Proverbs 22

22A ^agood name is to be chosen rather than great riches,

Loving favor rather than silver and gold.

²The ^brich and the poor have this in common,

The ^cLord is the maker of them all.

³A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself,

But the simple pass on and are ^dpunished.

⁴By humility and the fear of the Lord

Are riches and honor and life.

⁵Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse;

He who guards his soul will be far from them.

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

¹And when he is old he will not depart from it.

⁷The ^frich rules over the poor,

And the borrower is servant to the lender.

⁸He who sows iniquity will reap ^gsorrow, ²

And the rod of his anger will fail.

^9hHe who has a ³generous eye will be ⁱblessed,

For he gives of his bread to the poor.

^10jCast out the scoffer, and contention will leave;

Yes, strife and reproach will cease.

^11kHe who loves purity of heart

And has grace on his lips,

The king will be his friend.

¹²The eyes of the Lord preserve knowledge,

But He overthrows the words of the faithless.

^13lThe lazy man says, “There is a lion outside!

I shall be slain in the streets!”

^14mThe mouth of an immoral woman is a deep pit;

ⁿHe who is abhorred by the Lord will fall there.

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

^oThe rod of correction will drive it far from him.

¹⁶He who oppresses the poor to increase his riches,

And he who gives to the rich, will surely come to poverty.

Sayings of the Wise

¹⁷Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise,

And apply your heart to my knowledge;

¹⁸For it is a pleasant thing if you keep them within you;

Let them all be fixed upon your lips,

¹⁹So that your trust may be in the Lord;

I have instructed you today, even you.

²⁰Have I not written to you excellent things

Of counsels and knowledge,

^21pThat I may make you know the certainty of the words of truth,

^qThat you may answer words of truth

To those who ⁴send to you?

²²Do not rob the ^rpoor because he is poor,

Nor oppress the afflicted at the gate;

^23sFor the Lord will plead their cause,

And plunder the soul of those who plunder them.

²⁴Make no friendship with an angry man,

And with a ^tfurious man do not go,

²⁵Lest you learn his ways

And set a snare for your soul.

^26uDo not be one of those who ⁵shakes hands in a pledge,

One of those who is ⁶surety for debts;

²⁷If you have nothing with which to pay,

Why should he take away your bed from under you?

^28vDo not remove the ancient ⁷landmark

Which your fathers have set.

²⁹Do you see a man who ⁸excels in his work?

He will stand before kings;

He will not stand before ⁹unknown men.