⁴ For ^(C)the Lord is great and ^(D)greatly to be praised;
^(E)He is to be feared above all gods.
⁵ For ^(F)all the gods of the peoples are idols,
^(G)But the Lord made the heavens.
⁶ Honor and majesty are before Him;
Strength and ^(H)beauty are in His sanctuary.

^7 (I)Give^[b] to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
Give to the Lord glory and strength.
^8 [c]Give to the Lord the glory due His name;
Bring an offering, and come into His courts.
⁹ Oh, worship the Lord ^(J)in the beauty of holiness!
Tremble before Him, all the earth.

¹⁰ Say among the ^[d]nations, ^(K)“The Lord reigns;
The world also is firmly established,
It shall not be ^[e]moved;
^(L)He shall judge the peoples righteously.”

^11 (M)Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad;
^(N)Let the sea roar, and ^[f]all its fullness;
¹² Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it.
Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice
¹³     before the Lord.
For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth.
^(O)He shall judge the world with righteousness,
And the peoples with His truth.

^4 (A)Do not overwork to be rich;
^(B)Because of your own understanding, cease!
^5 [a]Will you set your eyes on that which is not?
For riches certainly make themselves wings;
They fly away like an eagle toward heaven.

⁶ Do not eat the bread of ^(C)a^[b] miser,
Nor desire his delicacies;
⁷ For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.
“Eat and drink!” ^(D)he says to you,
But his heart is not with you.
⁸ The morsel you have eaten, you will vomit up,
And waste your pleasant words.

^9 (E)Do not speak in the hearing of a fool,
For he will despise the wisdom of your words.

¹⁰ Do not remove the ancient ^[c]landmark,
Nor enter the fields of the fatherless;
^11 (F)For their Redeemer is mighty;
He will plead their cause against you.

¹² Apply your heart to instruction,
And your ears to words of knowledge.

^13 (G)Do not withhold correction from a child,
For if you beat him with a rod, he will not die.
¹⁴ You shall beat him with a rod,
And deliver his soul from ^[d]hell.

¹⁵ My son, if your heart is wise,
My heart will rejoice—indeed, I myself;
¹⁶ Yes, my ^[e]inmost being will rejoice
When your lips speak right things.

^17 (H)Do not let your heart envy sinners,
But ^(I)be zealous for the fear of the Lord all the day;
^18 (J)For surely there is a ^[f]hereafter,
And your hope will not be cut off.

¹⁹ Hear, my son, and be wise;
And guide your heart in the way.
^20 (K)Do not mix with winebibbers,
Or with gluttonous eaters of meat;
²¹ For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty,
And drowsiness will clothe a man with rags.

^22 (L)Listen to your father who begot you,
And do not despise your mother when she is old.

^23 (M)Buy the truth, and do not sell it,
Also wisdom and instruction and understanding.

^24 (N)The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice,
And he who begets a wise child will delight in him.
²⁵ Let your father and your mother be glad,
And let her who bore you rejoice.

²⁶ My son, give me your heart,
And let your eyes observe my ways.
^27 (O)For a harlot is a deep pit,
And a seductress is a narrow well.
^28 (P)She also lies in wait as for a victim,
And increases the unfaithful among men.

^29 (Q)Who has woe?
Who has sorrow?
Who has contentions?
Who has complaints?
Who has wounds without cause?
Who ^(R)has redness of eyes?
^30 (S)Those who linger long at the wine,
Those who go in search of ^(T)mixed wine.
³¹ Do not look on the wine when it is red,
When it sparkles in the cup,
When it ^[g]swirls around smoothly;
³² At the last it bites like a serpent,
And stings like a viper.
³³ Your eyes will see strange things,
And your heart will utter perverse things.
³⁴ Yes, you will be like one who lies down in the ^[h]midst of the sea,
Or like one who lies at the top of the mast, saying:
³⁵ “They^(U) have struck me, but I was not hurt;
They have beaten me, but I did not feel it.
When shall ^(V)I awake, that I may seek another drink?”

³ Through wisdom a house is built,
And by understanding it is established;
⁴ By knowledge the rooms are filled
With all precious and pleasant riches.

^5 (X)A wise man is strong,
Yes, a man of knowledge increases strength;
^6 (Y)For by wise counsel you will wage your own war,
And in a multitude of counselors there is safety.

^7 (Z)Wisdom is too lofty for a fool;
He does not open his mouth in the gate.

⁸ He who ^(AA)plots to do evil
Will be called a ^[i]schemer.
⁹ The devising of foolishness is sin,
And the scoffer is an abomination to men.

¹⁰ If you ^(AB)faint in the day of adversity,
Your strength is small.

^11 (AC)Deliver those who are drawn toward death,
And hold back those stumbling to the slaughter.
¹² If you say, “Surely we did not know this,”
Does not ^(AD)He who weighs the hearts consider it?
He who keeps your soul, does He not know it?
And will He not render to each man ^(AE)according to his deeds?

¹³ My son, ^(AF)eat honey because it is good,
And the honeycomb which is sweet to your taste;
^14 (AG)So shall the knowledge of wisdom be to your soul;
If you have found it, there is a ^[j]prospect,
And your hope will not be cut off.

¹⁵ Do not lie in wait, O wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous;
Do not plunder his resting place;
^16 (AH)For a righteous man may fall seven times
And rise again,
^(AI)But the wicked shall fall by calamity.

^17 (AJ)Do not rejoice when your enemy falls,
And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles;
¹⁸ Lest the Lord see it, and ^[k]it displease Him,
And He turn away His wrath from him.

^19 (AK)Do not fret because of evildoers,
Nor be envious of the wicked;
²⁰ For there will be no prospect for the evil man;
The lamp of the wicked will be put out.

²¹ My son, ^(AL)fear the Lord and the king;
Do not associate with those given to change;
²² For their calamity will rise suddenly,
And who knows the ruin those two can bring?

^(AM)It is not good to ^[l]show partiality in judgment.
^24 (AN)He who says to the wicked, “You are righteous,”
Him the people will curse;
Nations will abhor him.
²⁵ But those who rebuke the wicked will have ^(AO)delight,
And a good blessing will come upon them.

²⁶ He who gives a right answer kisses the lips.

^27 (AP)Prepare your outside work,
Make it fit for yourself in the field;
And afterward build your house.

^28 (AQ)Do not be a witness against your neighbor without cause,
^[m]For would you deceive with your lips?
^29 (AR)Do not say, “I will do to him just as he has done to me;
I will render to the man according to his work.”

³⁰ I went by the field of the lazy man,
And by the vineyard of the man devoid of understanding;
³¹ And there it was, ^(AS)all overgrown with thorns;
Its surface was covered with nettles;
Its stone wall was broken down.
³² When I saw it, I considered it well;
I looked on it and received instruction:
^33 (AT)A little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to rest;
^34 (AU)So shall your poverty come like ^[n]a prowler,
And your need like ^[o]an armed man.

^2 (AW)It is the glory of God to conceal a matter,
But the glory of kings is to search out a matter.

³ As the heavens for height and the earth for depth,
So the heart of kings is unsearchable.

^4 (AX)Take away the dross from silver,
And it will go to the silversmith for jewelry.
⁵ Take away the wicked from before the king,
And his throne will be established in ^(AY)righteousness.

⁶ Do not exalt yourself in the presence of the king,
And do not stand in the place of the great;
^7 (AZ)For it is better that he say to you,
“Come up here,”
Than that you should be put lower in the presence of the prince,
Whom your eyes have seen.

^8 (BA)Do not go hastily to ^[p]court;
For what will you do in the end,
When your neighbor has put you to shame?
^9 (BB)Debate your case with your neighbor,
And do not disclose the secret to another;
¹⁰ Lest he who hears it expose your shame,
And ^[q]your reputation be ruined.

¹¹ A word fitly ^(BC)spoken is like apples of gold
In settings of silver.
¹² Like an earring of gold and an ornament of fine gold
Is a wise rebuker to an obedient ear.

^13 (BD)Like the cold of snow in time of harvest
Is a faithful messenger to those who send him,
For he refreshes the soul of his masters.

^14 (BE)Whoever falsely boasts of giving
Is like ^(BF)clouds and wind without rain.

^15 (BG)By long forbearance a ruler is persuaded,
And a gentle tongue breaks a bone.

¹⁶ Have you found honey?
Eat only as much as you need,
Lest you be filled with it and vomit.

¹⁷ Seldom set foot in your neighbor’s house,
Lest he become weary of you and hate you.

^18 (BH)A man who bears false witness against his neighbor
Is like a club, a sword, and a sharp arrow.

¹⁹ Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble
Is like a bad tooth and a foot out of joint.

²⁰ Like one who takes away a garment in cold weather,
And like vinegar on soda,
Is one who ^(BI)sings songs to a heavy heart.

^21 (BJ)If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat;
And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink;
²² For so you will heap coals of fire on his head,
^(BK)And the Lord will reward you.

²³ The north wind brings forth rain,
And ^(BL)a backbiting tongue an angry countenance.

^24 (BM)It is better to dwell in a corner of a housetop,
Than in a house shared with a contentious woman.

²⁵ As cold water to a weary soul,
So is ^(BN)good news from a far country.

²⁶ A righteous man who falters before the wicked
Is like a murky spring and a ^[r]polluted well.

²⁷ It is not good to eat much honey;
So ^(BO)to seek one’s own glory is not glory.

^28 (BP)Whoever has no rule over his own spirit
Is like a city broken down, without walls.