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Proverbs 21
The king’s heart is in the hand of Yahweh as the watercourses:
He turns it wherever he will.
2 Every way of a man is right in his own eyes;
But Yahweh weighs the hearts.
3 To do righteousness and justice
Is more acceptable to Yahweh than sacrifice.
4 A high look, and a proud heart,
Even the lamp of the wicked, is sin.
5 The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness;
But every one that is hasty hurries only to want.
6 The getting of treasures by a lying tongue
Is a vapor driven to and fro by them that seek death.
7 The violence of the wicked shall sweep them away,
Because they refuse to do justice.
8 The way of him that is loaded with guilt is very crooked;
But as for the pure, his work is right.
9 It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop,
Than with a contentious woman in a wide house.
10 The soul of the wicked desires evil:
His neighbor finds no favor in his eyes.
11 When the scoffer is punished, the simple is made wise;
And when the wise is instructed, he receives knowledge.
12 The righteous man considers the house of the wicked,
How the wicked are overthrown to their ruin.
13 Whoever stops his ears at the cry of the poor,
He also shall cry, but shall not be heard.
14 A gift in secret pacifies anger;
And a present in the bosom, strong wrath.
15 It is joy to the righteous to do justice;
But it is a destruction to the workers of iniquity.
16 The man that wanders out of the way of understanding
Shall rest in the assembly of the dead.
17 He that loves pleasure shall be a poor man:
He that loves wine and oil shall not be rich.
18 The wicked is a ransom for the righteous;
And the treacherous comes in the place of the upright.
19 It is better to dwell in a desert land,
Than with a contentious and fretful woman.
20 There is precious treasure and oil in the dwelling of the wise;
But a foolish man swallows it up.
21 He that follows after righteousness and kindness
Finds life, righteousness, and honor.
22 A wise man scales the city of the mighty,
And brings down the strength of the confidence of it.
23 Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue
Keeps his soul from troubles.
24 The proud and haughty man, scoffer is his name;
He works in the arrogance of pride.
25 The desire of the sluggard kills him;
For his hands refuse to labor.
26 There is that covets greedily all the day long;
But the righteous gives and withholds not.
27 The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination:
How much more, when he brings it with a wicked mind!
28 A false witness shall perish;
But the man that hears shall speak so as to endure.
29 A wicked man hardens his face;
But as for the upright, he considers his ways.
30 There is no wisdom nor understanding
Nor counsel against Yahweh.
31 The horse is prepared against the day of battle; But Victory is of Yahweh.
Proverbs 22
A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches,
And loving favor rather than silver and gold.
2 The rich and the poor meet together:
Yahweh is the maker of them all.
3 A prudent man sees the evil, and hides himself;
But the simple pass on, and suffer for it.
4 The reward of humility and the fear of Yahweh
Is riches, and honor, and life.
5 Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse:
He that keeps his soul shall be far from them.
6 Train up a child in the way he should go,
And even when he is old he will not depart from it.
7 The rich rules over the poor;
And the borrower is servant to the lender,
8 He that sows iniquity shall reap calamity;
And the rod of his wrath shall fail.
9 He that has a bountiful eye shall be blessed;
For he gives of his bread to the poor.
10 Cast out the scoffer, and contention will go out;
Yes, strife and ignominy will cease.
11 He that loves pureness of heart,
For the grace of his lips the king will be his friend.
12 The eyes of Yahweh preserve him that has knowledge;
But he overthrows the words of the treacherous man.
13 The sluggard says, There is a lion outside:
I shall be killed in the streets.
14 The mouth of strange women is a deep pit:
He that is abhorred of Yahweh shall fall in it.
15 Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child;
But the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.
16 He that oppresses the poor to increase his gain,
And he that gives to the rich, shall come only to want.
17 Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise,
And apply your heart to my knowledge.
18 For it is a pleasant thing if you keep them within you,
If they are established together upon your lips.
19 That your trust may be in Yahweh,
I have made them known to you this day, even to you.
20 Have I not written to you excellent things
Of counsels and knowledge,
21 To make you know the certainty of the words of truth,
That you may carry back words of truth to them that send you?
22 Rob not the poor, because he is poor;
Neither oppress the afflicted in the gate:
23 For Yahweh will plead their cause,
And plunder of life those that plunder them.
24 Make no friendship with a man that is given to anger;
And with a wrathful man you shall not go:
25 Lest you learn his ways,
And get a snare to your soul.
26 Be not one of them that strike hands,
Or of them that are sureties for debts.
27 If you have not with which to pay,
Why should he take away your bed from under you?
28 Remove not the ancient landmark,
Which your fathers have set.
29 Do you see a man diligent in his business?
He shall stand before kings;
He shall not stand before mean men.
Proverbs 23
When you sit to eat with a ruler,
Consider diligently him that is before you;
2 And put a knife to your throat,
If you are a man given to appetite.
3 Be not desirous of his dainties;
Seeing they are deceitful food.
4 Weary not yourself to be rich;
Cease from your own wisdom.
5 Will you set your eyes upon that which is not?
For riches certainly make themselves wings,
Like an eagle that flies toward heaven.
6 Eat not the bread of him that has an evil eye,
Neither desire his dainties:
7 For as he thinks within himself, so is he:
Eat and drink, he says to you;
But his heart is not with you.
8 The morsel which you have eaten shall you vomit up,
And lose your sweet words.
9 Speak not in the hearing of a fool;
For he will despise the wisdom of your words.
10 Remove not the ancient landmark;
And enter not into the fields of the fatherless:
11 For their Redeemer is strong;
He will plead their cause against you.
12 Apply your heart to instruction,
And your ears to the words of knowledge.
13 Withhold not correction from the child;
For if you beat him with the rod, he will not die.
14 You shall beat him with the rod,
And shall deliver his soul from Sheol.
15 My son, if your heart is wise,
My heart will be glad, even mine:
16 Yes, my heart will rejoice,
When your lips speak right things.
17 Let not your heart envy sinners;
But be in the fear of Yahweh all the day long:
18 For surely there is a reward;
And your hope shall not be cut off.
19 Hear, my son, and be wise,
And guide your heart in the way.
20 Be not among winebibbers,
Among gluttonous eaters of flesh:
21 For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty;
And drowsiness will clothe a man with rags.
22 Listen to your father that procreated you,
And despise not your mother when she is old.
23 Buy the truth, and sell it not;
also, wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
24 The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice;
And he that fathers a wise child will have joy of him.
25 Let your father and your mother be glad,
And let her that bore you rejoice.
26 My son, give me your heart;
And let your eyes delight in my ways.
27 For a harlot is a deep ditch;
And a foreign woman is a narrow pit.
28 Surely, she lies in wait as a robber,
And increases the treacherous among men.
29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions?
Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause?
Who has redness of eyes?
30 They that stay long at the wine;
They that go to seek out mixed wine.
31 Look not upon the wine when it is red,
When it sparkles in the cup
When it goes down smoothly:
32 At the last it bites like a serpent,
And stings like an adder.
33 Your eyes shall behold strange things,
And your heart shall utter perverse things.
34 Yes, you shall be as he that lies down in the middle of the sea,
Or as he that lies upon the top of a mast.
35 They have struck me, you shall say, and I was not hurt;
They have beaten me, and I felt it not:
When shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.
Proverbs 24
Be not envious against evil men;
Neither desire to be with them:
2 For their heart studies oppression,
And their lips talk of mischief.
3 Through wisdom is a house built;
And by understanding it is established;
4 And by knowledge are the chambers filled
With all precious and pleasant riches.
5 A wise man is strong;
Yes, a man of knowledge increases might.
6 For by wise guidance you shall make your war;
And in the multitude of counselors there is safety.
7 Wisdom is too high for a fool:
He opens not his mouth in the gate
8 He who devises evil,
Men shall call him a mischief maker.
9 The thought of foolishness is sin;
And the scoffer is an abomination to men.
10 If you faint in the day of adversity,
Your strength is small.
11 Deliver them that are carried away to death,
And those that are ready to be killed see that you hold back.
12 If you say, Behold, we knew not this;
Does not he that weighs the hearts consider it?
And he that keeps your soul, does not he know it?
And shall not he render to every man according to his work?
13 My son, eat honey, for it is good;
And the droppings of the honeycomb, which are sweet to your taste:
14 So shall you know wisdom to be to your soul;
If you have found it, then shall there be a reward,
And your hope shall not be cut off.
15 Lay not wait, O wicked man, against the habitation of the righteous;
Destroy not his resting-place:
16 For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises up again;
But the wicked are overthrown by calamity.
17 Rejoice not when your enemy falls,
And let not your heart be glad when he is overthrown
18 Lest Yahweh sees it, and it displeases him,
And he turns away his wrath from him.
19 Fret not yourself because of evil-doers;
Neither be envious at the wicked:
20 For there shall be no reward to the evil man;
The lamp of the wicked shall be put out.
21 My son, fear Yahweh and the king;
And company not with them that are given to change:
22 For their calamity shall rise suddenly;
And the destruction from them both, who knows it?
23 These also are sayings of the wise.
To have respect of persons in judgment is not good.
24 He that says to the wicked, You are righteous;
Peoples shall curse him, nations shall abhor him:
25 But to them that rebuke him shall be delight,
And a good blessing shall come upon them.
26 He kisses the lips
Who gives a right answer.
27 Prepare your work outside,
And make it ready for you in the field;
And afterwards build your house.
28 Be not a witness against your neighbor without cause;
And deceive not with your lips.
29 Say not, I will do so to him as he has done to me;
I will render to the man according to his work.
30 I went by the field of the sluggard,
And by the vineyard of the man void of understanding;
31 And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns,
The face of it was covered with nettles,
And the stone wall of it was broken down.
32 Then I beheld, and considered well;
I saw, and received instruction:
33 Yet a little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to sleep;
34 So shall your poverty come as a robber,
And your want as an armed man.
