Proverbs 22
Christian Standard Bible
22 A good name is to be chosen over great wealth;
favor is better than silver and gold.(A)
3 A sensible person sees danger and takes cover,
but the inexperienced keep going and are punished.(C)
4 Humility, the fear of the Lord,
results in wealth, honor, and life.(D)
5 There are thorns and snares on the way of the crooked;(E)
the one who guards himself stays far from them.
6 Start a youth out on his way;(F)
even when he grows old he will not depart from it.
8 The one who sows injustice will reap disaster,(I)
and the rod of his fury will be destroyed.
11 The one who loves a pure heart
and gracious lips—the king is his friend.(N)
12 The Lord’s eyes keep watch over knowledge,
but he overthrows the words of the treacherous.
13 The slacker says, “There’s a lion outside!
I’ll be killed in the public square!” (O)
14 The mouth of the forbidden woman is a deep pit;
a man cursed by the Lord will fall into it.(P)
15 Foolishness is bound to the heart of a youth;
a rod of discipline will separate it from him.(Q)
16 Oppressing the poor to enrich oneself,
and giving to the rich—both lead only to poverty.(R)
Words of the Wise
17 Listen closely,[c] pay attention to the words of the wise,(S)
and apply your mind to my knowledge.
18 For it is pleasing if you keep them within you
and if they are[d] constantly on your lips.
19 I have instructed you today—even you—
so that your confidence may be in the Lord.
20 Haven’t I written for you thirty sayings[e]
about counsel and knowledge,
21 in order to teach you true and reliable words,
so that you may give a dependable report[f](T)
to those who sent you?(U)
22 Don’t rob a poor person because he is poor,
and don’t crush the oppressed(V) at the city gate,(W)
23 for the Lord will champion their cause(X)
and will plunder those who plunder them.
24 Don’t make friends with an angry person,[g]
and don’t be a companion of a hot-tempered one,(Y)
25 or you will learn his ways(Z)
and entangle yourself in a snare.
26 Don’t be one of those who enter agreements,[h]
who put up security for loans.(AA)
27 If you have nothing with which to pay,
even your bed will be taken from under you.(AB)
28 Don’t move an ancient boundary marker
that your ancestors set up.(AC)
29 Do you see a person skilled in his work?
He will stand in the presence of kings.
He will not stand in the presence of the unknown.(AD)
Footnotes
- 22:2 Lit poor meet
- 22:9 Lit Good of eye
- 22:17 Lit Stretch out your ear
- 22:18 Or you; let them be, or you, so that they are
- 22:20 Text emended; one Hb tradition reads you previously; alt Hb tradition reads you excellent things; LXX, Syr, Vg read you three times
- 22:21 Lit give dependable words
- 22:24 Lit with a master of anger
- 22:26 Lit Don’t be among hand slappers
Proverbs 22
Jubilee Bible 2000
22 ¶ A good reputation is rather to be chosen than great riches and good grace rather than silver and gold.
2 ¶ The rich and poor meet together; the LORD is the maker of them all.
3 ¶ A prudent man foresees the evil and hides himself, but the simple pass on and receive hurt.
4 ¶ Riches and honour and life are the remuneration of humility and of the fear of the LORD.
5 ¶ Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse; he that keeps his soul shall be far from them.
6 ¶ Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old, he will not depart from it.
7 ¶ The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.
8 ¶ He that sows iniquity shall reap iniquity, and the rod of his anger shall fail.
9 ¶ He that has a merciful eye shall be blessed, for he gives of his bread to the destitute.
10 ¶ Cast out the scorner, and contention shall go out; strife and reproach shall cease.
11 ¶ He that loves pureness of heart, for the grace of his lips the king shall be his friend.
12 ¶ The eyes of the LORD preserve knowledge, and he overthrows the words of the transgressor.
13 ¶ The slothful man says, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets.
14 ¶ The mouth of strange women is a deep pit; he that is abhorred of the LORD shall fall therein.
15 ¶ Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child, but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.
16 ¶ He that oppresses the poor to increase his riches and who gives to the rich shall surely come to want.
17 ¶ Bow down thine ear and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my wisdom.
18 For it is a delightful thing if thou keep them within thee; they shall be ordered together in thy lips.
19 That thy trust may be in the LORD, I have made known to thee this day, even to thee.
20 Have I not written unto thee three times in counsels and knowledge,
21 that I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth, that thou mightest answer the words of truth to those that send unto thee?
22 ¶ Rob not the poor, because he is poor: neither destroy the destitute in judgment:
23 For the LORD will judge their cause and spoil the soul of those that spoiled them.
24 ¶ Do not meddle with an angry man, and with a furious man thou shalt not go:
25 Lest thou learn his ways and get a snare to thy soul.
26 ¶ Be not thou one of them that strike hands or of them that are sureties for debts.
27 If thou hast nothing to pay, why should they take away thy bed from under thee?
28 ¶ Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set.
29 ¶ Seest thou a man diligent in his work? He shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before obscure men.
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