14 ^(A)The wisest of women ^(B)builds her house,
    but folly with her own hands ^(C)tears it down.
² Whoever ^(D)walks in uprightness fears the Lord,
    but he who is ^(E)devious in his ways despises him.
³ By the mouth of a fool comes ^(F)a rod for his back,^{[a]
    (G)}but the lips of the wise will preserve them.
⁴ Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean,
    but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox.
^5 (H)A faithful witness does not lie,
    but ^(I)a false witness breathes out lies.
^6 (J)A scoffer seeks wisdom ^(K)in vain,
    but ^(L)knowledge is easy for a man of understanding.
⁷ Leave the presence of a fool,
    for there you do not meet words of knowledge.
⁸ The wisdom of the prudent is to discern his way,
    but the folly of fools is deceiving.
^9 (M)Fools mock at the guilt offering,
    but the upright enjoy acceptance.^[b]
10 The heart knows its own ^(N)bitterness,
    and no stranger shares its joy.
^11 (O)The house of the wicked will be destroyed,
    but the tent of the upright will flourish.
^12 (P)There is a way that seems right to a man,
    but ^(Q)its end is the way to death.^[c]
13 Even in laughter the heart may ache,
    and ^(R)the end of joy may be ^(S)grief.
¹⁴ The backslider in heart will be ^(T)filled with the fruit of his ways,
    and ^(U)a good man will be filled with the fruit of his ways.
^15 (V)The simple believes everything,
    but the prudent gives thought to his steps.
^16 (W)One who is wise is cautious^[d] and ^(X)turns away from evil,
    but a fool is reckless and careless.
¹⁷ A man of ^(Y)quick temper acts foolishly,
    and a man of evil devices is hated.
¹⁸ The simple inherit folly,
    but the prudent are crowned with knowledge.
^19 (Z)The evil bow down before the good,
    the wicked at the gates of the righteous.
^20 (AA)The poor is disliked even by his neighbor,
    ^(AB)but the rich has many friends.
²¹ Whoever ^(AC)despises his neighbor is a sinner,
    but ^(AD)blessed is he who is generous to the poor.
²² Do they not go astray who ^(AE)devise evil?
    Those who devise good meet^{[e] (AF)}steadfast love and faithfulness.
²³ In all toil there is profit,
    but mere talk ^(AG)tends only to poverty.
²⁴ The crown of the wise is their wealth,
    but the folly of fools brings folly.
²⁵ A truthful witness saves lives,
    but one who ^(AH)breathes out lies is deceitful.
²⁶ In the fear of the Lord one has ^(AI)strong confidence,
    and ^(AJ)his children will have ^(AK)a refuge.
²⁷ The fear of the Lord is ^(AL)a fountain of life,
    that one may ^(AM)turn away from the snares of death.
²⁸ In ^(AN)a multitude of people is the glory of a king,
    but without people a prince is ruined.
²⁹ Whoever is ^(AO)slow to anger has great understanding,
    but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly.
³⁰ A tranquil^[f] heart gives ^(AP)life to the flesh,
    but ^(AQ)envy^[g] makes ^(AR)the bones rot.
³¹ Whoever oppresses a poor man ^(AS)insults his ^(AT)Maker,
    ^(AU)but he who is generous to the needy honors him.
^32 (AV)The wicked is overthrown through his evildoing,
    but ^(AW)the righteous finds refuge in his death.
³³ Wisdom ^(AX)rests in the heart of a man of understanding,
    but it makes itself known even in the midst of fools.^[h]
34 Righteousness exalts a nation,
    but sin is a reproach to any people.
³⁵ A servant who deals wisely has ^(AY)the king's favor,
    but his wrath falls on one who acts shamefully.

29 Ah, Ariel, Ariel,
    the city ^(A)where David encamped!
Add year to year;
    let the feasts run their round.
² Yet I will distress Ariel,
    and there shall be moaning and lamentation,
    and she shall be to me like an Ariel.^[a]
3 (B)And I will encamp against you all around,
    and will besiege you ^(C)with towers
    and I will raise siegeworks against you.
^4 (D)And you will be brought low; from the earth you shall speak,
    and from the dust your speech will be bowed down;
your voice shall come from the ground like ^(E)the voice of a ghost,
    and from the dust your speech shall whisper.

30 “Ah, ^(AH)stubborn children,” declares the Lord,
^(AI)“who carry out a plan, but not mine,
and who make ^(AJ)an alliance,^[e] but not of my Spirit,
    that they may add sin to sin;
^2 (AK)who set out to go down to Egypt,
    without asking for my direction,
to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh
    and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt!
^3 (AL)Therefore shall the protection of Pharaoh turn to your shame,
    and the shelter in the shadow of Egypt to your humiliation.
⁴ For though his officials are at ^(AM)Zoan
    and ^(AN)his envoys reach ^(AO)Hanes,
⁵ everyone comes to shame
    through ^(AP)a people that cannot profit them,
that brings neither help nor profit,
    but shame and disgrace.”

⁸ And now, go, ^(AW)write it before them on a tablet
    and inscribe it in a book,
that it may be for the time to come
    as a witness forever.^[f]
9 (AX)For they are a rebellious people,
    lying children,
children unwilling to hear
    the instruction of the Lord;
^10 (AY)who say to ^(AZ)the seers, “Do not see,”
    and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us what is right;
speak to us ^(BA)smooth things,
    prophesy illusions,
¹¹ leave the way, turn aside from the path,
    let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.”
¹² Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel,
“Because you despise this word
    and trust in ^(BB)oppression and perverseness
    and rely on them,
¹³ therefore this iniquity shall be to you
    ^(BC)like a breach in a high wall, bulging out and about to collapse,
    whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant;
¹⁴ and its breaking is ^(BD)like that of a potter's vessel
    that is smashed so ruthlessly
that among its fragments not a shard is found
    with which to take fire from the hearth,
    or to dip up water out of the cistern.”

¹⁸ Therefore the Lord ^(BI)waits to be gracious to you,
    and therefore he ^(BJ)exalts himself to show mercy to you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
    ^(BK)blessed are all those who wait for him.