Proverbs 22-23

22¹ A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold.

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

³ A prudent man sees danger and hides himself; but the simple go on, and suffer for it.

⁴ The reward for humility and fear of the Lord is riches and honor and life.

⁵ Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse; he who guards himself will keep far from them.

⁶ Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.

⁷ The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender.

⁸ He who sows injustice will reap calamity, and the rod of his fury will fail.

⁹ He who has a bountiful eye will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor.

¹⁰ Drive out a scoffer, and strife will go out, and quarreling and abuse will cease.

¹¹ He who loves purity of heart, and whose speech is gracious, will have the king as his friend.

¹² The eyes of the Lord keep watch over knowledge, but he overthrows the words of the faithless.

¹³ The sluggard says, "There is a lion outside! I shall be slain in the streets!"

¹⁴ The mouth of a loose woman is a deep pit; he with whom the Lord is angry will fall into it.

¹⁵ Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him.

¹⁶ He who oppresses the poor to increase his own wealth, or gives to the rich, will only come to want.

Precepts and Warnings

¹⁷ Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply your mind to my knowledge; ¹⁸ for it will be pleasant if you keep them within you, if all of them are ready on your lips. ¹⁹ That your trust may be in the Lord, I have made them known to you today, even to you. ²⁰ Have I not written for you thirty sayings of admonition and knowledge, ²¹ to show you what is right and true, that you may give a true answer to those who sent you?

²² Do not rob the poor, because he is poor, or crush the afflicted at the gate; ²³ for the Lord will plead their cause and despoil of life those who despoil them.

²⁴ Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man, ²⁵ lest you learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare.

²⁶ Be not one of those who give pledges, who become surety for debts. ²⁷ If you have nothing with which to pay, why should your bed be taken from under you?

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

²⁹ Do you see a man skilful in his work? he will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men.

23¹ When you sit down to eat with a ruler, observe carefully what is before you; ² and put a knife to your throat if you are a man given to appetite. ³ Do not desire his delicacies, for they are deceptive food.

⁴ Do not toil to acquire wealth; be wise enough to desist ⁵ When your eyes light upon it, it is gone; for suddenly it takes to itself wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven.

⁶ Do not eat the bread of a man who is stingy; do not desire his delicacies; ⁷ for he is like one who is inwardly reckoning. "Eat and drink!" he says to you; but his heart is not with you. ⁸ You will vomit up the morsels which you have eaten, and waste your pleasant words.

⁹ Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words.

¹⁰ Do not remove an ancient landmark or enter the fields of the fatherless; ¹¹ for their Redeemer is strong; he will plead their cause against you.

¹² Apply your mind to instruction and your ear to words of knowledge. ¹³ Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you beat him with a rod, he will not die. ¹⁴ If you beat him with the rod you will save his life from Sheol ¹⁵ My son, if your heart is wise, my heart too will be glad. ¹⁶ My soul will rejoice when your lips speak what is right.

¹⁷ Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of the Lord all the day. ¹⁸ Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.

¹⁹ Hear, my son, and be wise, and direct your mind in the way ²⁰ Be not among winebibbers, or among gluttonous eaters of meat; ²¹ for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe a man with rags ²² Hearken to your father who begot you, and do not despise your mother when she is old. ²³ Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding. ²⁴ The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; he who begets a wise son will be glad in him. ²⁵ Let your father and mother be glad, let her who bore you rejoice. ²⁶ My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways. ²⁷ For a harlot is a deep pit; an adventuress is a narrow well. ²⁸ She lies in wait like a robber and increases the faithless among men.

²⁹ Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? ³⁰ Those who tarry long over wine, those who go to try mixed wine. ³¹ Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly. ³² At the last it bites like a serpent, and stings like an adder. ³³ Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind utter perverse things. ³⁴ You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, like one who lies on the top of a mast. ³⁵ "They struck me," you will say, "but I was not hurt; they beat me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake? I will seek another drink."