Daily Wisdom Plan

¹A good name is to be chosen over great wealth; favor is better than silver and gold.

²Rich and poor have this in common: the LORD makes them all.

³A sensible person sees danger and takes cover, but the inexperienced keep going and are punished.

⁴Humility, the fear of the LORD, results in wealth, honor, and life.

⁵There are thorns and snares on the way of the crooked; the one who guards himself stays far from them.

⁶Start a youth out on his way; even when he grows old he will not depart from it.

⁷The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is a slave to the lender.

⁸The one who sows injustice will reap disaster, and the rod of his fury will be destroyed.

⁹A generous person will be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor.

¹⁰Drive out a mocker, and conflict goes too; then quarreling and dishonor will cease.

¹¹The one who loves a pure heart and gracious lips — the king is his friend.

¹²The LORD’s eyes keep watch over knowledge, but he overthrows the words of the treacherous.

¹³The slacker says, “There’s a lion outside! I’ll be killed in the public square!”

¹⁴The mouth of the forbidden woman is a deep pit; a man cursed by the LORD will fall into it.

¹⁵Foolishness is bound to the heart of a youth; a rod of discipline will separate it from him.

¹⁶Oppressing the poor to enrich oneself, and giving to the rich — both lead only to poverty.

¹⁷Listen closely, pay attention to the words of the wise, and apply your mind to my knowledge.

¹⁸For it is pleasing if you keep them within you and if they are constantly on your lips.

¹⁹I have instructed you today — even you — so that your confidence may be in the LORD.

²⁰Haven’t I written for you thirty sayings about counsel and knowledge,

²¹in order to teach you true and reliable words, so that you may give a dependable report to those who sent you?

²²Don’t rob a poor person because he is poor, and don’t crush the oppressed at the city gate,

²³for the LORD will champion their cause and will plunder those who plunder them.

²⁴Don’t make friends with an angry person, and don’t be a companion of a hot-tempered one,

²⁵or you will learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare.

²⁶Don’t be one of those who enter agreements, who put up security for loans.

²⁷If you have nothing with which to pay, even your bed will be taken from under you.

²⁸Don’t move an ancient boundary marker that your fathers set up.

²⁹Do you see a person skilled in his work? He will stand in the presence of kings. He will not stand in the presence of the unknown.

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

²and put a knife to your throat if you have a big appetite;

³don’t desire his choice food, for that food is deceptive.

⁴Don’t wear yourself out to get rich; because you know better, stop!

⁵As soon as your eyes fly to it, it disappears, for it makes wings for itself and flies like an eagle to the sky.

⁶Don’t eat a stingy person’s bread, and don’t desire his choice food,

⁷for it’s like someone calculating inwardly. “Eat and drink,” he says to you, but his heart is not with you.

⁸You will vomit the little you’ve eaten and waste your pleasant words.

⁹Don’t speak to a fool, for he will despise the insight of your words.

¹⁰Don’t move an ancient boundary marker, and don’t encroach on the fields of the fatherless,

¹¹for their Redeemer is strong, and he will champion their cause against you.

¹²Apply yourself to discipline and listen to words of knowledge.

¹³Don’t withhold discipline from a youth; if you punish him with a rod, he will not die.

¹⁴Punish him with a rod, and you will rescue his life from Sheol.

¹⁵My son, if your heart is wise, my heart will indeed rejoice.

¹⁶My innermost being will celebrate when your lips say what is right.

¹⁷Don’t let your heart envy sinners; instead, always fear the LORD.

¹⁸For then you will have a future, and your hope will not be dashed.

¹⁹Listen, my son, and be wise; keep your mind on the right course.

²⁰Don’t associate with those who drink too much wine or with those who gorge themselves on meat.

²¹For the drunkard and the glutton will become poor, and grogginess will clothe them in rags.

²²Listen to your father who gave you life, and don’t despise your mother when she is old.

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

²⁴The father of a righteous son will rejoice greatly, and one who fathers a wise son will delight in him.

²⁵Let your father and mother have joy, and let her who gave birth to you rejoice.

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

²⁷For a prostitute is a deep pit, and a wayward woman is a narrow well;

²⁸indeed, she sets an ambush like a robber and increases the number of unfaithful people.

²⁹Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has conflicts? Who has complaints? Who has wounds for no reason? Who has red eyes?

³⁰Those who linger over wine; those who go looking for mixed wine.

³¹Don’t gaze at wine because it is red, because it gleams in the cup and goes down smoothly.

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

³³Your eyes will see strange things, and you will say absurd things.

³⁴You’ll be like someone sleeping out at sea or lying down on the top of a ship’s mast.

³⁵“They struck me, but I feel no pain! They beat me, but I didn’t know it! When will I wake up? I’ll look for another drink.”

¹Don’t envy the evil or desire to be with them,

²for their hearts plan violence, and their words stir up trouble.

³A house is built by wisdom, and it is established by understanding;

⁴by knowledge the rooms are filled with every precious and beautiful treasure.

⁵A wise warrior is better than a strong one, and a man of knowledge than one of strength;

⁶for you should wage war with sound guidance — victory comes with many counselors.

⁷Wisdom is inaccessible to a fool; he does not open his mouth at the city gate.

⁸The one who plots evil will be called a schemer.

⁹A foolish scheme is sin, and a mocker is detestable to people.

¹⁰If you do nothing in a difficult time, your strength is limited.

¹¹Rescue those being taken off to death, and save those stumbling toward slaughter.

¹²If you say, “But we didn’t know about this,” won’t he who weighs hearts consider it? Won’t he who protects your life know? Won’t he repay a person according to his work?

¹³Eat honey, my son, for it is good, and the honeycomb is sweet to your palate;

¹⁴realize that wisdom is the same for you. If you find it, you will have a future, and your hope will never fade.

¹⁵Don’t set an ambush, you wicked one, at the camp of the righteous man; don’t destroy his dwelling.

¹⁶Though a righteous person falls seven times, he will get up, but the wicked will stumble into ruin.

¹⁷Don’t gloat when your enemy falls, and don’t let your heart rejoice when he stumbles,

¹⁸or the LORD will see, be displeased, and turn his wrath away from him.

¹⁹Don’t be agitated by evildoers, and don’t envy the wicked.

²⁰For the evil have no future; the lamp of the wicked will be put out.

²¹My son, fear the LORD, as well as the king, and don’t associate with rebels,

²²for destruction will come suddenly from them; who knows what distress these two can bring?

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

²⁴Whoever says to the guilty, “You are innocent”  — peoples will curse him, and nations will denounce him;

²⁵but it will go well with those who convict the guilty, and a generous blessing will come to them.

²⁶He who gives an honest answer gives a kiss on the lips.

²⁷Complete your outdoor work, and prepare your field; afterward, build your house.

²⁸Don’t testify against your neighbor without cause. Don’t deceive with your lips.

²⁹Don’t say, “I’ll do to him what he did to me; I’ll repay the man for what he has done.”

³⁰I went by the field of a slacker and by the vineyard of one lacking sense.

³¹Thistles had come up everywhere, weeds covered the ground, and the stone wall was ruined.

³²I saw, and took it to heart; I looked, and received instruction:

³³a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the arms to rest,

³⁴and your poverty will come like a robber, and your need, like a bandit.