Proverbs 22:1-16

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

22 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^[a] 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.