On Life and Conduct
A agood name is to be more desired than great wealth,
Favor is better than silver and gold.
2 The rich and the poor have a common bond,
The Lord is the amaker of them all.
3 The aprudent sees the evil and hides himself,
But the naive go on, and are punished for it.
4 The reward of humility and the fear of the Lord
Are riches, honor and life.
5 aThorns and snares are in the way of the perverse;
He who guards himself will be far from them.
6 aTrain up a child in the way he should go,
Even when he is old he will not depart from it.
7 The arich rules over the poor,
And the borrower becomes the lender’s slave.
8 He who asows iniquity will reap vanity,
And the brod of his fury will perish.
9 He who is agenerous will be blessed,
For he bgives some of his food to the poor.
10 aDrive out the scoffer, and contention will go out,
Even strife and dishonor will cease.
11 He who loves apurity of heart
And whose speech is bgracious, the king is his friend.
12 The eyes of the Lord preserve knowledge,
But He overthrows the words of the treacherous man.
13 The asluggard says, “There is a lion outside;
I will be killed in the streets!”
14 The mouth of aan adulteress is a deep pit;
He who is bcursed of the Lord will fall into it.
15 Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child;
The arod of discipline will remove it far from him.
16 He awho oppresses the poor to make more for himself
Or who gives to the rich, bwill only come to poverty.
17 aIncline your ear and hear the words of the wise,
And apply your mind to my knowledge;
18 For it will be apleasant if you keep them within you,
That they may be ready on your lips.
19 So that your atrust may be in the Lord,
I have taught you today, even you.
20 Have I not written to you aexcellent things
Of counsels and knowledge,
21 To make you aknow the certainty of the words of truth
That you may bcorrectly answer him who sent you?
22 aDo not rob the poor because he is poor,
Or bcrush the afflicted at the gate;
23 For the Lord will aplead their case
And take the life of those who rob them.
24 Do not associate with a man given to anger;
Or go with a ahot‑tempered man,
25 Or you will alearn his ways
And find a snare for yourself.
26 Do not be among those who agive pledges,
Among those who become guarantors for debts.
27 If you have nothing with which to pay,
Why should he atake your bed from under you?
28 aDo not move the ancient boundary
Which your fathers have set.
29 Do you see a man skilled in his work?
He will astand before kings;
He will not stand before obscure men.
On Life and Conduct
When you sit down to dine with a ruler,
Consider carefully what is before you,
2 And put a knife to your throat
If you are a aman of great appetite.
3 Do not adesire his delicacies,
For it is deceptive food.
4 aDo not weary yourself to gain wealth,
bCease from your consideration of it.
5 When you set your eyes on it, it is gone.
For awealth certainly makes itself wings
Like an eagle that flies toward the heavens.
6 aDo not eat the bread of a bselfish man,
Or desire his delicacies;
7 For as he thinks within himself, so he is.
He says to you, “Eat and drink!”
But ahis heart is not with you.
8 You will avomit up the morsel you have eaten,
And waste your compliments.
9 aDo not speak in the hearing of a fool,
For he will bdespise the wisdom of your words.
10 Do not move the ancient boundary
Or ago into the fields of the fatherless,
11 For their aRedeemer is strong;
bHe will plead their case against you.
12 Apply your heart to discipline
And your ears to words of knowledge.
13 aDo not hold back discipline from the child,
Although you strike him with the rod, he will not die.
14 You shall strike him with the rod
And arescue his soul from Sheol.
15 My son, if your heart is awise,
My own heart also will be glad;
16 And my inmost being will rejoice
When your lips speak awhat is right.
17 aDo not let your heart envy sinners,
But live in the bfear of the Lord always.
18 Surely there is a afuture,
And your bhope will not be cut off.
19 Listen, my son, and abe wise,
And bdirect your heart in the way.
20 Do not be with aheavy drinkers of wine,
Or with bgluttonous eaters of meat;
21 For the aheavy drinker and the glutton will come to poverty,
And bdrowsiness will clothe one with rags.
22 aListen to your father who begot you,
And bdo not despise your mother when she is old.
23 aBuy truth, and do not sell it,
Get wisdom and instruction and understanding.
24 The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice,
And ahe who sires a wise son will be glad in him.
25 Let your afather and your mother be glad,
And let her rejoice who gave birth to you.
26 aGive me your heart, my son,
And let your eyes bdelight in my ways.
27 For a harlot is a adeep pit
And an badulterous woman is a narrow well.
28 Surely she alurks as a robber,
And increases the faithless among men.
29 Who has awoe? Who has sorrow?
Who has contentions? Who has complaining?
Who has wounds without cause?
Who has redness of eyes?
30 Those who alinger long over wine,
Those who go to taste bmixed wine.
31 Do not look on the wine when it is red,
When it sparkles in the cup,
When it agoes down smoothly;
32 At the last it abites like a serpent
And stings like a bviper.
33 Your eyes will see strange things
And your mind will autter perverse things.
34 And you will be like one who lies down in the middle of the sea,
Or like one who lies down on the top of a mast.
35 “They astruck me, but I did not become ill;
They beat me, but I did not know it.
When shall I awake?
I will bseek another drink.”