Proverbs 22:1-23:14

English Standard Version

22 ^(A)A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches,
    and favor is better than silver or gold.
²^(B)The rich and the poor meet together;
    the Lord is ^(C)the Maker of them all.
³^(D)The prudent sees danger and hides himself,
    but the simple go on and suffer for it.
⁴The reward for humility and fear of the Lord
    is ^(E)riches and honor and life.^[a]
⁵^(F)Thorns and snares are in the way of the crooked;
    whoever ^(G)guards his soul will keep far from them.
⁶^(H)Train up a child in the way he should go;
    even when he is old he will not depart from it.
⁷^(I)The rich rules over the poor,
    and the borrower is the slave of the lender.
⁸Whoever ^(J)sows injustice will reap calamity,
    and ^(K)the rod of his fury will fail.
⁹^(L)Whoever has a bountiful^[b] eye will be blessed,
    for he ^(M)shares his bread with the poor.
¹⁰^(N)Drive out a scoffer, ^(O)and strife will go out,
    and ^(P)quarreling and abuse will cease.
¹¹He who ^(Q)loves purity of heart,
    and whose ^(R)speech is gracious, ^(S)will have the king as his friend.
¹²The eyes of the Lord keep watch over knowledge,
    but he ^(T)overthrows the words of the traitor.
¹³^(U)The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside!
    I shall be killed in the streets!”
¹⁴The mouth of ^(V)forbidden^[c] women is ^(W)a deep pit;
    ^(X)he with whom the Lord is angry will fall into it.
¹⁵Folly is bound up in the heart of a child,
    but ^(Y)the rod of discipline drives it far from him.
¹⁶Whoever oppresses the poor to increase his own wealth,
    or gives to the rich, ^(Z)will only come to poverty.

Words of the Wise

¹⁷^(AA)Incline your ear, and hear ^(AB)the words of the wise,
    ^(AC)and apply your heart to my knowledge,
¹⁸for it will be pleasant if you keep them within you,
    if all of them are ready on your lips.
¹⁹That your trust may be in the Lord,
    I have made them known to you today, even to you.
²⁰Have I not written for you ^(AD)thirty sayings
    of counsel and knowledge,
²¹to ^(AE)make you know what is right and true,
    that you may give a true answer to those who sent you?

²²^(AF)Do not rob the poor, because he is poor,
    or ^(AG)crush the afflicted at ^(AH)the gate,
²³for ^(AI)the Lord will plead their cause
    and rob of life those who rob them.
²⁴Make no friendship with a man given to anger,
    nor go with a wrathful man,
²⁵lest you learn his ways
    and entangle yourself in a snare.
²⁶Be not one of those who ^(AJ)give pledges,
    who put up security for debts.
²⁷If you have nothing with which to pay,
    why should ^(AK)your bed be taken from under you?
²⁸Do not move the ancient ^(AL)landmark
    that your fathers have set.
²⁹Do you see a man skillful in his work?
    He will ^(AM)stand before kings;
    he will not stand before obscure men.

23 When you sit down to eat with a ruler,
    observe carefully what^[d] is before you,
²and put a knife to your throat
    if you are given to appetite.
³^(AN)Do not desire his delicacies,
    for they are deceptive food.
⁴^(AO)Do not toil to acquire wealth;
    ^(AP)be discerning enough to desist.
⁵When your eyes light on it, it is gone,
    ^(AQ)for suddenly it sprouts wings,
    flying like an eagle toward heaven.
⁶^(AR)Do not eat the bread of a man who is ^(AS)stingy;^[e]
    ^(AT)do not desire his delicacies,
⁷for he is like one who is inwardly calculating.^[f]
    “Eat and drink!” he says to you,
    but his ^(AU)heart is not with you.
⁸You will vomit up the morsels that you have eaten,
    and waste your pleasant words.
⁹Do not speak in the hearing of a fool,
    for he will despise the good sense of your words.
¹⁰^(AV)Do not move an ancient landmark
    or enter the fields of the fatherless,
¹¹for their ^(AW)Redeemer is strong;
    he will ^(AX)plead their cause against you.
¹²Apply your heart to instruction
    and your ear to words of knowledge.
¹³Do not withhold ^(AY)discipline from a child;
    ^(AZ)if you strike him with a rod, he will not die.
¹⁴If you strike him with the rod,
    you will ^(BA)save his soul from Sheol.

Footnotes

Proverbs 22:4 Or The reward for humility is the fear of the Lord, riches and honor and life
Proverbs 22:9 Hebrew good
Proverbs 22:14 Hebrew strange
Proverbs 23:1 Or who
Proverbs 23:6 Hebrew whose eye is evil
Proverbs 23:7 Or for as he calculates in his soul, so is he