He stores up success[a] for the upright;
He is a shield for those who live with integrity(A)

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Footnotes

  1. 2:7 Or resourcefulness

he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
    he is a shield to those who walk blamelessly,(A)

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Laziness

Go to the ant,(A) you slacker!(B)
Observe its ways and become wise.
Without leader, administrator, or ruler,
it prepares its provisions in summer;
it gathers its food during harvest.(C)

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Go to the ant, you lazybones;
    consider its ways and be wise.(A)
Without having any chief
    or officer or ruler,
it prepares its food in summer
    and gathers its sustenance in harvest.(B)

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12 I, wisdom, share a home with shrewdness
and have knowledge and discretion.(A)
13 To fear the Lord is to hate evil.(B)
I hate arrogant pride, evil conduct,
and perverse speech.
14 I possess good advice and sound wisdom;[a]
I have understanding and strength.(C)
15 It is by me that kings reign(D)
and rulers enact just law;
16 by me, princes lead,
as do nobles and all righteous judges.[b]

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Footnotes

  1. 8:14 Or resourcefulness
  2. 8:16 Some Hb mss, LXX read nobles who judge the earth

12 I, wisdom, live with prudence,
    and I attain knowledge and discretion.(A)
13 The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil.
Pride and arrogance and the way of evil
    and perverted speech I hate.(B)
14 I have good advice and sound wisdom;
    I have insight; I have strength.(C)
15 By me kings reign,
    and rulers decree what is just;(D)
16 by me rulers rule,
    and nobles, all who govern rightly.

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The righteousness of the blameless clears his path,
but the wicked person will fall because of his wickedness.

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The righteousness of the blameless keeps their ways straight,
    but the wicked fall by their own wickedness.

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23 The desire of the righteous turns out well,(A)
but the hope of the wicked leads to wrath.(B)

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23 The desire of the righteous ends only in good,
    the expectation of the wicked in wrath.

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24 The diligent hand will rule,
but laziness will lead to forced labor.(A)

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24 The hand of the diligent will rule,
    while the lazy will be put to forced labor.

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From the fruit of his mouth,
a person will enjoy good things,(A)
but treacherous people have an appetite for violence.(B)

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From the fruit of their words good persons eat good things,
    but the desire of the treacherous is for wrongdoing.

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13 The one who has contempt for instruction will pay the penalty,(A)
but the one who respects a command will be rewarded.(B)

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13 Those who despise a word bring destruction on themselves,
    but those who respect a command will be rewarded.(A)

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22 Plans fail when there is no counsel,
but with many advisers they succeed.(A)

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22 Without counsel, plans go wrong,
    but with many advisers they succeed.(A)

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Commit your activities to the Lord,
and your plans will be established.(A)

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Commit your work to the Lord,
    and your plans will be established.(A)

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A person’s heart plans his way,
but the Lord determines his steps.(A)

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The human mind plans the way,
    but the Lord directs the steps.(A)

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12 Wicked behavior is detestable to kings,(A)
since a throne is established through righteousness.(B)

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12 It is an abomination to kings to do evil,
    for the throne is established by righteousness.(A)

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