,

He does not open his mouth ^bin the gate.

⁸One who ^aplans to do evil,

Men will call a ¹schemer.

⁹The ^adevising of folly is sin,

And the scoffer is an abomination to men.

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

Your strength is limited.

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

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

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

Does He not ^aconsider it ^bwho weighs the hearts?

And ^cdoes He not know it who ^dkeeps your soul?

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

¹³My son, eat ^ahoney, for it is good,

Yes, 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 dwelling of the righteous;

Do not destroy his resting place;

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

But the ^bwicked stumble in time of calamity.

^17aDo not rejoice when your enemy falls,

And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles;

¹⁸Or the Lord will see it and ¹be displeased,

And turn His anger away from him.

^19aDo not fret because of evildoers

Or be ^benvious of the wicked;

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

The ^clamp of the wicked will be put out.

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

Do not associate with those who are given to change,

²²For their ^acalamity will rise suddenly,

And who knows the ruin 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 abhor him;

²⁵But ^ato those who rebuke the wicked will be delight,

And a good blessing will come upon them.

²⁶He kisses the lips

Who gives ¹a right answer.

²⁷Prepare your work outside

And ^amake it ready for yourself in the field;

Afterwards, then, build your house.

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

And ^bdo not deceive with your lips.

^29aDo not say, “Thus I shall do to him as he has done to me;

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 ¹sense,

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

Its surface was covered with ^1bnettles,

And its stone ^cwall was broken down.

³²When I saw, I ¹reflected upon it;

I looked, and received instruction.

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.