Proverbs 22-24
King James Version (KJV)
22Â A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold.
2Â The rich and poor meet together: the Lord is the maker of them all.
3Â A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.
4Â By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, and honour, and life.
5Â Thorns and snares are in the way of the froward: he that doth keep his soul shall be far from them.
6Â Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
7Â The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.
8Â He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity: and the rod of his anger shall fail.
9Â He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor.
10Â Cast out the scorner, and contention shall go out; yea, strife and reproach shall cease.
11Â He that loveth pureness of heart, for the grace of his lips the king shall be his friend.
12Â The eyes of the Lord preserve knowledge, and he overthroweth the words of the transgressor.
13Â The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets.
14Â The mouth of strange women is a deep pit: he that is abhorred of the Lord shall fall therein.
15Â Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.
16Â He that oppresseth the poor to increase his riches, and he that giveth to the rich, shall surely come to want.
17Â Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge.
18Â For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee; they shall withal be fitted in thy lips.
19Â That thy trust may be in the Lord, I have made known to thee this day, even to thee.
20Â Have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge,
21Â That I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth; that thou mightest answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee?
22Â Rob not the poor, because he is poor: neither oppress the afflicted in the gate:
23Â For the Lord will plead their cause, and spoil the soul of those that spoiled them.
24Â Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go:
25Â Lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul.
26Â Be not thou one of them that strike hands, or of them that are sureties for debts.
27Â If thou hast nothing to pay, why should he take away thy bed from under thee?
28Â Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set.
29Â Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.
23Â When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee:
2Â And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.
3Â Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat.
4Â Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.
5Â Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.
6Â Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats:
7Â For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.
8Â The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.
9Â Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.
10Â Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless:
11Â For their redeemer is mighty; he shall plead their cause with thee.
12Â Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.
13Â Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.
14Â Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.
15Â My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.
16Â Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things.
17Â Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long.
18Â For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.
19Â Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.
20Â Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:
21Â For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.
22Â Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.
23Â Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
24Â The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him.
25Â Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice.
26Â My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.
27Â For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.
28Â She also lieth in wait as for a prey, and increaseth the transgressors among men.
29Â Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
30Â They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.
31Â Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.
32Â At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
33Â Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.
34Â Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.
35Â They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.
24Â Be not thou envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them.
2Â For their heart studieth destruction, and their lips talk of mischief.
3Â Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established:
4Â And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.
5Â A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength.
6Â For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counsellors there is safety.
7Â Wisdom is too high for a fool: he openeth not his mouth in the gate.
8Â He that deviseth to do evil shall be called a mischievous person.
9Â The thought of foolishness is sin: and the scorner is an abomination to men.
10Â If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.
11Â If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain;
12Â If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? and shall not he render to every man according to his works?
13Â My son, eat thou honey, because it is good; and the honeycomb, which is sweet to thy taste:
14Â So shall the knowledge of wisdom be unto thy soul: when thou hast found it, then there shall be a reward, and thy expectation shall not be cut off.
15Â Lay not wait, O wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous; spoil not his resting place:
16Â For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.
17Â Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth:
18Â Lest the Lord see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him.
19Â Fret not thyself because of evil men, neither be thou envious at the wicked:
20Â For there shall be no reward to the evil man; the candle of the wicked shall be put out.
21Â My son, fear thou the Lord and the king: and meddle not with them that are given to change:
22Â For their calamity shall rise suddenly; and who knoweth the ruin of them both?
23Â These things also belong to the wise. It is not good to have respect of persons in judgment.
24Â He that saith unto the wicked, Thou are righteous; him shall the people curse, nations shall abhor him:
25Â But to them that rebuke him shall be delight, and a good blessing shall come upon them.
26Â Every man shall kiss his lips that giveth a right answer.
27Â Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field; and afterwards build thine house.
28Â Be not a witness against thy neighbour without cause; and deceive not with thy lips.
29Â Say not, I will do so to him as he hath done to me: I will render to the man according to his work.
30Â I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding;
31Â And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down.
32Â Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction.
33Â Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:
34Â So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man.