Add parallel Print Page Options

11 Discretion will watch over you.
    Understanding will keep you,
12 to deliver you from the way of evil,
    from the men who speak perverse things,
13 who forsake the paths of uprightness,
    to walk in the ways of darkness,
14 who rejoice to do evil,
    and delight in the perverseness of evil,
15 who are crooked in their ways,
    and wayward in their paths,
16 to deliver you from the strange woman,
    even from the foreigner who flatters with her words,
17 who forsakes the friend of her youth,
    and forgets the covenant of her God;
18 for her house leads down to death,
    her paths to the departed spirits.
19 None who go to her return again,
    neither do they attain to the paths of life.
20 So you may walk in the way of good men,
    and keep the paths of the righteous.
21 For the upright will dwell in the land.
    The perfect will remain in it.
22 But the wicked will be cut off from the land.
    The treacherous will be rooted out of it.

Read full chapter

11 Wise choices will watch over you.
    Understanding will keep you safe.

12 Wisdom will save you from evil people,
    from those whose words are twisted.
13 These men turn from the right way
    to walk down dark paths.
14 They take pleasure in doing wrong,
    and they enjoy the twisted ways of evil.
15 Their actions are crooked,
    and their ways are wrong.

16 Wisdom will save you from the immoral woman,
    from the seductive words of the promiscuous woman.
17 She has abandoned her husband
    and ignores the covenant she made before God.
18 Entering her house leads to death;
    it is the road to the grave.[a]
19 The man who visits her is doomed.
    He will never reach the paths of life.

20 So follow the steps of the good,
    and stay on the paths of the righteous.
21 For only the godly will live in the land,
    and those with integrity will remain in it.
22 But the wicked will be removed from the land,
    and the treacherous will be uprooted.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 2:18 Hebrew to the spirits of the dead.

31 Don’t envy the man of violence.
    Choose none of his ways.
32 For the perverse is an abomination to Yahweh,
    but his friendship is with the upright.

Read full chapter

31 Don’t envy violent people
    or copy their ways.
32 Such wicked people are detestable to the Lord,
    but he offers his friendship to the godly.

Read full chapter

12 A worthless person, a man of iniquity,
    is he who walks with a perverse mouth,
13 who winks with his eyes, who signals with his feet,
    who motions with his fingers,
14 in whose heart is perverseness,
    who devises evil continually,
    who always sows discord.
15 Therefore his calamity will come suddenly.
    He will be broken suddenly, and that without remedy.

Read full chapter

12 What are worthless and wicked people like?
    They are constant liars,
13 signaling their deceit with a wink of the eye,
    a nudge of the foot, or the wiggle of fingers.
14 Their perverted hearts plot evil,
    and they constantly stir up trouble.
15 But they will be destroyed suddenly,
    broken in an instant beyond all hope of healing.

Read full chapter

Blessings are on the head of the righteous,
    but violence covers the mouth of the wicked.

Read full chapter

The godly are showered with blessings;
    the words of the wicked conceal violent intentions.

Read full chapter

11 The mouth of the righteous is a spring of life,
    but violence covers the mouth of the wicked.
12 Hatred stirs up strife,
    but love covers all wrongs.
13 Wisdom is found on the lips of him who has discernment,
    but a rod is for the back of him who is void of understanding.

Read full chapter

11 The words of the godly are a life-giving fountain;
    the words of the wicked conceal violent intentions.

12 Hatred stirs up quarrels,
    but love makes up for all offenses.

13 Wise words come from the lips of people with understanding,
    but those lacking sense will be beaten with a rod.

Read full chapter

18 He who hides hatred has lying lips.
    He who utters a slander is a fool.

Read full chapter

18 Hiding hatred makes you a liar;
    slandering others makes you a fool.

Read full chapter

13 One who brings gossip betrays a confidence,
    but one who is of a trustworthy spirit is one who keeps a secret.

Read full chapter

13 A gossip goes around telling secrets,
    but those who are trustworthy can keep a confidence.

Read full chapter

15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes,
    but he who is wise listens to counsel.
16 A fool shows his annoyance the same day,
    but one who overlooks an insult is prudent.
17 He who is truthful testifies honestly,
    but a false witness lies.
18 There is one who speaks rashly like the piercing of a sword,
    but the tongue of the wise heals.

Read full chapter

15 Fools think their own way is right,
    but the wise listen to others.

16 A fool is quick-tempered,
    but a wise person stays calm when insulted.

17 An honest witness tells the truth;
    a false witness tells lies.

18 Some people make cutting remarks,
    but the words of the wise bring healing.

Read full chapter

16 Every prudent man acts from knowledge,
    but a fool exposes folly.

Read full chapter

16 Wise people think before they act;
    fools don’t—and even brag about their foolishness.

Read full chapter

27 A worthless man devises mischief.
    His speech is like a scorching fire.
28 A perverse man stirs up strife.
    A whisperer separates close friends.
29 A man of violence entices his neighbor,
    and leads him in a way that is not good.
30 One who winks his eyes to plot perversities,
    one who compresses his lips, is bent on evil.

Read full chapter

27 Scoundrels create trouble;
    their words are a destructive blaze.

28 A troublemaker plants seeds of strife;
    gossip separates the best of friends.

29 Violent people mislead their companions,
    leading them down a harmful path.

30 With narrowed eyes, people plot evil;
    with a smirk, they plan their mischief.

Read full chapter

An evildoer heeds wicked lips.
    A liar gives ear to a mischievous tongue.

Read full chapter

Wrongdoers eagerly listen to gossip;
    liars pay close attention to slander.

Read full chapter

He who covers an offense promotes love;
    but he who repeats a matter separates best friends.

Read full chapter

Love prospers when a fault is forgiven,
    but dwelling on it separates close friends.

Read full chapter