Chronological Plan

¹A good name is to be more desired than great wealth; Favor is better than silver and gold.

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

³A prudent person sees evil and hides himself, But the naive proceed, and pay the penalty.

⁴The reward of humility and the fear of the LORD Are riches, honor, and life.

⁵Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse; One who guards himself will be far from them.

⁶Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he grows older he will not abandon it.

⁷The rich rules over the poor, And the borrower becomes the lender’s slave.

⁸One who sows injustice will reap disaster, And the rod of his fury will perish.

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

¹⁰Drive out the scoffer, and strife will leave, Even quarreling and dishonor will cease.

¹¹One who loves purity of heart And whose speech is gracious, the king is his friend.

¹²The eyes of the LORD protect knowledge, But He overthrows the words of the treacherous person.

¹³The lazy one says, “There is a lion outside; I will be killed in the streets!”

¹⁴The mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit; He who is cursed of the LORD will fall into it.

¹⁵Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; The rod of discipline will remove it far from him.

¹⁶One who oppresses the poor to make more for himself, Or gives to the rich, will only come to poverty.

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

¹⁸For it will be pleasant if you keep them within you, So that they may be ready on your lips.

¹⁹So that your trust may be in the LORD, I have taught you today, you indeed.

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

²¹To make you know the certainty of the words of truth, So that you may correctly answer him who sent you?

²²Do not rob the poor because he is poor, Nor crush the needy at the gate;

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

²⁴Do not make friends with a person given to anger, Or go with a hot-tempered person,

²⁵Or you will learn his ways And find a snare for yourself.

²⁶Do not be among those who shake hands, Among those who become guarantors for debts.

²⁷If you have nothing with which to repay, Why should he take your bed from under you?

²⁸Do not move the ancient boundary Which your fathers have set.

²⁹Do you see a person skilled in his work? He will stand before kings; He will not stand before obscure people.

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

²And put a knife to your throat If you are a person of great appetite.

³Do not desire his delicacies, For it is deceptive food.

⁴Do not weary yourself to gain wealth; Stop dwelling on it.

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

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

⁷For as he thinks within himself, so he is. He says to you, “Eat and drink!” But his heart is not with you.

⁸You will vomit up the morsel you have eaten And waste your compliments.

⁹Do not speak to be heard by a fool, For he will despise the wisdom of your words.

¹⁰Do not move the ancient boundary Or go into the fields of the fatherless,

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

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

¹³Do not withhold discipline from a child; Though you strike him with the rod, he will not die.

¹⁴You shall strike him with the rod And rescue his soul from Sheol.

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

¹⁶And my innermost being will rejoice When your lips speak what is right.

¹⁷Do not let your heart envy sinners, But live in the fear of the LORD always.

¹⁸Certainly there is a future, And your hope will not be cut off.

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

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

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

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

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

²⁴The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice, And he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him.

²⁵Let your father and your mother be glad, And let her rejoice who gave birth to you.

²⁶Give me your heart, my son, And let your eyes delight in my ways.

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

²⁸Certainly she lurks as a robber, And increases the treacherous among mankind.

²⁹Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has red eyes?

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 cup, When it goes down smoothly;

³²In the end it bites like a snake And stings like a viper.

³³Your eyes will see strange things And your mind will say perverse things.

³⁴And you will be like one who lies down in the middle of the sea, Or like one who lies down on the top of a mast.

³⁵“They struck me, but I did not become ill; They beat me, but I did not know it. When will I awake? I will seek another drink.”

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

²For their minds plot violence, And their lips talk of trouble.

³By wisdom a house is built, And by understanding it is established;

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

⁵A wise man is strong, And a person of knowledge increases power.

⁶For by wise guidance you will wage war, And in an abundance of counselors there is victory.

⁷Wisdom is too exalted for a fool, He does not open his mouth at the gate.

⁸One who plans to do evil, People will call a schemer.

⁹The devising of foolishness is sin, And the scoffer is an abomination to humanity.

¹⁰If you show yourself lacking courage on the day of distress, Your strength is meager.

¹¹Rescue those who are being taken away to death, And those who are staggering to the slaughter, Oh hold them back!

¹²If you say, “See, we did not know this,” Does He who weighs the hearts not consider it? And does He who watches over your soul not know it? And will He not repay a person according to his work?

¹³My son, eat honey, for it is good; Yes, the honey from the comb is sweet to your taste;

¹⁴Know that wisdom is the same for your soul; If you find it, then there will be a future, And your hope will not be cut off.

¹⁵Do not lie in ambush, you wicked person, against the home of the righteous; Do not destroy his resting place;

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

¹⁷Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, And do not let your heart rejoice when he stumbles,

¹⁸Otherwise, the LORD will see and be displeased, And turn His anger away from him.

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

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

²¹My son, fear the LORD and the king; Do not get involved with those of high rank,

²²For their disaster will rise suddenly, And who knows the ruin that can come from both of them?

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

²⁴One who says to the wicked, “You are righteous,” Peoples will curse him, nations will scold him;

²⁵But for those who rebuke the wicked there will be delight, And a good blessing will come upon them.

²⁶One who gives a right answer Kisses the lips.

²⁷Prepare your work outside, And make it ready for yourself in the field; Afterward, then, build your house.

²⁸Do not be a witness against your neighbor for no reason, And do not deceive with your lips.

²⁹Do not say, “I shall do the same to him as he has done to me; I will repay the person according to his work.”

³⁰I passed by the field of a lazy one, And by the vineyard of a person lacking sense,

³¹And behold, it was completely overgrown with weeds; Its surface was covered with weeds, And its stone wall was broken down.

³²When I saw, I reflected upon it; I looked, and received instruction.

³³“A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to rest,”

³⁴Then your poverty will come like a drifter, And your need like an armed man.