Proverbs

1:1: The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel;

1:2: To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;

1:3: To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity;

1:4: To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.

1:5: A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:

1:6: To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.

1:7: The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

1:8: My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:

1:9: For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.

1:10: My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.

1:11: If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:

1:12: Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit:

1:13: We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil:

1:14: Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse:

1:15: My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path:

1:16: For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.

1:17: Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.

1:18: And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives.

1:19: So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.

1:20: Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets:

1:21: She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying,

1:22: How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?

1:23: Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.

1:24: Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;

1:25: But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:

1:26: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;

1:27: When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.

1:28: Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:

1:29: For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:

1:30: They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.

1:31: Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.

1:32: For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.

1:33: But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.

2:1: My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee;

2:2: So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;

2:3: Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;

2:4: If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;

2:5: Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.

2:6: For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.

2:7: He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly.

2:8: He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints.

2:9: Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path.

2:10: When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul;

2:11: Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:

2:12: To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things;

2:13: Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness;

2:14: Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked;

2:15: Whose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths:

2:16: To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words;

2:17: Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God.

2:18: For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead.

2:19: None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life.

2:20: That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous.

2:21: For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it.

2:22: But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.

3:1: My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:

3:2: For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.

3:3: Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:

3:4: So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.

3:5: Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

3:6: In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

3:7: Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.

3:8: It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.

3:9: Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:

3:10: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.

3:11: My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction:

3:12: For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.

3:13: Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.

3:14: For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold.

3:15: She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her.

3:16: Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour.

3:17: Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.

3:18: She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her.

3:19: The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens.

3:20: By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew.

3:21: My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion:

3:22: So shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck.

3:23: Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble.

3:24: When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet.

3:25: Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh.

3:26: For the LORD shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken.

3:27: Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.

3:28: Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and to morrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee.

3:29: Devise not evil against thy neighbour, seeing he dwelleth securely by thee.

3:30: Strive not with a man without cause, if he have done thee no harm.

3:31: Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways.

3:32: For the froward is abomination to the LORD: but his secret is with the righteous.

3:33: The curse of the LORD is in the house of the wicked: but he blesseth the habitation of the just.

3:34: Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace unto the lowly.

3:35: The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools.

4:1: Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding.

4:2: For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law.

4:3: For I was my father's son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother.

4:4: He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live.

4:5: Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.

4:6: Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee.

4:7: Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.

4:8: Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her.

4:9: She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.

4:10: Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many.

4:11: I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths.

4:12: When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened; and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble.

4:13: Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life.

4:14: Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men.

4:15: Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.

4:16: For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall.

4:17: For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence.

4:18: But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.

4:19: The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.

4:20: My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.

4:21: Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart.

4:22: For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.

4:23: Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

4:24: Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.

4:25: Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.

4:26: Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.

4:27: Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.

5:1: My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding:

5:2: That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.

5:3: For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:

5:4: But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword.

5:5: Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.

5:6: Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.

5:7: Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.

5:8: Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:

5:9: Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:

5:10: Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger;

5:11: And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,

5:12: And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;

5:13: And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!

5:14: I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.

5:15: Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.

5:16: Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets.

5:17: Let them be only thine own, and not strangers' with thee.

5:18: Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.

5:19: Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.

5:20: And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?

5:21: For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings.

5:22: His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.

5:23: He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.

6:1: My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, if thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger,

6:2: Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.

6:3: Do this now, my son, deliver thyself, when thou art come into the hand of thy friend; go, humble thyself, and make sure thy friend.

6:4: Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids.

6:5: Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.

6:6: Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:

6:7: Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler,

6:8: Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.

6:9: How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?

6:10: Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:

6:11: So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.

6:12: A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth.

6:13: He winketh with his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, he teacheth with his fingers;

6:14: Frowardness is in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually; he soweth discord.

6:15: Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy.

6:16: These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:

6:17: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,

6:18: An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,

6:19: A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.

6:20: My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother:

6:21: Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck.

6:22: When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.

6:23: For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:

6:24: To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.

6:25: Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids.

6:26: For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life.

6:27: Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?

6:28: Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?

6:29: So he that goeth in to his neighbour's wife; whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent.

6:30: Men do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry;

6:31: But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold; he shall give all the substance of his house.

6:32: But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul.

6:33: A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away.

6:34: For jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.

6:35: He will not regard any ransom; neither will he rest content, though thou givest many gifts.

7:1: My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee.

7:2: Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye.

7:3: Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thine heart.

7:4: Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister; and call understanding thy kinswoman:

7:5: That they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words.

7:6: For at the window of my house I looked through my casement,

7:7: And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding,

7:8: Passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house,

7:9: In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night:

7:10: And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart.

7:11: (She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her house:

7:12: Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner.)

7:13: So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him,

7:14: I have peace offerings with me; this day have I payed my vows.

7:15: Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee.

7:16: I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt.

7:17: I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.

7:18: Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves.

7:19: For the goodman is not at home, he is gone a long journey:

7:20: He hath taken a bag of money with him, and will come home at the day appointed.

7:21: With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him.

7:22: He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks;

7:23: Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life.

7:24: Hearken unto me now therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth.

7:25: Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths.

7:26: For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her.

7:27: Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.

8:1: Doth not wisdom cry? and understanding put forth her voice?

8:2: She standeth in the top of high places, by the way in the places of the paths.

8:3: She crieth at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors.

8:4: Unto you, O men, I call; and my voice is to the sons of man.

8:5: O ye simple, understand wisdom: and, ye fools, be ye of an understanding heart.

8:6: Hear; for I will speak of excellent things; and the opening of my lips shall be right things.

8:7: For my mouth shall speak truth; and wickedness is an abomination to my lips.

8:8: All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing froward or perverse in them.

8:9: They are all plain to him that understandeth, and right to them that find knowledge.

8:10: Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold.

8:11: For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.

8:12: I wisdom dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge of witty inventions.

8:13: The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.

8:14: Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom: I am understanding; I have strength.

8:15: By me kings reign, and princes decree justice.

8:16: By me princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the earth.

8:17: I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.

8:18: Riches and honour are with me; yea, durable riches and righteousness.

8:19: My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold; and my revenue than choice silver.

8:20: I lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment:

8:21: That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures.

8:22: The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old.

8:23: I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.

8:24: When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water.

8:25: Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth:

8:26: While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world.

8:27: When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth:

8:28: When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep:

8:29: When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth:

8:30: Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him;

8:31: Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men.

8:32: Now therefore hearken unto me, O ye children: for blessed are they that keep my ways.

8:33: Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not.

8:34: Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors.

8:35: For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the LORD.

8:36: But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death.

9:1: Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars:

9:2: She hath killed her beasts; she hath mingled her wine; she hath also furnished her table.

9:3: She hath sent forth her maidens: she crieth upon the highest places of the city,

9:4: Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him,

9:5: Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled.

9:6: Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding.

9:7: He that reproveth a scorner getteth to himself shame: and he that rebuketh a wicked man getteth himself a blot.

9:8: Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee.

9:9: Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.

9:10: The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.

9:11: For by me thy days shall be multiplied, and the years of thy life shall be increased.

9:12: If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself: but if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it.

9:13: A foolish woman is clamourous: she is simple, and knoweth nothing.

9:14: For she sitteth at the door of her house, on a seat in the high places of the city,

9:15: To call passengers who go right on their ways:

9:16: Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: and as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him,

9:17: Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.

9:18: But he knoweth not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell.

10:1: The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother.

10:2: Treasures of wickedness profit nothing: but righteousness delivereth from death.

10:3: The LORD will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish: but he casteth away the substance of the wicked.

10:4: He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.

10:5: He that gathereth in summer is a wise son: but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame.

10:6: Blessings are upon the head of the just: but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked.

10:7: The memory of the just is blessed: but the name of the wicked shall rot.

10:8: The wise in heart will receive commandments: but a prating fool shall fall.

10:9: He that walketh uprightly walketh surely: but he that perverteth his ways shall be known.

10:10: He that winketh with the eye causeth sorrow: but a prating fool shall fall.

10:11: The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life: but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked.

10:12: Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins.

10:13: In the lips of him that hath understanding wisdom is found: but a rod is for the back of him that is void of understanding.

10:14: Wise men lay up knowledge: but the mouth of the foolish is near destruction.

10:15: The rich man's wealth is his strong city: the destruction of the poor is their poverty.

10:16: The labour of the righteous tendeth to life: the fruit of the wicked to sin.

10:17: He is in the way of life that keepeth instruction: but he that refuseth reproof erreth.

10:18: He that hideth hatred with lying lips, and he that uttereth a slander, is a fool.

10:19: In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise.

10:20: The tongue of the just is as choice silver: the heart of the wicked is little worth.

10:21: The lips of the righteous feed many: but fools die for want of wisdom.

10:22: The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.

10:23: It is as sport to a fool to do mischief: but a man of understanding hath wisdom.

10:24: The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him: but the desire of the righteous shall be granted.

10:25: As the whirlwind passeth, so is the wicked no more: but the righteous is an everlasting foundation.

10:26: As vinegar to the teeth, and as smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to them that send him.

10:27: The fear of the LORD prolongeth days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortened.

10:28: The hope of the righteous shall be gladness: but the expectation of the wicked shall perish.

10:29: The way of the LORD is strength to the upright: but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity.

10:30: The righteous shall never be removed: but the wicked shall not inhabit the earth.

10:31: The mouth of the just bringeth forth wisdom: but the froward tongue shall be cut out.

10:32: The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable: but the mouth of the wicked speaketh frowardness.

11:1: A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight.