Proverbs 3
Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
Admonition to Trust and Honor God
3 My son, do not forget my teaching,
but let your heart keep my commandments;
2 for length of days and years of life
and abundant welfare will they give you.
3 Let not loyalty and faithfulness forsake you;
bind them about your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 So you will find favor and good repute[a]
in the sight of God and man.
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not rely on your own insight.
6 In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
7 Be not wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
8 It will be healing to your flesh[b]
and refreshment[c] to your bones.
9 Honor the Lord with your substance
and with the first fruits of all your produce;
10 then your barns will be filled with plenty,
and your vats will be bursting with wine.
11 My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline
or be weary of his reproof,
12 for the Lord reproves him whom he loves,
as a father the son in whom he delights.
The True Wealth
13 Happy is the man who finds wisdom,
and the man who gets understanding,
14 for the gain from it is better than gain from silver
and its profit better than gold.
15 She is more precious than jewels,
and nothing you desire can compare with her.
16 Long life is in her right hand;
in her left hand are riches and honor.
17 Her ways are ways of pleasantness,
and all her paths are peace.
18 She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her;
those who hold her fast are called happy.
God’s Wisdom in Creation
19 The Lord by wisdom founded the earth;
by understanding he established the heavens;
20 by his knowledge the deeps broke forth,
and the clouds drop down the dew.
The True Security
21 My son, keep sound wisdom and discretion;
let them not escape from your sight,[d]
22 and they will be life for your soul
and adornment for your neck.
23 Then you will walk on your way securely
and your foot will not stumble.
24 If you sit down,[e] you will not be afraid;
when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.
25 Do not be afraid of sudden panic,
or of the ruin[f] of the wicked, when it comes;
26 for the Lord will be your confidence
and will keep your foot from being caught.
27 Do not withhold good from those to whom it[g] is due,
when it is in your power to do it.
28 Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come again,
tomorrow I will give it”—when you have it with you.
29 Do not plan evil against your neighbor
who dwells trustingly beside you.
30 Do not contend with a man for no reason,
when he has done you no harm.
31 Do not envy a man of violence
and do not choose any of his ways;
32 for the perverse man is an abomination to the Lord,
but the upright are in his confidence.
33 The Lord’s curse is on the house of the wicked,
but he blesses the abode of the righteous.
34 Toward the scorners he is scornful,
but to the humble he shows favor.
35 The wise will inherit honor,
but fools get[h] disgrace.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 3:4 Cn: Heb understanding
- Proverbs 3:8 Heb navel
- Proverbs 3:8 Or medicine
- Proverbs 3:21 Reversing the order of the clauses
- Proverbs 3:24 Gk: Heb lie down
- Proverbs 3:25 Heb storm
- Proverbs 3:27 Heb Do not withhold good from its owners
- Proverbs 3:35 Cn: Heb exalt
Proverbs 5-8
Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
Warning against Impurity and Infidelity
5 My son, be attentive to my wisdom,
incline your ear to my understanding;
2 that you may keep discretion,
and your lips may guard knowledge.
3 For the lips of a loose woman drip honey,
and her speech[a] is smoother than oil;
4 but in the end she is bitter as wormwood,
sharp as a two-edged sword.
5 Her feet go down to death;
her steps follow the path to[b] Sheol;
6 she does not take heed to[c] the path of life;
her ways wander, and she does not know it.
7 And now, O sons, listen to me,
and do not depart from the words of my mouth.
8 Keep your way far from her,
and do not go near the door of her house;
9 lest you give your honor to others
and your years to the merciless;
10 lest strangers take their fill of your strength,[d]
and your labors go to the house of an alien;
11 and at the end of your life you groan,
when your flesh and body are consumed,
12 and you say, “How I hated discipline,
and my heart despised reproof!
13 I did not listen to the voice of my teachers
or incline my ear to my instructors.
14 I was at the point of utter ruin
in the assembled congregation.”
15 Drink water from your own cistern,
flowing water from your own well.
16 Should your springs be scattered abroad,
streams of water in the streets?
17 Let them be for yourself alone,
and not for strangers with you.
18 Let your fountain be blessed,
and rejoice in the wife of your youth,
19 a lovely hind, a graceful doe.
Let her affection fill you at all times with delight,
be infatuated always with her love.
20 Why should you be infatuated, my son, with a loose woman
and embrace the bosom of an adventuress?
21 For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the Lord,
and he watches[e] all his paths.
22 The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him,
and he is caught in the toils of his sin.
23 He dies for lack of discipline,
and because of his great folly he is lost.
Practical Admonitions
6 My son, if you have become surety for your neighbor,
have given your pledge for a stranger;
2 if you are snared in the utterance of your lips,[f]
caught in the words of your mouth;
3 then do this, my son, and save yourself,
for you have come into your neighbor’s power:
go, hasten,[g] and importune your neighbor.
4 Give your eyes no sleep
and your eyelids no slumber;
5 save yourself like a gazelle from the hunter,[h]
like a bird from the hand of the fowler.
6 Go to the ant, O sluggard;
consider her ways, and be wise.
7 Without having any chief,
officer or ruler,
8 she prepares her food in summer,
and gathers her sustenance in harvest.
9 How long will you lie there, O sluggard?
When will you arise from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest,
11 and poverty will come upon you like a vagabond,
and want like an armed man.
12 A worthless person, a wicked man,
goes about with crooked speech,
13 winks with his eyes, scrapes[i] with his feet,
points with his finger,
14 with perverted heart devises evil,
continually sowing discord;
15 therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly;
in a moment he will be broken beyond healing.
16 There are six things which the Lord hates,
seven which are an abomination to him:
17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood,
18 a heart that devises wicked plans,
feet that make haste to run to evil,
19 a false witness who breathes out lies,
and a man who sows discord among brothers.
20 My son, keep your father’s commandment,
and forsake not your mother’s teaching.
21 Bind them upon your heart always;
tie them about your neck.
22 When you walk, they[j] will lead you;
when you lie down, they[k] will watch over you;
and when you awake, they[l] will talk with you.
23 For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light,
and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,
24 to preserve you from the evil woman,
from the smooth tongue of the adventuress.
25 Do not desire her beauty in your heart,
and do not let her capture you with her eyelashes;
26 for a harlot may be hired for a loaf of bread,[m]
but an adulteress[n] stalks a man’s very life.
27 Can a man carry fire in his bosom
and his clothes not be burned?
28 Or can one walk upon hot coals
and his feet not be scorched?
29 So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife;
none who touches her will go unpunished.
30 Do not men despise[o] a thief if he steals
to satisfy his appetite when he is hungry?
31 And if he is caught, he will pay sevenfold;
he will give all the goods of his house.
32 He who commits adultery has no sense;
he who does it destroys himself.
33 Wounds and dishonor will he get,
and his disgrace will not be wiped away.
34 For jealousy makes a man furious,
and he will not spare when he takes revenge.
35 He will accept no compensation,
nor be appeased though you multiply gifts.
The False Attractions of Adultery
7 My son, keep my words
and treasure up my commandments with you;
2 keep my commandments and live,
keep my teachings as the apple of your eye;
3 bind them on your fingers,
write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
and call insight your intimate friend;
5 to preserve you from the loose woman,
from the adventuress with her smooth words.
6 For at the window of my house
I have looked out through my lattice,
7 and I have seen among the simple,
I have perceived among the youths,
a young man without sense,
8 passing along the street near her corner,
taking the road to her house
9 in the twilight, in the evening,
at the time of night and darkness.
10 And lo, a woman meets him,
dressed as a harlot, wily of heart.[p]
11 She is loud and wayward,
her feet do not stay at home;
12 now in the street, now in the market,
and at every corner she lies in wait.
13 She seizes him and kisses him,
and with impudent face she says to him:
14 “I had to offer sacrifices,
and today I have paid my vows;
15 so now I have come out to meet you,
to seek you eagerly, and I have found you.
16 I have decked my couch with coverings,
colored spreads of Egyptian linen;
17 I have perfumed my bed with myrrh,
aloes, and cinnamon.
18 Come, let us take our fill of love till morning;
let us delight ourselves with love.
19 For my husband is not at home;
he has gone on a long journey;
20 he took a bag of money with him;
at full moon he will come home.”
21 With much seductive speech she persuades him;
with her smooth talk she compels him.
22 All at once he follows her,
as an ox goes to the slaughter,
or as a stag is caught fast[q]
23 till an arrow pierces its entrails;
as a bird rushes into a snare;
he does not know that it will cost him his life.
24 And now, O sons, listen to me,
and be attentive to the words of my mouth.
25 Let not your heart turn aside to her ways,
do not stray into her paths;
26 for many a victim has she laid low;
yea, all her slain are a mighty host.
27 Her house is the way to Sheol,
going down to the chambers of death.
The Gifts of Wisdom
8 Does not wisdom call,
does not understanding raise her voice?
2 On the heights beside the way,
in the paths she takes her stand;
3 beside the gates in front of the town,
at the entrance of the portals she cries aloud:
4 “To you, O men, I call,
and my cry is to the sons of men.
5 O simple ones, learn prudence;
O foolish men, pay attention.
6 Hear, for I will speak noble things,
and from my lips will come what is right;
7 for my mouth will utter truth;
wickedness is an abomination to my lips.
8 All the words of my mouth are righteous;
there is nothing twisted or crooked in them.
9 They are all straight to him who understands
and right to those who find knowledge.
10 Take my instruction instead of silver,
and knowledge rather than choice gold;
11 for wisdom is better than jewels,
and all that you may desire cannot compare with her.
12 I, wisdom, dwell in prudence,[r]
and I find knowledge and discretion.
13 The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil.
Pride and arrogance and the way of evil
and perverted speech I hate.
14 I have counsel and sound wisdom,
I have insight, I have strength.
15 By me kings reign,
and rulers decree what is just;
16 by me princes rule,
and nobles govern[s] the earth.
17 I love those who love me,
and those who seek me diligently find me.
18 Riches and honor are with me,
enduring wealth and prosperity.
19 My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold,
and my yield than choice silver.
20 I walk in the way of righteousness,
in the paths of justice,
21 endowing with wealth those who love me,
and filling their treasuries.
Wisdom’s Part in Creation
22 The Lord created me at the beginning of his work,[t]
the first of his acts of old.
23 Ages ago I was set up,
at the first, before the beginning of the earth.
24 When there were no depths I was brought forth,
when there were no springs abounding with water.
25 Before the mountains had been shaped,
before the hills, I was brought forth;
26 before he had made the earth with its fields,[u]
or the first of the dust[v] of the world.
27 When he established the heavens, I was there,
when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,
28 when he made firm the skies above,
when he established[w] the fountains of the deep,
29 when he assigned to the sea its limit,
so that the waters might not transgress his command,
when he marked out the foundations of the earth,
30 then I was beside him, like a master workman;[x]
and I was daily his[y] delight,
rejoicing before him always,
31 rejoicing in his inhabited world
and delighting in the sons of men.
32 And now, my sons, listen to me:
happy are those who keep my ways.
33 Hear instruction and be wise,
and do not neglect it.
34 Happy is the man who listens to me,
watching daily at my gates,
waiting beside my doors.
35 For he who finds me finds life
and obtains favor from the Lord;
36 but he who misses me injures himself;
all who hate me love death.”
Footnotes
- Proverbs 5:3 Heb palate
- Proverbs 5:5 Heb lay hold of
- Proverbs 5:6 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain
- Proverbs 5:10 Or wealth
- Proverbs 5:21 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain
- Proverbs 6:2 Cn Compare Gk Syr: Heb the words of your mouth
- Proverbs 6:3 Or humble yourself
- Proverbs 6:5 Cn: Heb hand
- Proverbs 6:13 Or taps
- Proverbs 6:22 Heb it
- Proverbs 6:22 Heb it
- Proverbs 6:22 Heb it
- Proverbs 6:26 Cn Compare Gk Syr Vg Tg: Heb for because of a harlot to a piece of bread
- Proverbs 6:26 Heb a man’s wife
- Proverbs 6:30 Or Men do not despise
- Proverbs 7:10 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
- Proverbs 7:22 Cn Compare Gk: Heb uncertain
- Proverbs 8:12 Heb obscure
- Proverbs 8:16 Gk: Heb all the governors of
- Proverbs 8:22 Heb way
- Proverbs 8:26 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
- Proverbs 8:26 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
- Proverbs 8:28 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
- Proverbs 8:30 Another reading is little child
- Proverbs 8:30 Gk: Heb lacks his
The Revised Standard Version of the Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1965, 1966 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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