²¹ When my heart was grieved
    and my spirit embittered,
²² I was senseless^(A) and ignorant;
    I was a brute beast^(B) before you.

²³ Yet I am always with you;
    you hold me by my right hand.^(C)
24 You guide^(D) me with your counsel,^(E)
    and afterward you will take me into glory.
²⁵ Whom have I in heaven but you?^(F)
    And earth has nothing I desire besides you.^(G)
26 My flesh and my heart^(H) may fail,^(I)
    but God is the strength^(J) of my heart
    and my portion^(K) forever.

²⁷ Those who are far from you will perish;^(L)
    you destroy all who are unfaithful^(M) to you.
²⁸ But as for me, it is good to be near God.^(N)
    I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge;^(O)
    I will tell of all your deeds.^(P)

22 A good name is more desirable than great riches;
    to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.^(A)

² Rich and poor have this in common:
    The Lord is the Maker of them all.^(B)

³ The prudent see danger and take refuge,^(C)
    but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.^(D)

⁴ Humility is the fear of the Lord;
    its wages are riches and honor^(E) and life.^(F)

⁵ In the paths of the wicked are snares and pitfalls,^(G)
    but those who would preserve their life stay far from them.

⁶ Start^(H) children off on the way they should go,^(I)
    and even when they are old they will not turn from it.^(J)

⁷ The rich rule over the poor,
    and the borrower is slave to the lender.

⁸ Whoever sows injustice reaps calamity,^(K)
    and the rod they wield in fury will be broken.^(L)

⁹ The generous will themselves be blessed,^(M)
    for they share their food with the poor.^(N)

¹⁰ Drive out the mocker, and out goes strife;
    quarrels and insults are ended.^(O)

¹¹ One who loves a pure heart and who speaks with grace
    will have the king for a friend.^(P)

¹² The eyes of the Lord keep watch over knowledge,
    but he frustrates the words of the unfaithful.

¹³ The sluggard says, “There’s a lion outside!^(Q)
    I’ll be killed in the public square!”

¹⁴ The mouth of an adulterous woman is a deep pit;^(R)
    a man who is under the Lord’s wrath falls into it.^(S)

¹⁵ Folly is bound up in the heart of a child,
    but the rod of discipline will drive it far away.^(T)

¹⁶ One who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth
    and one who gives gifts to the rich—both come to poverty.

“There is no one righteous, not even one;
¹¹     there is no one who understands;
    there is no one who seeks God.
¹² All have turned away,
    they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
    not even one.”^[a](C)
13 “Their throats are open graves;
    their tongues practice deceit.”^[b](D)
“The poison of vipers is on their lips.”^[c](E)
14     “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”^[d](F)
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
¹⁶     ruin and misery mark their ways,
¹⁷ and the way of peace they do not know.”^[e](G)
18     “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”^[f](H)