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 The prudent 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.[1]

⁵ Thorns and snares are in the way of the crooked; whoever guards his soul will keep far from them.

⁶ Train up a child in the way he should go; even 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 Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity, and the rod of his fury will fail.

⁹ Whoever has a bountiful[2] 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 traitor.

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

¹⁴ The mouth of forbidden[3] women 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 Whoever oppresses the poor to increase his own wealth, or gives to the rich, will only come to poverty.

Precepts and Warnings

¹⁷ Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply your heart 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 counsel and knowledge, ²¹ to make you know 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 rob of life those who rob 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 put up security for debts. ²⁷ If you have nothing with which to pay, why should your bed be taken from under you?

²⁸ Do not move the ancient landmark that your fathers have set.

²⁹ Do you see a man skillful 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[4] is before you, ² and put a knife to your throat if you are given to appetite. ³ Do not desire his delicacies, for they are deceptive food.

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

⁶ Do not eat the bread of a man who is stingy;[5] do not desire his delicacies, ⁷ for he is like one who is inwardly calculating.[6] "Eat and drink!" he says to you, but his heart is not with you. ⁸ You will vomit up the morsels that you have eaten, and waste your pleasant words.

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

¹⁰ Do not move 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 heart to instruction and your ear to words of knowledge. ¹³ Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you strike him with a rod, he will not die. ¹⁴ If you strike him with the rod, you will save his soul from Sheol. ¹⁵ My son, if your heart is wise, my heart too will be glad. ¹⁶ My inmost being[7] will exult 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 heart in the way. ²⁰ Be not among drunkards[8] or among gluttonous eaters of meat, ²¹ for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and slumber will clothe them with rags ²² Listen to your father who gave you life, 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 fathers 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[9] my ways. ²⁷ For a prostitute is a deep pit; an adulteress[10] is a narrow well. ²⁸ She lies in wait like a robber and increases the traitors among mankind.

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 In the end it bites like a serpent and stings like an adder. ³³ Your eyes will see strange things, and your heart 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.[11] ³⁵ "They struck me," you will say,[12]"but I was not hurt; they beat me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake? I must have another drink."

24¹ Be not envious of evil men, nor desire to be with them, ² for their hearts devise violence, and their lips talk of trouble.

³ By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; ⁴ by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches. ⁵ A wise man is full of strength, and a man of knowledge enhances his might, ⁶ for by wise guidance you can wage your war, and in abundance of counselors there is victory.

⁷ Wisdom is too high for a fool; in the gate he does not open his mouth. ⁸ Whoever plans to do evil will be called a schemer. ⁹ The devising[13] of folly is sin, and the scoffer is an abomination to mankind.

¹⁰ If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.

¹¹ Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. ¹² If you say, "Behold, we did not know this," does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it, and will he not repay man according to his work?

¹³ My son, eat honey, for it is good, and the drippings of the honeycomb are sweet to your taste. ¹⁴ Know that wisdom is such to your soul; if you find it, there will be a future, and your hope will not be cut off.

¹⁵ Lie not in wait as a wicked man against the dwelling of the righteous; do no violence to his home; ¹⁶ for the righteous falls seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumble in times of calamity.

¹⁷ Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles, ¹⁸ lest the Lord see it and be displeased, and turn away his anger from him.

¹⁹ Fret not yourself because of evildoers, and be not envious of the wicked, ²⁰ for the evil man has no future; the lamp of the wicked will be put out.

²¹ My son, fear the Lord and the king, and do not join with those who do otherwise, ²² for disaster will arise suddenly from them, and who knows the ruin that will come from them both?

²³ These also are sayings of the wise. Partiality in judging is not good. ²⁴ Whoever says to the wicked, "You are in the right," will be cursed by peoples, abhorred by nations, ²⁵ but those who rebuke the wicked will have delight, and a good blessing will come upon them. ²⁶ Whoever gives an honest answer kisses the lips.

²⁷ Prepare your work outside; get everything ready for yourself in the field, and after that build your house.

²⁸ Be not a witness against your neighbor without cause, and do not deceive with your lips. ²⁹ Do not say, "I will do to him as he has done to me; I will pay the man back for what he has done."

³⁰ I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense, ³¹ and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns; the ground was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down. ³² Then I saw and considered it; I looked and received instruction. ³³ A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, ³⁴ and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.

The Offering for the Saints

8¹ We want you to know, brothers,[14] about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, ² for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. ³ For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, ⁴ begging us earnestly for the favor[15] of taking part in the relief of the saints-- ⁵ and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us. ⁶ Accordingly, we urged Titus that as he had started, so he should complete among you this act of grace.

⁷ But as you excel in everything--in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you[16]-- see that you excel in this act of grace also. ⁸ I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. ⁹ For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. ¹⁰ And in this matter I give my judgment: this benefits you, who a year ago started not only to do this work but also to desire to do it. ¹¹ So now finish doing it as well, so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have. ¹² For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. ¹³ For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness ¹⁴ your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness. ¹⁵ As it is written, "Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack."

¹⁶ But thanks be to God, who put into the heart of Titus the same earnest care I have for you. ¹⁷ For he not only accepted our appeal, but being himself very earnest he is going[17] to you of his own accord. ¹⁸ With him we are sending[18] the brother who is famous among all the churches for his preaching of the gospel. ¹⁹ And not only that, but he has been appointed by the churches to travel with us as we carry out this act of grace that is being ministered by us, for the glory of the Lord himself and to show our good will. ²⁰ We take this course so that no one should blame us about this generous gift that is being administered by us, ²¹ for we aim at what is honorable not only in the Lord's sight but also in the sight of man. ²² And with them we are sending our brother whom we have often tested and found earnest in many matters, but who is now more earnest than ever because of his great confidence in you. ²³ As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker for your benefit. And as for our brothers, they are messengers[19] of the churches, the glory of Christ. ²⁴ So give proof before the churches of your love and of our boasting about you to these men.