Let love and faithfulness(A) never leave you;
    bind them around your neck,
    write them on the tablet of your heart.(B)

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May loyal love[a] and truth not forsake you;
    bind them around your neck,
    write them upon your heart.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 3:3 Or “kindness, mercy”

13 A gossip betrays a confidence,(A)
    but a trustworthy person keeps a secret.(B)

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13 A gossip walks about telling a secret,
    but the trustworthy in spirit keeps the matter.

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22 Do not those who plot evil go astray?(A)
    But those who plan what is good find[a] love and faithfulness.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 14:22 Or show

22 Have they not erred, those who plan evil?
    But loyalty and faithfulness belong to those who plan good.

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Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for;
    through the fear of the Lord(A) evil is avoided.(B)

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By loyalty and faithfulness, iniquity will be covered over,[a]
    and by fear of Yahweh one turns[b] from evil.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 16:6 Or “atoned for”
  2. Proverbs 16:6 Literally “turning”

17 A friend loves at all times,
    and a brother is born for a time of adversity.(A)

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17 The friend loves at all times[a],
    but a brother is born for adversity.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 17:17 Hebrew “time”

22 What a person desires is unfailing love[a];
    better to be poor than a liar.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 19:22 Or Greed is a person’s shame

22 The craving of a man is his steadfast loyalty,
    and it is better to be poor than a liar.[a]

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 19:22 Literally “man of lying”

Many claim to have unfailing love,
    but a faithful person who can find?(A)

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Many a person will proclaim his loyalty for himself,
    but a man who is trustworthy, who can find?

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28 Love and faithfulness keep a king safe;
    through love(A) his throne is made secure.(B)

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28 Loyalty and faithfulness will preserve a king,
    and he is upheld with the righteousness of his throne.

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Saying 18

26 My son,(A) give me your heart
    and let your eyes delight in my ways,(B)
27 for an adulterous woman is a deep pit,(C)
    and a wayward wife is a narrow well.
28 Like a bandit she lies in wait(D)
    and multiplies the unfaithful among men.

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26 My child, may you give your heart[a] to me,
    and may your eyes delight in my ways.
27 For a deep pit is a prostitute,[b]
    and a narrow well is an adulteress.[c]
28 She is also like a robber lying in wait,
    and the faithless among mankind she increases.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 23:26 Or “mind”
  2. Proverbs 23:27 Or “whore”
  3. Proverbs 23:27 Literally “a foreign woman”

13 Like a snow-cooled drink at harvest time
    is a trustworthy messenger to the one who sends him;
    he refreshes the spirit of his master.(A)

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13 Like the cold of snow on a day[a] of harvest
    is a faithful messenger to those who send him,
    and the soul[b] of his master is refreshed.[c]

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 25:13 Or “at a season”
  2. Proverbs 25:13 Or “life,” or “inner self”
  3. Proverbs 25:13 Or “returned”

19 Like a broken tooth or a lame foot
    is reliance on the unfaithful in a time of trouble.

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19 A bad tooth and a lame foot
    is the trust of a faithless person in a time[a] of trouble.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 25:19 Literally “on a day”

20 A faithful person will be richly blessed,
    but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished.(A)

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20 A man of faithfulness has abundant blessings,
    but he who hurries to become rich will not go unpunished.

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