Proverbs 9-11

Amplified Bible, Classic Edition

9 Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn out and set up her seven [perfect number of] pillars.

² She has killed her beasts, she has mixed her [spiritual] wine; she has also set her table.^(A)

³ She has sent out her maids to cry from the highest places of the town:

⁴ Whoever is simple (easily led astray and wavering), let him turn in here! As for him who lacks understanding, [God’s] Wisdom says to him,

⁵ Come, eat of my bread and drink of the [spiritual] wine which I have mixed.^(B)

⁶ Leave off, simple ones [forsake the foolish and simpleminded] and live! And walk in the way of insight and understanding.

⁷ He who rebukes a scorner heaps upon himself abuse, and he who reproves a wicked man gets for himself bruises.

⁸ Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate you; reprove a wise man, and he will love you.^(C)

⁹ Give instruction to a wise man and he will be yet wiser; teach a righteous man (one upright and in right standing with God) and he will increase in learning.

¹⁰ The reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord is the beginning (the chief and choice part) of Wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight and understanding.

¹¹ For by me [Wisdom from God] your days shall be multiplied, and the years of your life shall be increased.

¹² If you are wise, you are wise for yourself; if you scorn, you alone will bear it and pay the penalty.

¹³ The foolish woman is noisy; she is simple and open to all forms of evil, she [willfully and recklessly] knows nothing whatever [of eternal value].

¹⁴ For she sits at the door of her house or on a seat in the conspicuous places of the town,

¹⁵ Calling to those who pass by, who go uprightly on their way:

¹⁶ Whoever is simple (wavering and easily led astray), let him turn in here! And as for him who lacks understanding, she says to him,

¹⁷ Stolen waters (pleasures) are sweet [because they are forbidden]; and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.^(D)

¹⁸ But he knows not that the shades of the dead are there [specters haunting the scene of past transgressions], and that her invited guests are [already sunk] in the depths of Sheol (the lower world, Hades, the place of the dead).

10 The proverbs of Solomon: A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish and self-confident son is the grief of his mother.

² Treasures of wickedness profit nothing, but righteousness (moral and spiritual rectitude in every area and relation) delivers from death.

³ The Lord will not allow the [uncompromisingly] righteous to famish, but He thwarts the desire of the wicked.^(E)

⁴ He becomes poor who works with a slack and idle hand, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.

⁵ He who gathers in summer is a wise son, but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who causes shame.

⁶ Blessings are upon the head of the [uncompromisingly] righteous (the upright, in right standing with God) but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.

⁷ The memory of the [uncompromisingly] righteous is a blessing, but the name of the wicked shall rot.^(F)

⁸ The wise in heart will accept and obey commandments, but the foolish of lips will fall headlong.

⁹ He who walks uprightly walks securely, but he who takes a crooked way shall be found out and punished.

¹⁰ He who winks with the eye [craftily and with malice] causes sorrow; the foolish of lips will fall headlong but ^[a]he who boldly reproves makes peace.

¹¹ The mouth of the [uncompromisingly] righteous man is a well of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.

¹² Hatred stirs up contentions, but love covers all transgressions.

¹³ On the lips of him who has discernment skillful and godly ^[b]Wisdom is found, but discipline and the rod are for the back of him who is without sense and understanding.

¹⁴ Wise men store up knowledge [in mind and heart], but the mouth of the foolish is a present destruction.

¹⁵ The rich man’s wealth is his strong city; the poverty of the poor is their ruin.^(G)

¹⁶ The earnings of the righteous (the upright, in right standing with God) lead to life, but the profit of the wicked leads to further sin.^(H)

¹⁷ He who heeds instruction and correction is [not only himself] in the way of life [but also] is a way of life for others. And he who neglects or refuses reproof [not only himself] goes astray [but also] causes to err and is a path toward ruin for others.

¹⁸ He who hides hatred is of lying lips, and he who utters slander is a [self-confident] fool.^(I)

¹⁹ In a multitude of words transgression is not lacking, but he who restrains his lips is prudent.

²⁰ The tongues of those who are upright and in right standing with God are as choice silver; the minds of those who are wicked and out of harmony with God are of little value.

²¹ The lips of the [uncompromisingly] righteous feed and guide many, but fools die for want of understanding and heart.

²² The blessing of the Lord—it makes [truly] rich, and He adds no sorrow with it [neither does toiling increase it].

²³ It is as sport to a [self-confident] fool to do wickedness, but to have skillful and godly Wisdom is pleasure and relaxation to a man of understanding.

²⁴ The thing a wicked man fears shall come upon him, but the desire of the [uncompromisingly] righteous shall be granted.

²⁵ When the whirlwind passes, the wicked are no more, but the [uncompromisingly] righteous have an everlasting foundation.^(J)

²⁶ As vinegar to the teeth and as smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to those who employ and send him.

²⁷ The reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord prolongs one’s days, but the years of the wicked shall be made short.

²⁸ The hope of the [uncompromisingly] righteous (the upright, in right standing with God) is gladness, but the expectation of the wicked (those who are out of harmony with God) comes to nothing.

²⁹ The way of the Lord is strength and a stronghold to the upright, but it is destruction to the workers of iniquity.

³⁰ The [consistently] righteous shall never be removed, but the wicked shall not inhabit the earth [eventually].^(K)

³¹ The mouths of the righteous (those harmonious with God) bring forth skillful and godly Wisdom, but the perverse tongue shall be cut down [like a barren and rotten tree].

³² The lips of the [uncompromisingly] righteous know [and therefore utter] what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked knows [and therefore speaks only] what is obstinately willful and contrary.

11 A false balance and unrighteous dealings are extremely offensive and shamefully sinful to the Lord, but a just weight is His delight.^(L)

² When swelling and pride come, then emptiness and shame come also, but with the humble (those who are lowly, who have been pruned or chiseled by trial, and renounce self) are skillful and godly Wisdom and soundness.

³ The integrity of the upright shall guide them, but the willful contrariness and crookedness of the treacherous shall destroy them.

⁴ Riches provide no security in any day of wrath and judgment, but righteousness (uprightness and right standing with God) delivers from death.^(M)

⁵ The righteousness of the blameless shall rectify and make plain their way and keep it straight, but the wicked shall fall by their own wickedness.

⁶ The righteousness of the upright [their rectitude in every area and relation] shall deliver them, but the treacherous shall be taken in their own iniquity and greedy desire.

⁷ When the wicked man dies, his hope [for the future] perishes; and the expectation of the godless comes to nothing.

⁸ The [uncompromisingly] righteous is delivered out of trouble, and the wicked gets into it instead.

⁹ With his mouth the godless man destroys his neighbor, but through knowledge and superior discernment shall the righteous be delivered.

¹⁰ When it goes well with the [uncompromisingly] righteous, the city rejoices, but when the wicked perish, there are shouts of joy.

¹¹ By the blessing of the influence of the upright and God’s favor [because of them] the city is exalted, but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked.

¹² He who belittles and despises his neighbor lacks sense, but a man of understanding keeps silent.

¹³ He who goes about as a talebearer reveals secrets, but he who is trustworthy and faithful in spirit keeps the matter hidden.

¹⁴ Where no wise guidance is, the people fall, but in the multitude of counselors there is safety.

¹⁵ He who becomes security for an outsider shall smart for it, but he who hates suretyship is secure [from its penalties].

¹⁶ A gracious and good woman wins honor [for her husband], and violent men win riches but ^[c]a woman who hates righteousness is a throne of dishonor for him.

¹⁷ The merciful, kind, and generous man benefits himself [for his deeds return to bless him], but he who is cruel and callous [to the wants of others] brings on himself retribution.

¹⁸ The wicked man earns deceitful wages, but he who sows righteousness (moral and spiritual rectitude in every area and relation) shall have a sure reward [permanent and satisfying].^(N)

¹⁹ He who is steadfast in righteousness (uprightness and right standing with God) attains to life, but he who pursues evil does it to his own death.

²⁰ They who are willfully contrary in heart are extremely disgusting and shamefully vile in the eyes of the Lord, but such as are blameless and wholehearted in their ways are His delight!

²¹ Assuredly [I pledge it] the wicked shall not go unpunished, but the multitude of the [uncompromisingly] righteous shall be delivered.

²² As a ring of gold in a swine’s snout, so is a fair woman who is without discretion.

²³ The desire of the [consistently] righteous brings only good, but the expectation of the wicked brings wrath.

²⁴ There are those who [generously] scatter abroad, and yet increase more; there are those who withhold more than is fitting or what is justly due, but it results only in want.

²⁵ The liberal person shall be enriched, and he who waters shall himself be watered.^(O)

²⁶ The people curse him who holds back grain [when the public needs it], but a blessing [from God and man] is upon the head of him who sells it.

²⁷ He who diligently seeks good seeks [God’s] favor, but he who searches after evil, it shall come upon him.

²⁸ He who leans on, trusts in, and is confident in his riches shall fall, but the [uncompromisingly] righteous shall flourish like a green bough.

²⁹ He who troubles his own house shall inherit the wind, and the foolish shall be servant to the wise of heart.

³⁰ The fruit of the [uncompromisingly] righteous is a tree of life, and he who is wise captures human lives [for God, as a fisher of men—he gathers and receives them for eternity].^(P)

³¹ Behold, the [uncompromisingly] righteous shall be recompensed on earth; how much more the wicked and the sinner! And ^[d]if the righteous are barely saved, what will become of the ungodly and wicked?^(Q)