² The rich and the poor have this in common,
The Lord is the maker of them all.

³ A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself,
But the simple pass on and are punished.

⁴ By humility and the fear of the Lord
Are riches and honor and life.

⁵ Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse;
He who guards his soul will be far from them.

⁶ Train up a child in the way he should go,
^[a]And when he is old he will not depart from it.

⁷ The rich rules over the poor,
And the borrower is servant to the lender.

⁸ He who sows iniquity will reap sorrow,^[b]
And the rod of his anger will fail.

⁹ He who has a ^[c]generous eye will be blessed,
For he gives of his bread to the poor.

¹⁰ Cast out the scoffer, and contention will leave;
Yes, strife and reproach will cease.

¹¹ He who loves purity of heart
And has grace on his lips,
The king will be his friend.

¹² The eyes of the Lord preserve knowledge,
But He overthrows the words of the faithless.

¹³ The lazy man says, “There is a lion outside!
I shall be slain in the streets!”

¹⁴ The mouth of an immoral woman is a deep pit;
He who is abhorred by the Lord will fall there.

¹⁵ Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child;
The rod of correction will drive it far from him.

¹⁶ He who oppresses the poor to increase his riches,
And he who gives to the rich, will surely come to poverty.

²² Do not rob the poor because he is poor,
Nor oppress the afflicted at the gate;
²³ For the Lord will plead their cause,
And plunder the soul of those who plunder them.

²⁴ Make no friendship with an angry man,
And with a furious man do not go,
²⁵ Lest you learn his ways
And set a snare for your soul.

²⁶ Do not be one of those who ^[e]shakes hands in a pledge,
One of those who is ^[f]surety for debts;
²⁷ If you have nothing with which to pay,
Why should he take away your bed from under you?

²⁸ Do not remove the ancient ^[g]landmark
Which your fathers have set.

²⁹ Do you see a man who ^[h]excels in his work?
He will stand before kings;
He will not stand before ^[i]unknown men.

⁴ Do not overwork to be rich;
Because of your own understanding, cease!
^5 [j]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 a^[k] miser,
Nor desire his delicacies;
⁷ For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.
“Eat and drink!” 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 Do not speak in the hearing of a fool,
For he will despise the wisdom of your words.

¹⁰ Do not remove the ancient ^[l]landmark,
Nor enter the fields of the fatherless;
¹¹ 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 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 ^[m]hell.

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

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

¹⁹ Hear, my son, and be wise;
And guide your heart in the way.
²⁰ 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 Listen to your father who begot you,
And do not despise your mother when she is old.

²³ Buy the truth, and do not sell it,
Also wisdom and instruction and understanding.

²⁴ 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 For a harlot is a deep pit,
And a seductress is a narrow well.
²⁸ She also lies in wait as for a victim,
And increases the unfaithful among men.

²⁹ Who has woe?
Who has sorrow?
Who has contentions?
Who has complaints?
Who has wounds without cause?
Who has redness of eyes?
³⁰ Those who linger long at the wine,
Those who go in search of mixed wine.
³¹ Do not look on the wine when it is red,
When it sparkles in the cup,
When it ^[p]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 ^[q]midst of the sea,
Or like one who lies at the top of the mast, saying:
³⁵ “They have struck me, but I was not hurt;
They have beaten me, but I did not feel it.
When shall I awake, that I may seek another drink?”