Chronological
22 A shem tov is rather to be desired than osher rav, and chen (grace) rather than kesef and zahav.
2 The oisher (rich man) and the rahsh (pauper) have this in common: Hashem is the Oseh (Maker) of them all.
3 A prudent man foreseeth the ra’ah, and hideth himself, but the naïve trudge on, and are punished.
4 By anavah (humility) and the Yirat Hashem are osher, and kavod, and chayyim.
5 Thorns and pachim (snares) are in the derech of the crooked; he that is shomer over his nefesh shall be far from them.
6 Train up a na’ar in the derech (road) he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
7 The oisher ruleth over the rahshim (paupers), and the loveh (borrower, debtor) is eved (slave) to the ish malveh (lender).
8 He that soweth iniquity shall reap aven (iniquity), and the shevet (rod) of his wrath shall disappear.
9 He that hath a tov ayin (generous eye) shall have a bracha; for he giveth of his lechem to the dal (poor).
10 Cast out the scoffer, and contention shall leave; indeed, strife and kalon (shame) shall cease.
11 He that loveth tahor lev (a pure heart), for the chen (grace) on his sfatayim (lips) the Melech shall be his re’a (friend).
12 The eynayim of Hashem preserve da’as, and He overthroweth the devarim of the boged (unfaithful, treacherous, traitor).
13 The atzel (sluggard, lazy one) saith, There is an ari (lion) outside; I shall be murdered in the streets.
14 The peh (mouth) of zarot (strange women) is a deep pit; he that is under the wrath of Hashem shall fall therein.
15 Folly is bound in the lev na’ar, but the shevet musar (rod of correction) shall drive it far from him.
16 He that oppresseth the dal (poor) in order to increase, and he that giveth to the oisher, shall surely come to machsor (poverty, want).
17 Bow down thine ozen, and hear the devarim of chachamim, and apply thine lev (mind, heart) unto my da’as.
18 For it is a pleasant thing if thou be shomer over them within thee; they shall therewith abide ready upon thy sfatayim (lips).
19 That thy trust may be in Hashem, I have made thee know this yom, even thee!
20 Have not I written to thee shloshim (thirty sayings) in mo’etzot (counsels) and da’as,
21 That I might make thee know the certain truth of the words of emes; that thou mightest bring back words of emes to them that send thee?
22 Exploit not the dal (poor), because he is dal (poor); neither oppress the oni (afflicted) in the sha’ar,
23 For Hashem will plead their cause, and plunder the nefesh of those that plundered them.
24 Make no friendship with a ba’al af (angry man), and with an ish chemot (man of wrath) thou shalt not go,
25 Lest thou learn his orkhot (ways), and take a mokesh (snare) for thy nefesh.
26 Be not thou one of them that shake hands in a pledge, or of them that are collateral for masha’ot (debts, loans).
27 If thou hast nothing with which to pay, why should he take away thy mishkav (bed) from under thee?
28 Remove not the gevul olam (ancient landmark), which avoteicha have set.
29 Seest thou an ish mahir (diligent, one who excells) in his work? He shall stand before melachim; he shall not stand before obscure men.
23 When thou sittest to dine with a moshel (ruler), consider diligently what is before thee,
2 And put a sakin (knife) to thy throat, if thou be a ba’al nefesh (man given to gluttony).
3 Be not desirous of his delicacies, for they are lechem kezavim (deceitful food).
4 Overwork not to get rich; cease from thine own binah (understanding).
5 Wilt thou let thine eynayim fly after that which is not? For such [wealth] certainly sprouts kenafayim (wings); they fly away as a nesher (eagle) toward Shomayim.
6 Eat thou not the lechem of him that hath a rah ayin (evil eye, i.e., a miser), neither desire thou his delicacies;
7 For as he reckoneth in his nefesh, so is he. Eat and drink, saith he to thee, but his lev is not with thee.
8 The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy pleasant devarim.
9 Speak not in the oznayim of a kesil (fool), for he will despise the seichel of thy words.
10 Remove not the gevul olam (ancient landmark); and enter not into the sadot of the yetomim (fatherless ones, orphans),
11 For their Go’el is chazak (strong); He shall plead their cause against thee.
12 Apply thine lev unto musar, and thine oznayim to the words of da’as.
13 Withhold not musar (correction) from the na’ar (child), for if thou spank him with the shevet, he shall not die.
14 Thou shalt spank him with the shevet, and shalt save his nefesh from Sheol.
15 Beni (my son), if thine lev be chacham, my own lev shall have simchah.
16 Indeed, my inmost being shall rejoice, when thy sfatayim (lips) speak meisharim (upright things).
17 Let not thine lev envy chatta’im, but be thou in the Yirat Hashem kol hayom.
18 For surely there is an acharit (latter end, future), and thine tikvah shall not be cut off.
19 Hear thou, beni (my son), and be chacham, and guide thine lev straight on the derech.
20 Be not among yayin gluttons; among gluttonous eaters of basar,
21 For the drunkard and the zolel (glutton) shall come to poverty, and drowsiness shall clothe with rags.
22 Pay heed unto avicha that fathered thee, and despise not immecha when she is old.
23 Buy emes, and sell it not; also chochmah, and musar, and binah (understanding).
24 Avi tzaddik (the father of a righteous one) shall greatly rejoice, and he that fathereth a chacham shall have simchah in him.
25 Avicha and immecha shall be glad, and she that bore thee shall rejoice.
26 Beni (my son), give me thine lev, and let thine eynayim delight in my drakhim.
27 For a zonah is a deep pit, and a nokhriyah (strange woman, foreign woman, seductress, unfaithful wife) is a narrow well.
28 She also lieth in wait like a road bandit, and increaseth the bogedim (unfaithful) among adam (mankind).
29 Who hath oy (woe)? Who hath sorrow? Who hath strifes? Who hath complaint? Who hath needless wounds? Who hath bloodshot eynayim?
30 They that tarry long at the yayin, they that turn in to sample mixed wine.
31 Stare not thou into the yayin when it is red, when it sparkles in the kos (cup), when it goeth down smoothly.
32 At the acharit (latter end, future) it biteth like a nachash, and stingeth with venomous poisons like a viper.
33 Thine eynayim shall behold zarot (strange women), and thine lev shall utter perverse things.
34 Indeed, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the lev yam (heart of the sea), or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.
35 They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not hurt; they have beaten me, and I felt it not. Mosai (when) shall I awake? I will seek yet another drink.
24 Be not thou envious of anshei ra’ah, neither desire to be with them.
2 For their lev plotteth violence, and their sfatayim (lips) talk of amal (trouble).
3 Through chochmah is a bais built, and by tevunah (understanding) it is established.
4 And by da’as shall the chadarim (chambers, rooms) be filled with all precious and pleasant hon (riches, wealth).
5 A gever chacham is strong; indeed, an ish da’as (man of knowledge) increaseth ko’ach.
6 For by tachbulot (guidance) thou shalt wage thy milchamah (war), and in a multitude of yo’etz (counselors) there is teshu’ah (victory, safety).
7 Chochmah is too lofty for a fool; he openeth not his peh (mouth) at the sha’ar.
8 He that plotteth to do evil shall be called a ba’al mezimmot (master of schemes).
9 The scheme of folly is chattat (sin), and the scoffer is a to’evah to adam (man).
10 If thou faint in the yom tzarah, thy strength is small.
11 Save those who are drawn away toward mavet, and hold back those stumbling toward slaughter.
12 If thou sayest, See, we knew it not, doth not He that weigheth the levavot consider it? And He that is guard over thy nefesh, doth not He know it? And shall not He render to every adam according to his works?
13 Beni (my son), eat thou devash, because it is tov; and the honeycomb, which is sweet to thy taste;
14 So shall the knowledge of chochmah be unto thy nefesh; when thou hast found it, then there shall be an acharit (latter end, future), and thy tikvah (hope) shall not be cut off.
15 Lay not in wait, O rasha, against the naveh (dwelling) of the tzaddik; assault not his resting place;
16 For a tzaddik falleth sheva (seven times), and riseth up again, but the resha’im are overthrown in ra’ah.
17 Gloat not when thine oyev falleth, and let not thine lev rejoice when he stumbleth,
18 Lest Hashem see it, and it is rah in His eyes, and He turn away His wrath from him.
19 Fret not thyself because of ra’im, neither be thou envious of the resha’im,
20 For there shall be no acharit (latter end, future) to the rah; the ner (light) of the resha’im shall be put out.
21 Beni (my son), fear thou Hashem and the Melech, and do not associate with them that are otherwise disposed.
22 For their calamity shall arise suddenly; and who hath da’as of ruin those two [i.e., Hashem and the Melech] can bring?
23 These things also belong to chachamim: it is not tov to show partiality in mishpat.
24 He that saith unto the rashah, Thou are tzaddik, him shall the people curse, nations shall detest him;
25 But to them that rebuke the wicked, it is well, and birkat tov shall come upon them.
26 He that giveth an answer that is nakhon (right, correct), giveth a kiss on the sfatayim.
27 Set in order thy outside work, and make ready for thyself in the sadeh; then afterwards build thine bais.
28 Be not an ed (witness) against thy re’a without cause, and deceive not with thy sfatayim (lips).
29 Say not, I will do so to him as he hath done to me, I will render to the ish according to his work.
30 I went by the sadeh of the ish atzel (sluggard, lazy one), and went past the kerem (vineyard) of the adam chasar lev (the man void of lev [of understanding]),
31 And, hinei, it was all grown over with thorns, and charullim (nettles) had covered the surface thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down.
32 Then I saw, and considered it well in my lev; I looked upon it, and received musar.
33 Yet a little shenot (slumber), a little sleep, a little folding of the yadayim to rest;
34 So shall thy poverty come like a prowler; and thy want like an ish mogen (armed warrior).
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