28 Like a city whose walls are broken through
    is a person who lacks self-control.

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11 Fools give full vent to their rage,(A)
    but the wise bring calm in the end.(B)

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25 It is a trap to dedicate something rashly
    and only later to consider one’s vows.(A)

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The plans of the diligent lead to profit(A)
    as surely as haste leads to poverty.

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    do not bring[a] hastily to court,
for what will you do in the end
    if your neighbor puts you to shame?(A)

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 25:8 Or nobles / on whom you had set your eyes. / Do not go

20 Do you see someone who speaks in haste?
    There is more hope for a fool than for them.(A)

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16 Fools(A) show their annoyance at once,(B)
    but the prudent overlook an insult.(C)

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16 The wise fear the Lord and shun evil,(A)
    but a fool(B) is hotheaded and yet feels secure.

17 A quick-tempered person(C) does foolish things,(D)
    and the one who devises evil schemes is hated.(E)

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29 Whoever is patient has great understanding,(A)
    but one who is quick-tempered displays folly.(B)

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18 A hot-tempered person stirs up conflict,(A)
    but the one who is patient calms a quarrel.(B)

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32 Better a patient person than a warrior,
    one with self-control than one who takes a city.

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11 A person’s wisdom yields patience;(A)
    it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense.

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19 A hot-tempered person must pay the penalty;
    rescue them, and you will have to do it again.

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Saying 3

24 Do not make friends with a hot-tempered person,
    do not associate with one easily angered,
25 or you may learn their ways
    and get yourself ensnared.(A)

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Mockers stir up a city,
    but the wise turn away anger.(A)

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22 An angry person stirs up conflict,
    and a hot-tempered person commits many sins.(A)

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20 Wine(A) is a mocker(B) and beer a brawler;
    whoever is led astray(C) by them is not wise.(D)

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Saying 16

19 Listen, my son,(A) and be wise,
    and set your heart on the right path:
20 Do not join those who drink too much wine(B)
    or gorge themselves on meat,
21 for drunkards and gluttons become poor,(C)
    and drowsiness clothes them in rags.

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Saying 19

29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow?
    Who has strife? Who has complaints?
    Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?
30 Those who linger over wine,(A)
    who go to sample bowls of mixed wine.
31 Do not gaze at wine when it is red,
    when it sparkles in the cup,
    when it goes down smoothly!
32 In the end it bites like a snake
    and poisons like a viper.
33 Your eyes will see strange sights,
    and your mind will imagine confusing things.
34 You will be like one sleeping on the high seas,
    lying on top of the rigging.
35 “They hit me,” you will say, “but I’m not hurt!
    They beat me, but I don’t feel it!
When will I wake up
    so I can find another drink?”(B)

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Warning Against Adultery

My son,(A) pay attention to my wisdom,
    turn your ear to my words(B) of insight,
that you may maintain discretion
    and your lips may preserve knowledge.
For the lips of the adulterous woman drip honey,
    and her speech is smoother than oil;(C)
but in the end she is bitter as gall,(D)
    sharp as a double-edged sword.
Her feet go down to death;
    her steps lead straight to the grave.(E)
She gives no thought to the way of life;
    her paths wander aimlessly, but she does not know it.(F)

Now then, my sons, listen(G) to me;
    do not turn aside from what I say.
Keep to a path far from her,(H)
    do not go near the door of her house,
lest you lose your honor to others
    and your dignity[a] to one who is cruel,
10 lest strangers feast on your wealth
    and your toil enrich the house of another.(I)
11 At the end of your life you will groan,
    when your flesh and body are spent.
12 You will say, “How I hated discipline!
    How my heart spurned correction!(J)
13 I would not obey my teachers
    or turn my ear to my instructors.
14 And I was soon in serious trouble(K)
    in the assembly of God’s people.”(L)

15 Drink water from your own cistern,
    running water from your own well.
16 Should your springs overflow in the streets,
    your streams of water in the public squares?
17 Let them be yours alone,
    never to be shared with strangers.
18 May your fountain(M) be blessed,
    and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.(N)
19 A loving doe, a graceful deer(O)
    may her breasts satisfy you always,
    may you ever be intoxicated with her love.
20 Why, my son, be intoxicated with another man’s wife?
    Why embrace the bosom of a wayward woman?

21 For your ways are in full view(P) of the Lord,
    and he examines(Q) all your paths.(R)
22 The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them;(S)
    the cords of their sins hold them fast.(T)
23 For lack of discipline they will die,(U)
    led astray by their own great folly.(V)

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 5:9 Or years

Warning Against Adultery

20 My son,(A) keep your father’s command
    and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.(B)
21 Bind them always on your heart;
    fasten them around your neck.(C)
22 When you walk, they will guide you;
    when you sleep, they will watch over you;
    when you awake, they will speak to you.
23 For this command is a lamp,
    this teaching is a light,(D)
and correction and instruction
    are the way to life,(E)
24 keeping you from your neighbor’s wife,
    from the smooth talk of a wayward woman.(F)

25 Do not lust in your heart after her beauty
    or let her captivate you with her eyes.

26 For a prostitute can be had for a loaf of bread,
    but another man’s wife preys on your very life.(G)
27 Can a man scoop fire into his lap
    without his clothes being burned?
28 Can a man walk on hot coals
    without his feet being scorched?
29 So is he who sleeps(H) with another man’s wife;(I)
    no one who touches her will go unpunished.

30 People do not despise a thief if he steals
    to satisfy his hunger when he is starving.
31 Yet if he is caught, he must pay sevenfold,(J)
    though it costs him all the wealth of his house.
32 But a man who commits adultery(K) has no sense;(L)
    whoever does so destroys himself.
33 Blows and disgrace are his lot,
    and his shame will never(M) be wiped away.

34 For jealousy(N) arouses a husband’s fury,(O)
    and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.
35 He will not accept any compensation;
    he will refuse a bribe, however great it is.(P)

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