Proverbs Chapter 22 to 23 : English Standard Version   | SearchSearch | Next Version | Previous Page | Next Page |

Other Versions22  22:1 A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold. 2The rich and the poor meet together; the Lord is the maker of them all. 3The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it. 4The reward for humility and fear of the Lord is riches and honor and life.[1] 5Thorns and snares are in the way of the crooked; whoever guards his soul will keep far from them. 6Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. 7The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender. 8Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity, and the rod of his fury will fail. 9Whoever has a bountiful[2] eye will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor. 10Drive out a scoffer, and strife will go out, and quarreling and abuse will cease. 11He who loves purity of heart, and whose speech is gracious, will have the king as his friend. 12The eyes of the Lord keep watch over knowledge, but he overthrows the words of the traitor. 13The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside! I shall be killed in the streets!” 14The mouth of forbidden[3] women is a deep pit; he with whom the Lord is angry will fall into it. 15Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him. 16Whoever oppresses the poor to increase his own wealth, or gives to the rich, will only come to poverty.

Words of the Wise

17Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply your heart to my knowledge, 18for it will be pleasant if you keep them within you, if all of them are ready on your lips. 19That your trust may be in the Lord, I have made them known to you today, even to you. 20Have I not written for you thirty sayings of counsel and knowledge, 21to make you know what is right and true, that you may give a true answer to those who sent you?

22Do not rob the poor, because he is poor, or crush the afflicted at the gate, 23for the Lord will plead their cause and rob of life those who rob them. 24Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man, 25lest you learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare. 26Be not one of those who give pledges, who put up security for debts. 27If you have nothing with which to pay, why should your bed be taken from under you? 28Do not move the ancient landmark that your fathers have set. 29Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men.

[1] Or The reward for humility is the fear of the Lord, riches and honor and life  [2] Hebrew good  [3] Hebrew strange


23 23:1 When you sit down to eat with a ruler, observe carefully what[4] is before you, 2and put a knife to your throat if you are given to appetite. 3Do not desire his delicacies, for they are deceptive food. 4Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist. 5When your eyes light on it, it is gone, for suddenly it sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven. 6Do not eat the bread of a man who is stingy;[5] do not desire his delicacies, 7for he is like one who is inwardly calculating.[6] “Eat and drink!” he says to you, but his heart is not with you. 8You will vomit up the morsels that you have eaten, and waste your pleasant words. 9Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, for he will despise the good sense of your words. 10Do not move an ancient landmark or enter the fields of the fatherless, 11for their Redeemer is strong; he will plead their cause against you. 12Apply your heart to instruction and your ear to words of knowledge. 13Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you strike him with a rod, he will not die. 14If you strike him with the rod, you will save his soul from Sheol. 15My son, if your heart is wise, my heart too will be glad. 16My inmost being[7] will exult when your lips speak what is right. 17Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of the Lord all the day. 18Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.

19Hear, my son, and be wise, and direct your heart in the way. 20Be not among drunkards[8] or among gluttonous eaters of meat, 21for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and slumber will clothe them with rags.

22Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old. 23Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding. 24The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him. 25Let your father and mother be glad; let her who bore you rejoice.

26My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe[9] my ways. 27For a prostitute is a deep pit; an adulteress[10] is a narrow well. 28She lies in wait like a robber and increases the traitors among mankind.

29Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? 30Those who tarry long over wine; those who go to try mixed wine. 31Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly. 32In the end it bites like a serpent and stings like an adder. 33Your eyes will see strange things, and your heart utter perverse things. 34You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, like one who lies on the top of a mast.[11] 35“They struck me,” you will say,[12] “but I was not hurt; they beat me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake? I must have another drink.”

[4] Or who  [5] Hebrew whose eye is evil  [6] Or for as he calculates in his soul, so is he  [7] Hebrew My kidneys  [8] Hebrew those who drink too much wine  [9] Or delight in  [10] Hebrew a foreign woman  [11] Or of the rigging  [12] Hebrew lacks you will say

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