Let love and faithfulness(A) never leave you;
    bind them around your neck,
    write them on the tablet of your heart.(B)

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Let not mercy and truth forsake you;
(A)Bind them around your neck,
(B)Write them on the tablet of your heart,

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13 A gossip betrays a confidence,(A)
    but a trustworthy person keeps a secret.(B)

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13 (A)A talebearer reveals secrets,
But he who is of a faithful spirit (B)conceals a matter.

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22 Do not those who plot evil go astray?(A)
    But those who plan what is good find[a] love and faithfulness.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 14:22 Or show

22 Do they not go astray who devise evil?
But mercy and truth belong to those who devise good.

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Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for;
    through the fear of the Lord(A) evil is avoided.(B)

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(A)In mercy and truth
Atonement is provided for iniquity;
And (B)by the fear of the Lord one departs from evil.

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17 A friend loves at all times,
    and a brother is born for a time of adversity.(A)

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17 (A)A friend loves at all times,
And a brother is born for adversity.

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22 What a person desires is unfailing love[a];
    better to be poor than a liar.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 19:22 Or Greed is a person’s shame

22 What is desired in a man is [a]kindness,
And a poor man is better than a liar.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 19:22 Lit. lovingkindness

Many claim to have unfailing love,
    but a faithful person who can find?(A)

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Most men will proclaim each his own [a]goodness,
But who can find a faithful man?

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 20:6 Lit. mercy

28 Love and faithfulness keep a king safe;
    through love(A) his throne is made secure.(B)

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28 (A)Mercy and truth preserve the king,
And by [a]lovingkindness he upholds his throne.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 20:28 mercy

Saying 18

26 My son,(A) give me your heart
    and let your eyes delight in my ways,(B)
27 for an adulterous woman is a deep pit,(C)
    and a wayward wife is a narrow well.
28 Like a bandit she lies in wait(D)
    and multiplies the unfaithful among men.

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

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13 Like a snow-cooled drink at harvest time
    is a trustworthy messenger to the one who sends him;
    he refreshes the spirit of his master.(A)

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13 (A)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.

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19 Like a broken tooth or a lame foot
    is reliance on the unfaithful in a time of trouble.

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

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20 A faithful person will be richly blessed,
    but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished.(A)

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20 A faithful man will abound with blessings,
(A)But he who hastens to be rich will not go unpunished.

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