² God delights in concealing things;
    scientists delight in discovering things.

³ Like the horizons for breadth and the ocean for depth,
    the understanding of a good leader is broad and deep.

^4-5 Remove impurities from the silver
    and the silversmith can craft a fine chalice;
Remove the wicked from leadership
    and authority will be credible and God-honoring.

^6-7 Don’t work yourself into the spotlight;
    don’t push your way into the place of prominence.
It’s better to be promoted to a place of honor
    than face humiliation by being demoted.

⁸ Don’t jump to conclusions—there may be
    a perfectly good explanation for what you just saw.

^9-10 In the heat of an argument,
    don’t betray confidences;
Word is sure to get around,
    and no one will trust you.

^11-12 The right word at the right time
    is like a custom-made piece of jewelry,
And a wise friend’s timely reprimand
    is like a gold ring slipped on your finger.

¹³ Reliable friends who do what they say
    are like cool drinks in sweltering heat—refreshing!

¹⁴ Like billowing clouds that bring no rain
    is the person who talks big but never produces.

¹⁵ Patient persistence pierces through indifference;
    gentle speech breaks down rigid defenses.

¹⁸ Anyone who tells lies against the neighbors
    in court or on the street is a loose cannon.

¹⁹ Trusting a double-crosser when you’re in trouble
    is like biting down on an abscessed tooth.

²⁰ Singing light songs to the heavyhearted
    is like pouring salt in their wounds.

^21-22 If you see your enemy hungry, go buy him lunch;
    if he’s thirsty, bring him a drink.
Your generosity will surprise him with goodness,
    and God will look after you.

²³ A north wind brings stormy weather,
    and a gossipy tongue stormy looks.

²⁴ Better to live alone in a tumbledown shack
    than share a mansion with a nagging spouse.

²⁵ Like a cool drink of water when you’re worn out and weary
    is a letter from a long-lost friend.

²⁶ A good person who gives in to a bad person
    is a muddied spring, a polluted well.

²⁷ It’s not smart to stuff yourself with sweets,
    nor is glory piled on glory good for you.

²⁸ A person without self-control
    is like a house with its doors and windows knocked out.

² You have as little to fear from an undeserved curse
    as from the dart of a wren or the swoop of a swallow.

³ A whip for the racehorse, a tiller for the sailboat—
    and a stick for the back of fools!

⁴ Don’t respond to the stupidity of a fool;
    you’ll only look foolish yourself.

⁵ Answer a fool in simple terms
    so he doesn’t get a swelled head.

⁶ You’re only asking for trouble
    when you send a message by a fool.

⁷ A proverb quoted by fools
    is limp as a wet noodle.

⁸ Putting a fool in a place of honor
    is like setting a mud brick on a marble column.

⁹ To ask a moron to quote a proverb
    is like putting a scalpel in the hands of a drunk.

¹⁰ Hire a fool or a drunk
    and you shoot yourself in the foot.

¹¹ As a dog eats its own vomit,
    so fools recycle silliness.

¹² See that man who thinks he’s so smart?
    You can expect far more from a fool than from him.

¹³ Loafers say, “It’s dangerous out there!
    Tigers are prowling the streets!”
    and then pull the covers back over their heads.

¹⁴ Just as a door turns on its hinges,
    so a lazybones turns back over in bed.

¹⁵ A shiftless sluggard puts his fork in the pie,
    but is too lazy to lift it to his mouth.

¹⁷ You grab a mad dog by the ears
    when you butt into a quarrel that’s none of your business.

^18-19 People who shrug off deliberate deceptions,
    saying, “I didn’t mean it, I was only joking,”
Are worse than careless campers
    who walk away from smoldering campfires.

²⁰ When you run out of wood, the fire goes out;
    when the gossip ends, the quarrel dies down.

²¹ A quarrelsome person in a dispute
    is like kerosene thrown on a fire.

²² Listening to gossip is like eating cheap candy;
    do you want junk like that in your belly?

²³ Smooth talk from an evil heart
    is like glaze on cracked pottery.

^24-26 Your enemy shakes hands and greets you like an old friend,
    all the while plotting against you.
When he speaks warmly to you, don’t believe him for a minute;
    he’s just waiting for the chance to rip you off.
No matter how shrewdly he conceals his malice,
    eventually his evil will be exposed in public.

²⁷ Malice backfires;
    spite boomerangs.

²⁸ Liars hate their victims;
    flatterers sabotage trust.

² Don’t call attention to yourself;
    let others do that for you.

³ Carrying a log across your shoulders
    while you’re hefting a boulder with your arms
Is nothing compared to the burden
    of putting up with a fool.

⁴ We’re blasted by anger and swamped by rage,
    but who can survive jealousy?

⁵ A spoken reprimand is better
    than approval that’s never expressed.

⁶ The wounds from a lover are worth it;
    kisses from an enemy do you in.

⁷ When you’ve stuffed yourself, you refuse dessert;
    when you’re starved, you could eat a horse.

⁸ People who won’t settle down, wandering hither and yon,
    are like restless birds, flitting to and fro.

⁹ Just as lotions and fragrance give sensual delight,
    a sweet friendship refreshes the soul.

¹⁰ Don’t leave your friends or your parents’ friends
    and run home to your family when things get rough;
Better a nearby friend
    than a distant family.

¹¹ Become wise, dear child, and make me happy;
    then nothing the world throws my way will upset me.

¹² A prudent person sees trouble coming and ducks;
    a simpleton walks in blindly and is clobbered.

¹³ Hold tight to collateral on any loan to a stranger;
    be wary of accepting what a transient has pawned.

¹⁴ If you wake your friend in the early morning
    by shouting “Rise and shine!”
It will sound to him
    more like a curse than a blessing.

^15-16 A nagging spouse is like
    the drip, drip, drip of a leaky faucet;
You can’t turn it off,
    and you can’t get away from it.

¹⁸ If you care for your orchard, you’ll enjoy its fruit;
    if you honor your boss, you’ll be honored.

¹⁹ Just as water mirrors your face,
    so your face mirrors your heart.

²⁰ Hell has a voracious appetite,
    and lust just never quits.

²¹ The purity of silver and gold is tested
    by putting them in the fire;
The purity of human hearts is tested
    by giving them a little fame.

²² Pound on a fool all you like—
    you can’t pound out foolishness.

^23-27 Know your sheep by name;
    carefully attend to your flocks;
(Don’t take them for granted;
    possessions don’t last forever, you know.)
And then, when the crops are in
    and the harvest is stored in the barns,
You can knit sweaters from lambs’ wool,
    and sell your goats for a profit;
There will be plenty of milk and meat
    to last your family through the winter.