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 have this in common: the Lord is the maker of them all.

³ The clever see danger and hide; 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; the cautious will keep far from them.

⁶ Train children in the right way, and when old, they will not stray.

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

⁸ Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity, and the rod of anger will fail.

⁹ Those who are generous are blessed, for they share their bread with the poor.

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

¹¹ Those who love a pure heart and are gracious in speech will have the king as a friend.

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

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

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

¹⁵ Folly is bound up in the heart of a boy, but the rod of discipline drives it far away.

¹⁶ Oppressing the poor in order to enrich oneself, and giving to the rich, will lead only to loss.

Precepts and Warnings

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

²² Do not rob the poor because they are poor, or crush the afflicted at the gate; ²³ for the Lord pleads their cause and despoils of life those who despoil them.

²⁴ Make no friends with those given to anger, and do not associate with hotheads, ²⁵ or you may learn their ways and entangle yourself in a snare.

²⁶ Do not be 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 Do not remove the ancient landmark that your ancestors set up.

²⁹ Do you see those who are skillful in their work? They will serve kings; they will not serve common people.

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 have a big appetite. ³ Do not desire the ruler's delicacies, for they are deceptive food.

⁴ Do not wear yourself out to get rich; be wise enough to desist ⁵ When your eyes light upon it, it is gone; for suddenly it takes wings to itself, flying like an eagle toward heaven.

⁶ Do not eat the bread of the stingy; do not desire their delicacies; ⁷ for like a hair in the throat, so are they. "Eat and drink!" they say to you; but they do not mean it. ⁸ You will vomit up the little you have eaten, and you will waste your pleasant words.

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

¹⁰ Do not remove an ancient landmark or encroach on the fields of orphans, 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 your children; if you beat them with a rod, they will not die. ¹⁴ If you beat them with the rod, you will save their lives from Sheol ¹⁵ My child, if your heart is wise, my heart too will be glad. ¹⁶ My soul will rejoice when your lips speak what is right.

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

¹⁹ Hear, my child, and be wise, and direct your mind in the way ²⁰ Do not be among winebibbers, or among gluttonous eaters of meat; ²¹ for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe them with rags ²² Listen 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 child, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways. ²⁷ For a prostitute is a deep pit; an adulteress is a narrow well. ²⁸ She lies in wait like a robber and increases the number of the faithless.

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 linger late over wine, those who keep trying mixed wines. 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."

24¹ Do not envy the wicked, nor desire to be with them; ² for their minds devise violence, and their lips talk of mischief.

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 Wise warriors are mightier than strong ones, and those who have knowledge than those who have strength; ⁶ for by wise guidance you can wage your war, and in abundance of counselors there is victory.

⁷ Wisdom is too high for fools; in the gate they do not open their mouths. ⁸ Whoever plans to do evil will be called a mischief-maker. ⁹ The devising of folly is sin, and the scoffer is an abomination to all.

¹⁰ If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength being small;

¹¹ if you hold back from rescuing those taken away to death, those who go staggering to the slaughter; ¹² if you say, "Look, 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 all according to their deeds?

¹³ My child, 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, you will find a future, and your hope will not be cut off.

¹⁵ Do not lie in wait like an outlaw against the home of the righteous; do no violence to the place where the righteous live; ¹⁶ for though they fall seven times, they will rise again; but the wicked are overthrown by calamity.

¹⁷ Do not rejoice when your enemies fall, and do not let your heart be glad when they stumble, ¹⁸ or else the Lord will see it and be displeased, and turn away his anger from them.

¹⁹ Do not fret because of evildoers. Do not envy the wicked; ²⁰ for the evil have no future; the lamp of the wicked will go out.

²¹ My child, fear the Lord and the king, and do not disobey either of them; ²² for disaster comes from them suddenly, and who knows the ruin that both can bring?

²³ These also are sayings of the wise: Partiality in judging is not good. ²⁴ Whoever says to the wicked, "You are innocent," 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 One who gives an honest answer gives a kiss on the lips.

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

²⁸ Do not be a witness against your neighbor without cause, and do not deceive with your lips. ²⁹ Do not say, "I will do to others as they have done to me; I will pay them back for what they have done."

³⁰ I passed by the field of one who was lazy, by the vineyard of a stupid person; ³¹ and see, 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 warrior.

The Offering for the Saints

8¹ We want you to know, brothers and sisters, about the grace of God that has been granted to the churches of Macedonia; ² for during a severe ordeal of affliction, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. ³ For, as I can testify, they voluntarily gave according to their means, and even beyond their means, ⁴ begging us earnestly for the privilege of sharing in this ministry to the saints- ⁵ and this, not merely as we expected; they gave themselves first to the Lord and, by the will of God, to us, ⁶ so that we might urge Titus that, as he had already made a beginning, so he should also complete this generous undertaking among you.

⁷ Now as you excel in everything-in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you -so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking. ⁸ I do not say this as a command, but I am testing the genuineness of your love against the earnestness of others. ⁹ For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich. ¹⁰ And in this matter I am giving my advice: it is appropriate for you who began last year not only to do something but even to desire to do something- ¹¹ now finish doing it, so that your eagerness may be matched by completing it according to your means. ¹² For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has-not according to what one does not have. ¹³ I do not mean that there should be relief for others and pressure on you, but it is a question of a fair balance between ¹⁴ your present abundance and their need, so that their abundance may be for your need, in order that there may be a fair balance. ¹⁵ As it is written, "The one who had much did not have too much, and the one who had little did not have too little."

¹⁶ But thanks be to God who put in the heart of Titus the same eagerness for you that I myself have. ¹⁷ For he not only accepted our appeal, but since he is more eager than ever, he is going to you of his own accord. ¹⁸ With him we are sending the brother who is famous among all the churches for his proclaiming the good news; ¹⁹ and not only that, but he has also been appointed by the churches to travel with us while we are administering this generous undertaking for the glory of the Lord himself and to show our goodwill. ²⁰ We intend that no one should blame us about this generous gift that we are administering, ²¹ for we intend to do what is right not only in the Lord's sight but also in the sight of others. ²² And with them we are sending our brother whom we have often tested and found eager in many matters, but who is now more eager than ever because of his great confidence in you. ²³ As for Titus, he is my partner and co-worker in your service; as for our brothers, they are messengers of the churches, the glory of Christ. ²⁴ Therefore openly before the churches, show them the proof of your love and of our reason for boasting about you.