Proverbs 22

1 A good name is more desirable than great riches, and high esteem, than gold and silver.
2 Rich and poor have a common bond: the LORD is the maker of them all.
3 The shrewd man perceives evil and hides, while simpletons continue on and suffer the penalty.
4 The reward of humility and fear of the LORD is riches, honor and life.
5 Thorns and snares are on the path of the crooked; he who would safeguard his life will shun them.
6 Train a boy in the way he should go; even when he is old, he will not swerve from it.
7 The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender.
8 He who sows iniquity reaps calamity, and the rod destroys his labors.
9 The kindly man will be blessed, for he gives of his sustenance to the poor.
10 Expel the arrogant man and discord goes out; strife and insult cease.
11 The LORD loves the pure of heart; the man of winning speech has the king for his friend.
12 The eyes of the LORD safeguard knowledge, but he defeats the projects of the faithless.
13 The sluggard says, A lion is outside; in the streets I might be slain.
14 The mouth of the adulteress is a deep pit; he with whom the LORD is angry will fall into it.
15 Folly is close to the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far from him.
16 He who oppresses the poor to enrich himself will yield up his gains to the rich as sheer loss.
17 The sayings of the wise: Incline your ear, and hear my words, and apply your heart to my doctrine;
18 For it will be well if you keep them in your bosom, if they all are ready on your lips.
19 That your trust may be in the LORD, I make known to you the words of Amen-em-Ope.
20 Have I not written for you the Thirty, with counsels and knowledge,
21 To teach you truly how to give a dependable report to one who sends you?
22 Injure not the poor because they are poor, nor crush the needy at the gate;
23 For the LORD will defend their cause, and will plunder the lives of those who plunder them.
24 Be not friendly with a hotheaded man, nor the companion of a wrathful man,
25 Lest you learn his ways, and get yourself into a snare.
26 Be not one of those who give their hand in pledge, of those who become surety for debts;
27 For if you have not the means to pay, your bed will be taken from under you.
28 Remove not the ancient landmark which your fathers set up.
29 You see a man skilled at his work? He will stand in the presence of kings; he will not stand in the presence of obscure men.

Proverbs 23

1 When you sit down to dine with a ruler, keep in mind who is before you;
2 And put a knife to your throat if you have a ravenous appetite.
3 Do not desire his delicacies; they are deceitful food.
4 Toil not to gain wealth, cease to be concerned about it;
5 While your glance flits to it, it is gone! for assuredly it grows wings, like the eagle that flies toward heaven.
6 Do not take food with a grudging man, and do not desire his dainties;
7 For in his greed he is like a storm. Eat and drink, he says to you, though his heart is not with you;
8 The little you have eaten you will vomit up, and you will have wasted your agreeable words.
9 Speak not for the fool's hearing; he will despise the wisdom of your words.
10 Remove not the ancient landmark, nor invade the fields of orphans;
11 For their redeemer is strong; he will defend their cause against you.
12 Apply your heart to instruction, and your ears to words of knowledge.
13 Withhold not chastisement from a boy; if you beat him with the rod, he will not die.
14 Beat him with the rod, and you will save him from the nether world.
15 My son, if your heart be wise, my own heart also will rejoice;
16 And my inmost being will exult, when your lips speak what is right.
17 Let not your heart emulate sinners, but be zealous for the fear of the LORD always;
18 For you will surely have a future, and your hope will not be cut off.
19 Hear, my son, and be wise, and guide your heart in the right way.
20 Consort not with winebibbers, nor with those who eat meat to excess;
21 For the drunkard and the glutton come to poverty, and torpor clothes a man in rags.
22 Listen to your father who begot you, and despise not your mother when she is old.
23 Get the truth, and sell it not--wisdom, instruction and understanding.
24 The father of a just man will exult with glee; he who begets a wise son will have joy in him.
25 Let your father and mother have joy; let her who bore you exult.
26 My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes keep to my ways.
27 For the harlot is a deep ditch, and the adulteress a narrow pit;
28 Yes, she lies in wait like a robber, and increases the faithless among men.
29 Who scream? Who shriek? Who have strife? Who have anxiety? Who have wounds for nothing? Who have black eyes?
30 Those who linger long over wine, those who engage in trials of blended wine.
31 Look not on the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the glass. It goes down smoothly;
32 but in the end it bites like a serpent, or like a poisonous adder.
33 Your eyes behold strange sights, and your heart utters disordered thoughts;
34 You are like one now lying in the depths of the sea, now sprawled at the top of the mast.
35 They struck me, but it pained me not; They beat me, but I felt it not; When shall I awake to seek wine once again?

Proverbs 24

1 Be not emulous of evil men, and desire not to be with them;
2 For their hearts plot violence, and their lips speak of foul play.
3 By wisdom is a house built, by understanding is it made firm;
4 And by knowledge are its rooms filled with every precious and pleasing possession.
5 A wise man is more powerful than a strong man, and a man of knowledge than a man of might;
6 For it is by wise guidance that you wage your war, and the victory is due to a wealth of counselors.
7 For a fool, to be silent is wisdom; not to open his mouth at the gate.
8 He who plots evil doing--men call him an intriguer.
9 Beyond intrigue and folly and sin, it is arrogance that men find abominable.
10 If you remain indifferent in time of adversity, your strength will depart from you.
11 Rescue those who are being dragged to death, and from those tottering to execution withdraw not.
12 If you say, I know not this man! does not he who tests hearts perceive it? He who guards your life knows it, and he will repay each one according to his deeds.
13 If you eat honey, my son, because it is good, if virgin honey is sweet to your taste;
14 Such, you must know, is wisdom to your soul. If you find it, you will have a future, and your hope will not be cut off.
15 Lie not in wait against the home of the just man, ravage not his dwelling place;
16 For the just man falls seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumble to ruin.
17 Rejoice not when your enemy falls, and when he stumbles, let not your heart exult,
18 Lest the LORD see it, be displeased with you, and withdraw his wrath from your enemy.
19 Be not provoked with evildoers, nor 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; have nothing to do with those who rebel against them;
22 For suddenly arises the destruction they send, and the ruin from either one, who can measure?
23 These also are sayings of the wise: To show partiality in judgment is not good.
24 He who says to the wicked man, You are just--men will curse him, people will denounce him;
25 But those who convict the evildoer will fare well, and on them will come the blessing of prosperity.
26 He gives a kiss on the lips who makes an honest reply.
27 Complete your outdoor tasks, and arrange your work in the field; afterward you can establish your house.
28 Be not a witness against your neighbor without just cause, thus committing folly with your lips.
29 Say not, As he did to me, so will I do to him; I will repay the man according to his deeds.
30 I passed by the field of the sluggard, by the vineyard of the man without sense;
31 And behold! it was all overgrown with thistles; its surface was covered with nettles, and its stone wall broken down.
32 And as I gazed at it, I reflected; I saw and learned the lesson:
33 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the arms to rest--
34 Then will poverty come upon you like a highwayman, and want like an armed man.