⁹ Then you will understand^(K) what is right and just
    and fair—every good path.
¹⁰ For wisdom will enter your heart,^(L)
    and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
¹¹ Discretion will protect you,
    and understanding will guard you.^(M)

¹² Wisdom will save^(N) you from the ways of wicked men,
    from men whose words are perverse,
¹³ who have left the straight paths
    to walk in dark ways,^(O)
14 who delight in doing wrong
    and rejoice in the perverseness of evil,^(P)
15 whose paths are crooked^(Q)
    and who are devious in their ways.^(R)

¹⁶ Wisdom will save you also from the adulterous woman,^(S)
    from the wayward woman with her seductive words,
¹⁷ who has left the partner of her youth
    and ignored the covenant she made before God.^[a](T)
18 Surely her house leads down to death
    and her paths to the spirits of the dead.^(U)
19 None who go to her return
    or attain the paths of life.^(V)

²⁰ Thus you will walk in the ways of the good
    and keep to the paths of the righteous.
²¹ For the upright will live in the land,^(W)
    and the blameless will remain in it;
²² but the wicked^(X) will be cut off from the land,^(Y)
    and the unfaithful will be torn from it.^(Z)

27 Do not boast^(A) about tomorrow,
    for you do not know what a day may bring.^(B)

² Let someone else praise you, and not your own mouth;
    an outsider, and not your own lips.^(C)

³ Stone is heavy and sand^(D) a burden,
    but a fool’s provocation is heavier than both.

⁴ Anger is cruel and fury overwhelming,
    but who can stand before jealousy?^(E)

⁵ Better is open rebuke
    than hidden love.

⁶ Wounds from a friend can be trusted,
    but an enemy multiplies kisses.^(F)

⁷ One who is full loathes honey from the comb,
    but to the hungry even what is bitter tastes sweet.

⁸ Like a bird that flees its nest^(G)
    is anyone who flees from home.

⁹ Perfume^(H) and incense bring joy to the heart,
    and the pleasantness of a friend
    springs from their heartfelt advice.

¹⁰ Do not forsake your friend or a friend of your family,
    and do not go to your relative’s house when disaster^(I) strikes you—
    better a neighbor nearby than a relative far away.

¹¹ Be wise, my son, and bring joy to my heart;^(J)
    then I can answer anyone who treats me with contempt.^(K)

¹² The prudent see danger and take refuge,
    but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.^(L)

¹³ Take the garment of one who puts up security for a stranger;
    hold it in pledge if it is done for an outsider.^(M)

¹⁴ If anyone loudly blesses their neighbor early in the morning,
    it will be taken as a curse.

¹⁵ A quarrelsome wife is like the dripping^(N)
    of a leaky roof in a rainstorm;
¹⁶ restraining her is like restraining the wind
    or grasping oil with the hand.

¹⁷ As iron sharpens iron,
    so one person sharpens another.

¹⁸ The one who guards a fig tree will eat its fruit,^(O)
    and whoever protects their master will be honored.^(P)

¹⁹ As water reflects the face,
    so one’s life reflects the heart.^[a]

²⁰ Death and Destruction^[b] are never satisfied,^(Q)
    and neither are human eyes.^(R)

²¹ The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold,^(S)
    but people are tested by their praise.

²² Though you grind a fool in a mortar,
    grinding them like grain with a pestle,
    you will not remove their folly from them.

²³ Be sure you know the condition of your flocks,^(T)
    give careful attention to your herds;
²⁴ for riches do not endure forever,^(U)
    and a crown is not secure for all generations.
²⁵ When the hay is removed and new growth appears
    and the grass from the hills is gathered in,
²⁶ the lambs will provide you with clothing,
    and the goats with the price of a field.
²⁷ You will have plenty of goats’ milk to feed your family
    and to nourish your female servants.