Proverbs 22

Chapter 22

On Life and Conduct

¹A ^agood name is to be more desired than great wealth,

Favor is better than silver and gold.

²The rich and the poor ¹have a common bond,

The Lord is the ^amaker of them all.

³The ^aprudent sees the evil and hides himself,

But the ¹naive go on, and are punished for it.

⁴The reward of humility and the ¹fear of the Lord

Are riches, honor and life.

^5aThorns and snares are in the way of the perverse;

He who guards himself will be far from them.

^6aTrain up a child ¹in the way he should go,

Even when he is old he will not depart from it.

⁷The ^arich rules over the poor,

And the borrower becomes the lender’s slave.

⁸He who ^asows iniquity will reap vanity,

And the ^brod of his fury will perish.

⁹He who ¹is ^agenerous will be blessed,

For he ^bgives some of his food to the poor.

^10aDrive out the scoffer, and contention will go out,

Even strife and dishonor will cease.

¹¹He who loves ^apurity of heart

And ¹whose speech is ^bgracious, the king is his friend.

¹²The eyes of the Lord preserve knowledge,

But He overthrows the words of the treacherous man.

¹³The ^asluggard says, “There is a lion outside;

I will be killed in the streets!”

¹⁴The mouth of ^1aan adulteress is a deep pit;

He who is ^bcursed of the Lord will fall ²into it.

¹⁵Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child;

The ^arod of discipline will remove it far from him.

¹⁶He ^awho oppresses the poor to make ¹more for himself

Or who gives to the rich, ^bwill only come to poverty.

^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.