2 ^(A)My son, ^(B)if you receive my words
    and treasure up my commandments with you,
² making your ear attentive to wisdom
    and inclining your heart to understanding;
³ yes, if you call out for insight
    and raise your voice ^(C)for understanding,
⁴ if you seek it like ^(D)silver
    and search for it as for ^(E)hidden treasures,
⁵ then ^(F)you will understand the fear of the Lord
    and find the knowledge of God.
⁶ For ^(G)the Lord gives wisdom;
    from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;
⁷ he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
    he is ^(H)a shield to those who ^(I)walk in integrity,
⁸ guarding the paths of justice
    and ^(J)watching over the way of his ^(K)saints.
^9 (L)Then you will understand ^(M)righteousness and justice
    and equity, every good path;
¹⁰ for wisdom will come into your heart,
    and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
^11 (N)discretion will ^(O)watch over you,
    understanding will guard you,
¹² delivering you from the way of evil,
    from men of perverted speech,
¹³ who forsake the paths of uprightness
    to ^(P)walk in the ways of darkness,
¹⁴ who ^(Q)rejoice in doing evil
    and ^(R)delight in the perverseness of evil,
¹⁵ men whose ^(S)paths are crooked,
    ^(T)and who are ^(U)devious in their ways.

27 Do not boast about tomorrow,
    ^(A)for you do not know what a day may bring.
² Let ^(B)another praise you, and not your own mouth;
    a stranger, and not your own lips.
³ A stone is heavy, and sand is weighty,
    but ^(C)a fool's provocation is heavier than both.
⁴ Wrath is cruel, anger is overwhelming,
    but who can stand before ^(D)jealousy?
^5 (E)Better is open rebuke
    than hidden love.
⁶ Faithful are ^(F)the wounds of a friend;
    profuse are the kisses of an enemy.
⁷ One who is full loathes ^(G)honey,
    but to one who is hungry everything bitter is sweet.
⁸ Like ^(H)a bird that strays from its nest
    is a man who strays from his home.
^9 (I)Oil and perfume make the heart glad,
    and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel.^[a]
10 Do not forsake your friend and ^(J)your father's friend,
    and do not go to your brother's house in the day of your calamity.
^(K)Better is a neighbor who is near
    than a brother who is far away.
^11 (L)Be wise, ^(M)my son, and ^(N)make my heart glad,
    that I may ^(O)answer him who reproaches me.
^12 (P)The prudent sees danger and hides himself,
    but ^(Q)the simple go on and suffer for it.
^13 (R)Take a man's garment when he has put up security for a stranger,
    and hold it in pledge when he puts up security for an adulteress.^[b]
14 Whoever blesses his neighbor with a loud voice,
    rising early in the morning,
    will be counted as cursing.
^15 (S)A continual dripping on a rainy day
    and a quarrelsome wife are alike;
¹⁶ to restrain her is to restrain the wind
    or to grasp^[c] oil in one's right hand.
¹⁷ Iron sharpens iron,
    and one man sharpens another.^[d]
18 (T)Whoever tends a fig tree will eat its fruit,
    and he who ^(U)guards his master will be honored.
¹⁹ As in water face reflects face,
    so the heart of man reflects the man.
^20 (V)Sheol and Abaddon are ^(W)never satisfied,
    and ^(X)never satisfied are the eyes of man.
^21 (Y)The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold,
    and a man is tested by his praise.
^22 (Z)Crush a fool in a mortar with a pestle
    along with crushed grain,
    yet his folly will not depart from him.