Chronological Plan

¹A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, Loving favor rather than silver and gold.

²The rich and the poor have this in common, The LORD is the maker of them all.

³A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself, But the simple pass on and are punished.

⁴By humility and the fear of the LORD Are riches and honor and life.

⁵Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse; He who guards his soul will be far from them.

⁶Train up a child in the way he should go, And 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 iniquity will reap sorrow, And the rod of his anger will fail.

⁹He who has a generous eye will be blessed, For he gives of his bread to the poor.

¹⁰Cast out the scoffer, and contention will leave; Yes, strife and reproach will cease.

¹¹He who loves purity of heart And has grace on his lips, The king will be his friend.

¹²The eyes of the LORD preserve knowledge, But He overthrows the words of the faithless.

¹³The lazy man says, “There is a lion outside! I shall be slain in the streets!”

¹⁴The mouth of an immoral woman is a deep pit; He who is abhorred by the LORD will fall there.

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

¹⁶He who oppresses the poor to increase his riches, And he who gives to the rich, will surely come to poverty.

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

¹⁸For it is a pleasant thing if you keep them within you; Let them all be fixed upon your lips,

¹⁹So that your trust may be in the LORD; I have instructed you today, even you.

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

²¹That I may make you know the certainty of the words of truth, That you may answer words of truth To those who send to you?

²²Do not rob the poor because he is poor, Nor oppress the afflicted at the gate;

²³For the LORD will plead their cause, And plunder the soul of those who plunder them.

²⁴Make no friendship with an angry man, And with a furious man do not go,

²⁵Lest you learn his ways And set a snare for your soul.

²⁶Do not be one of those who shakes hands in a pledge, One of those who is surety for debts;

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

²⁸Do not remove the ancient landmark Which your fathers have set.

²⁹Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before kings; He will not stand before unknown men.

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

²And put a knife to your throat If you are a man given to appetite.

³Do not desire his delicacies, For they are deceptive food.

⁴Do not overwork to be rich; Because of your own understanding, cease!

⁵Will you set your eyes on that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings; They fly away like an eagle toward heaven.

⁶Do not eat the bread of a miser, Nor desire his delicacies;

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

⁸The morsel you have eaten, you will vomit up, And waste your pleasant words.

⁹Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, For he will despise the wisdom of your words.

¹⁰Do not remove the ancient landmark, Nor enter the fields of the fatherless;

¹¹For their Redeemer is mighty; He will plead their cause against you.

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

¹³Do not withhold correction from a child, For if you beat him with a rod, he will not die.

¹⁴You shall beat him with a rod, And deliver his soul from hell.

¹⁵My son, if your heart is wise, My heart will rejoice—indeed, I myself;

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

¹⁷Do not let your heart envy sinners, But be zealous for the fear of the LORD all the day;

¹⁸For surely there is a hereafter, And your hope will not be cut off.

¹⁹Hear, my son, and be wise; And guide your heart in the way.

²⁰Do not mix with winebibbers, Or with gluttonous eaters of meat;

²¹For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, And drowsiness will clothe a man with rags.

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

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

²⁴The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice, And he who begets a wise child will delight in him.

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

²⁶My son, give me your heart, And let your eyes observe my ways.

²⁷For a harlot is a deep pit, And a seductress is a narrow well.

²⁸She also lies in wait as for a victim, And increases the unfaithful among men.

²⁹Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes?

³⁰Those who linger long at the wine, Those who go in search of mixed wine.

³¹Do not look on the wine when it is red, When it sparkles in the cup, When it swirls around smoothly;

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

³³Your eyes will see strange things, And your heart will utter perverse things.

³⁴Yes, you will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, Or like one who lies at the top of the mast, saying:

³⁵“They have struck me, but I was not hurt; They have beaten me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake, that I may seek another drink?”

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

²For their heart devises violence, And their lips talk of troublemaking.

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

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

⁵A wise man is strong, Yes, a man of knowledge increases strength;

⁶For by wise counsel you will wage your own war, And in a multitude of counselors there is safety.

⁷Wisdom is too lofty for a fool; He does not open his mouth in the gate.

⁸He who plots to do evil Will be called a schemer.

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

¹⁰If you faint in the day of adversity, Your strength is small.

¹¹Deliver those who are drawn toward death, And hold back those stumbling to the slaughter.

¹²If you say, “Surely we did not know this,” Does not He who weighs the hearts consider it? He who keeps your soul, does He not know it? And will He not render to each man according to his deeds?

¹³My son, eat honey because it is good, And the honeycomb which is sweet to your taste;

¹⁴So shall the knowledge of wisdom be to your soul; If you have found it, there is a prospect, And your hope will not be cut off.

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

¹⁶For a righteous man may fall seven times And rise again, But the wicked shall fall by calamity.

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

¹⁸Lest the LORD see it, and it displease Him, And He turn away His wrath from him.

¹⁹Do not fret because of evildoers, Nor be envious of the wicked;

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

²¹My son, fear the LORD and the king; Do not associate with those given to change;

²²For their calamity will rise suddenly, And who knows the ruin those two can bring?

²³These things also belong to the wise: It is not good to show partiality in judgment.

²⁴He who says to the wicked, “You are righteous,” Him the people will curse; Nations will abhor him.

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

²⁶He who gives a right answer kisses the lips.

²⁷Prepare your outside work, Make it fit for yourself in the field; And afterward build your house.

²⁸Do not be a witness against your neighbor without cause, For would you deceive with your lips?

²⁹Do not say, “I will do to him just as he has done to me; I will render to the man according to his work.”

³⁰I went by the field of the lazy man, And by the vineyard of the man devoid of understanding;

³¹And there it was, all overgrown with thorns; Its surface was covered with nettles; Its stone wall was broken down.

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

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

³⁴So shall your poverty come like a prowler, And your need like an armed man.