Chronological Plan

¹A good name [earned by honorable behavior, godly wisdom, moral courage, and personal integrity] is more desirable than great riches; And favor is better than silver and gold.

²The rich and poor have a common bond; The LORD is the Maker of them all.

³A prudent and far-sighted person sees the evil [of sin] and hides himself [from it], But the naive continue on and are punished [by suffering the consequences of sin].

⁴The reward of humility [that is, having a realistic view of one's importance] and the [reverent, worshipful] fear of the LORD Is riches, honor, and life.

⁵Thorns and snares are in the way of the obstinate [for their lack of honor and their wrong-doing traps them]; He who guards himself [with godly wisdom] will be far from them and avoid the consequences they suffer.

⁶Train up a child in the way he should go [teaching him to seek God's wisdom and will for his abilities and talents], Even when he is old he will not depart from it.

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

⁸He who sows injustice will reap [a harvest of] trouble, And the rod of his wrath [with which he oppresses others] will fail.

⁹He who is generous will be blessed, For he gives some of his food to the poor.

¹⁰Drive out the scoffer, and contention will go away; Even strife and dishonor 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 guard over knowledge and the one who has it, But He overthrows the words of the treacherous.

¹³The lazy one [manufactures excuses and] says, "There is a lion outside! I will be killed in the streets [if I go out to work]!"

¹⁴The mouth of an immoral woman is a deep pit [deep and inescapable]; He who is cursed by the LORD [because of his adulterous sin] will fall into it.

¹⁵Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; The rod of discipline [correction administered with godly wisdom and lovingkindness] will remove it far from him.

¹⁶He who oppresses or exploits the poor to get more for himself Or who gives to the rich [to gain influence and favor], will only come to poverty.

¹⁷Listen carefully and hear the words of the wise, And apply your mind to my knowledge;

¹⁸For it will be pleasant if you keep them in mind [incorporating them as guiding principles]; Let them be ready on your lips [to guide and strengthen yourself and others].

¹⁹So that your trust and reliance and confidence may be in the LORD, I have taught these things to you today, even to you.

²⁰Have I not written to you excellent things In counsels and knowledge,

²¹To let you know the certainty of the words of truth, That you may give a correct answer to him who sent you?

²²Do not rob the poor because he is poor [and defenseless], Nor crush the afflicted [by legal proceedings] at the gate [where the city court is held],

²³For the LORD will plead their case And take the life of those who rob them.

²⁴Do not even associate with a man given to angry outbursts; Or go [along] with a hot-tempered man,

²⁵Or you will learn his [undisciplined] ways And get yourself trapped [in a situation from which it is hard to escape].

²⁶Do not be among those who give pledges [involving themselves in others' finances], Or among those who become guarantors for others' debts.

²⁷If you have nothing with which to pay [another's debt when he defaults], Why should his creditor take your bed from under you?

²⁸Do not move the ancient landmark [at the boundary of the property] Which your fathers have set.

²⁹Do you see a man skillful and experienced in his work? He will stand [in honor] before kings; He will not stand before obscure men.

¹When you sit down to dine with a ruler, Consider carefully what is [set] before you;

²For you will put a knife to your throat If you are a man of great appetite.

³Do not desire his delicacies, For it is deceptive food [offered to you with questionable motives].

⁴Do not weary yourself [with the overwhelming desire] to gain wealth; Cease from your own understanding of it.

⁵When you set your eyes on wealth, it is [suddenly] gone. For wealth certainly makes itself wings Like an eagle that flies to the heavens.

⁶Do not eat the bread of a selfish man, Or desire his delicacies;

⁷For as he thinks in his heart, so is he [in behavior—one who manipulates]. He says to you, "Eat and drink," Yet his heart is not with you [but it is begrudging the cost].

⁸The morsel which you have eaten you will vomit up, And you will waste your compliments.

⁹Do not speak in the ears of a fool, For he will despise the [godly] wisdom of your words.

¹⁰Do not move the ancient landmark [at the boundary of the property] And do not go into the fields of the fatherless [to take what is theirs],

¹¹For their Redeemer is strong and mighty; He will plead their case against you.

¹²Apply your heart to discipline And your ears to words of knowledge.

¹³Do not withhold discipline from the child; If you swat him with a reed-like rod [applied with godly wisdom], he will not die.

¹⁴You shall swat him with the reed-like rod And rescue his life from Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead).

¹⁵My son, if your heart is wise, My heart will also be glad;

¹⁶Yes, my heart will rejoice When your lips speak right things.

¹⁷Do not let your heart envy sinners [who live godless lives and have no hope of salvation], But [continue to] live in the [reverent, worshipful] fear of the LORD day by day.

¹⁸Surely there is a future [and a reward], And your hope and expectation will not be cut off.

¹⁹Listen, my son, and be wise, And direct your heart in the way [of the LORD].

²⁰Do not associate with heavy drinkers of wine, Or with gluttonous eaters of meat,

²¹For the heavy drinker and the glutton will come to poverty, And the drowsiness [of overindulgence] will clothe one with rags.

²²Listen to your father, who sired you, And do not despise your mother when she is old.

²³Buy truth, and do not sell it; Get wisdom and instruction and understanding.

²⁴The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice, And he who sires a wise child will have joy in him.

²⁵Let your father and your mother be glad, And let her who gave birth to you rejoice [in your wise and godly choices].

²⁶My son, give me your heart And let your eyes delight in my ways,

²⁷For a prostitute is a deep pit, And an immoral woman is a narrow well.

²⁸She lurks and lies in wait like a robber [who waits for prey], And she increases the faithless among men.

²⁹Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Whose eyes are red and dim?

³⁰Those who linger long over wine, Those who go to taste mixed wine.

³¹Do not look at wine when it is red, When it sparkles in the glass, When it goes down smoothly.

³²At the last it bites like a serpent And stings like a viper.

³³Your [drunken] eyes will see strange things And your mind will utter perverse things [untrue things, twisted things].

³⁴And you will be [as unsteady] as one who lies down in the middle of the sea, And [as vulnerable to disaster] as one who lies down on the top of a ship's mast, saying,

³⁵"They struck me, but I was not hurt! They beat me, but I did not feel it! When will I wake up? I will seek more wine."

¹Do not be envious of evil men, Nor desire to be with them;

²For their minds plot violence, And their lips talk of trouble [for the innocent].

³Through [skillful and godly] wisdom a house [a life, a home, a family] is built, And by understanding it is established [on a sound and good foundation],

⁴And by knowledge its rooms are filled With all precious and pleasant riches.

⁵A wise man is strong, And a man of knowledge strengthens his power;

⁶For by wise guidance you can wage your war, And in an abundance of [wise] counselors there is victory and safety.

⁷Wisdom is too exalted for a [hardened, arrogant] fool; He does not open his mouth in the gate [where the city's rulers sit in judgment].

⁸He who plans to do evil Will be called a schemer or deviser of evil.

⁹The devising of folly is sin, And the scoffer is repulsive to men.

¹⁰If you are slack (careless) in the day of distress, Your strength is limited.

¹¹Rescue those who are being taken away to death, And those who stagger to the slaughter, Oh hold them back [from their doom]!

¹²If you [claim ignorance and] say, "See, we did not know this," Does He not consider it who weighs and examines the hearts and their motives? And does He not know it who guards your life and keeps your soul? And will He not repay [you and] every man according to his works?

¹³My son, eat honey, because it is good, And the drippings of the honeycomb are sweet to your taste.

¹⁴Know that [skillful and godly] wisdom is [so very good] for your life and soul; If you find wisdom, then there will be a future and a reward, And your hope and expectation will not be cut off.

¹⁵Do not lie in wait, O wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous; Do not destroy his resting place;

¹⁶For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again, But the wicked stumble in time of disaster and collapse.

¹⁷Do not rejoice and gloat when your enemy falls, And do not let your heart be glad [in self-righteousness] when he stumbles,

¹⁸Or the LORD will see your gloating and be displeased, And turn His anger away from your enemy.

¹⁹Do not get upset because of evildoers, Or be envious of the wicked,

²⁰For there will be no future for the evil man; The lamp of the wicked will be put out.

²¹My son, fear the LORD and the king; And do not associate with those who are given to change [of allegiance, and are revolutionary],

²²For their tragedy will rise suddenly, And who knows the punishment that both [the LORD and the king] will bring on the rebellious?

²³These also are sayings of the wise: To show partiality in judgment is not good.

²⁴He who says to the wicked, "You are righteous," Peoples will curse him, nations will denounce him;

²⁵But to those [honorable judges] who rebuke the wicked, it will go well with them and they will find delight, And a good blessing will come upon them.

²⁶He kisses the lips [and wins the hearts of people] Who gives a right and straightforward answer.

²⁷Prepare your work outside And get it ready for yourself in the field; Afterward build your house and establish a home.

²⁸Do not be a witness against your neighbor without cause, And do not deceive with your lips [speak neither lies nor half-truths].

²⁹Do not say, "I will do to him as he has done to me; I will pay the man back for his deed."

³⁰I went by the field of the lazy man, And by the vineyard of the man lacking understanding and common sense;

³¹And, behold, it was all overgrown with thorns, And nettles were covering its surface, And its stone wall was broken down.

³²When I saw, I considered it well; I looked and received instruction.

³³"Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to rest [and daydream],"

³⁴Then your poverty will come as a robber, And your want like an armed man.