^2 (B)Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth;
A stranger, and not your own lips.

³ A stone is heavy and sand is weighty,
But a fool’s wrath is heavier than both of them.

⁴ Wrath is cruel and anger a torrent,
But ^(C)who is able to stand before jealousy?

^5 (D)Open rebuke is better
Than love carefully concealed.

⁶ Faithful are the wounds of a friend,
But the kisses of an enemy are ^(E)deceitful.

⁷ A satisfied soul ^[a]loathes the honeycomb,
But to a hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.

⁸ Like a bird that wanders from its nest
Is a man who wanders from his place.

⁹ Ointment and perfume delight the heart,
And the sweetness of a man’s friend gives delight by ^[b]hearty counsel.

¹⁰ Do not forsake your own friend or your father’s friend,
Nor go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity;
^(F)Better is a neighbor nearby than a brother far away.

¹¹ My son, be wise, and make my heart glad,
^(G)That I may answer him who reproaches me.

¹² A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself;
The simple pass on and are ^(H)punished.

¹³ Take the garment of him who is surety for a stranger,
And hold it in pledge when he is surety for a seductress.

¹⁴ He who blesses his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning,
It will be counted a curse to him.

¹⁵ A ^(I)continual dripping on a very rainy day
And a contentious woman are alike;
¹⁶ Whoever ^[c]restrains her restrains the wind,
And grasps oil with his right hand.

¹⁷ As iron sharpens iron,
So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.

^18 (J)Whoever ^[d]keeps the fig tree will eat its fruit;
So he who waits on his master will be honored.

¹⁹ As in water face reflects face,
So a man’s heart reveals the man.

^20 (K)Hell^[e] and ^[f]Destruction are never full;
So ^(L)the eyes of man are never satisfied.

^21 (M)The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold,
And a man is valued by what others say of him.

^22 (N)Though you grind a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain,
Yet his foolishness will not depart from him.

²³ Be diligent to know the state of your ^(O)flocks,
And attend to your herds;
²⁴ For riches are not forever,
Nor does a crown endure to all generations.
^25 (P)When the hay is removed, and the tender grass shows itself,
And the herbs of the mountains are gathered in,
²⁶ The lambs will provide your clothing,
And the goats the price of a field;
²⁷ You shall have enough goats’ milk for your food,
For the food of your household,
And the nourishment of your maidservants.

“Hear now, O heads of Jacob,
And you ^(A)rulers of the house of Israel:
^(B)Is it not for you to know justice?
² You who hate good and love evil;
Who strip the skin from ^[a]My people,
And the flesh from their bones;
³ Who also ^(C)eat the flesh of My people,
Flay their skin from them,
Break their bones,
And chop them in pieces
Like meat for the pot,
^(D)Like flesh in the caldron.”

⁴ Then ^(E)they will cry to the Lord,
But He will not hear them;
He will even hide His face from them at that time,
Because they have been evil in their deeds.

⁵ Thus says the Lord ^(F)concerning the prophets
Who make my people stray;
Who chant ^[b]“Peace”
^[c]While they ^(G)chew with their teeth,
But who prepare war against him
^(H)Who puts nothing into their mouths:
⁶ “Therefore^(I) you shall have night without ^[d]vision,
And you shall have darkness without divination;
The sun shall go down on the prophets,
And the day shall be dark for ^(J)them.
⁷ So the seers shall be ashamed,
And the diviners abashed;
Indeed they shall all cover their lips;
^(K)For there is no answer from God.”

⁸ But truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord,
And of justice and might,
^(L)To declare to Jacob his transgression
And to Israel his sin.
⁹ Now hear this,
You heads of the house of Jacob
And rulers of the house of Israel,
Who abhor justice
And ^[e]pervert all equity,
^10 (M)Who build up Zion with ^(N)bloodshed
And Jerusalem with iniquity:
^11 (O)Her heads judge for a bribe,
^(P)Her priests teach for pay,
And her prophets divine for ^[f]money.
^(Q)Yet they lean on the Lord, and say,
“Is not the Lord among us?
No harm can come upon us.”
¹² Therefore because of you
Zion shall be ^(R)plowed like a field,
^(S)Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins,
And ^(T)the mountain of the ^[g]temple
Like the bare hills of the forest.

^(I)Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your ^(J)name.
¹⁰ Your kingdom come.
^(K)Your will be done
On earth ^(L)as it is in heaven.
¹¹ Give us this day our ^(M)daily bread.
¹² And ^(N)forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
^13 (O)And do not lead us into temptation,
But ^(P)deliver us from the evil one.
^[d]For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.