Proverbs

Hear, my son, the discipline of your father, and do not forsake the instruction of your mother.

My son, if sinners should entice you, do not be willing.

If they say, “Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood, let us hide for the innocent one without cause;

My son, do not walk in the way with them; withhold your foot from their path;

for their feet run to evil, and they are swift to shed blood.

Such [are] the ways of everyone being greedy for dishonest gain—the soul of its masters it takes away.

My son, if you receive my words and you treasure my commands within you,

to make your ear attentive to wisdom, you incline your heart to understanding.

For if you call out for understanding, [and] for insight you give forth your voice,

if you seek her like silver, and like hidden treasures you search for her,

then you will understand the fear of YHWH, and the knowledge of God you will find.

For YHWH gives wisdom; from His mouth [is] knowledge and understanding.

those glad to do evil, they rejoice in the perversity of evil,

It will deliver you from a strange woman, from a foreign woman having made smooth her words,

the one having forsaken the guide of her youth, and she has forgotten the covenant of her God.

For her house sinks down to death, and her paths to the Rephaim.

Of all those coming to her, none will return, nor will they reach the paths of life.

So you must walk in the way of the good ones, and guard the paths of the righteous ones.

Put your trust unto YHWH with all your heart, and lean not unto your own understanding.

Do not devise evil against your neighbor, for he is dwelling in trust with you.

Do not strive with a man without cause, if he has not dealt with you [for] evil.

Hear, [my] sons, the discipline of a father, and pay attention to know understanding.

For I was a son to my father, tender and the only one before the face of my mother,

and he instructed me and said to me, “Let your heart take hold of my words; keep my commands, and live.

With all diligence, guard your heart, for from it [are] the outgoings of life.

Do not bend away to the right or the left; turn aside your foot from evil.

And now, sons, listen to me, and do not turn aside from the words of my mouth.

Keep your path far away from her, and do not go near to the opening of her house,

lest you give to others your splendor, and your years to a cruel one;

lest strangers be satisfied [by] your strength, and your labors [be] in the house of a foreigner;

and you groan at your end, in the consumption of your flesh and your body,

and you say, “How I hated discipline, and my heart spurned rebuke!

A loving doe and a graceful deer, let her breasts satisfy you at all times—may you wander in her love continually!

So why do you wander, my son, with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a foreign woman?

My son, if you have been surety for your neighbor, [or] have struck your hand for the stranger,

[or] have been lured by the words of your mouth, captured by the words of your mouth,

then you must do this my son, and deliver yourself, for you have come into the palm of your neighbor: Go humble yourself, and press your neighbor.

You should not give sleep to your eyes or slumber to your eyelids—

snatch yourself like a gazelle from the hand, and like a bird from the hand of the fowler.

Go to the ant, O sluggish one; see her ways and become wise:

These six [things] YHWH hates, and seven [are] an abomination to His soul:

Eyes raised high, a tongue of falsehood, and hands pouring out innocent blood,

a heart devising plans of iniquity, feet hurrying to run toward evil,

one breathing out lies, a witness of falsehood, and one sending forth contentions between brothers.

They do not despise the thief if he steals to fill his soul when he is hungry,

and having been found, he must repay sevenfold; all the wealth of his house he must give.

The one committing adultery with a woman is lacking of heart; he does it, destroying his own soul.

He finds [only a stroke and shame, and his reproach is not wiped away.

For jealousy is the heat of a man, and he will not spare on the day of vengeance.

He will not lift the face of any ransom, and he will not consent, though you may multiply the bribe.

to guard you from the strange woman, from a foreign woman [who] has made smooth her words.

And behold, a woman to meet him, [in] the garment of a prostitute and guarded of heart.

And she laid hold on him and kissed him; she has hardened her face and said to him:

“Sacrifices of peace offerings [are] by me; this day I have paid my vows;

upon thus I have come out to meet you, to earnestly seek your face, and I have found you!

She turns him aside with the abundance of her speech; with the smoothness of her lips she compels him.

Going after her suddenly, he goes in like an ox to the slaughter, like a deer bounding into a trap,

And now, sons, listen to me, and attend to the words of my mouth.

Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways, do not stray into her paths.

For many wounded ones she has made fall; and numerous [are] all her slain ones.

Her house [is] the way to Sheol, going down to the chambers of death.

By me kings reign, and rulers decree justice.

By me princes rule, and nobles—all those judging [with] righteousness.

Listen [to] discipline and be wise, and do not neglect [it].

Blessed [is] the man listening to me, watching at my gates day by day, keeping watch [at] the posts of my doors.

For the one finding me has found life, and he brings forth favor from YHWH;

but the one sinning against me is wronging his soul; all those hating me love death.”

The beginning of wisdom [is] the fear of YHWH, and knowledge of the Holy One [is] understanding.

The one making slack [his] hand becomes poor, and the hand of the diligent ones makes rich.

Scales of deceit [are] an abomination to YHWH, and a whole stone [is] His delight.

One will surely suffer evil if he pledges for [for] a stranger, and one who hates striking hands remains secure.

The one withholding grain, the people will curse him, and blessing [is] on the head of the one selling.

There is one speaking rashly like the thrusts of a sword, and the tongue of the wise ones [is] healing.

An abomination to YHWH [are] lips of falsehood, and those acting [in] truth [are] His delight.

A righteous one hates a word of falsehood, and a wicked one causes stench and shame.

The one despising the word is destroyed for it, and the one fearing the command, he will be rewarded.

A witness of faithfulness does not lie, and a witness of deception breathes out lies.

The one despising his neighbor sins, and the one showing favor [to] the poor [is] blessed.

A witness of truth is delivering souls, and one who breathes out lies [is] deceitful.

In the fear of YHWH confidence [is] strong, and for his sons there is a refuge.

A heart of healing [is] life to the body, and jealousy [is] rottenness to the bones.

A tender answer turns away rage, and a word of pain raises up anger.

The eyes of YHWH [are] in every place, watching evil ones and good ones.

YHWH has made everything for its own end—even the wicked for the day of evil.

Into the lap the lot is cast, and all its judgment [is] from YHWH.

The one covering a transgression is seeking love, and one repeating a word is separating a close friend.

One justifying the wicked, and condemning the just—even the two of them [are] an abomination to YHWH.

A joyful heart is good healing, and a spirit stricken dries up the bones.

The one being slack in his work, he [is] also a brother to a lord of destruction.

A witness of falsehoods will not be acquitted, and the one breathing out lies will not escape.

One assaulting a father causes a mother to flee; [he is] a son causing shame and bringing reproach.

Who can say, “I have made clean my heart; I have been cleansed from my sin?

A stone and a stone, an ephah and an ephah—the two of them alike [are] an abomination to YHWH.

One belittling his father or his mother, his lamp will be extinguished in the pupil of darkness.

[It is] a snare for a man to rashly declare “It is holy” and afterward to reconsider [his] vows.

Channels of water [is] the heart of a king in the hand of YHWH; upon all that He wishes, He stretches it out.

Working [for] treasures by a tongue of deception is a vapor driven away [of those] seeking death.

The one loving pleasure [is] a man of need, the one loving wine and oil will not become rich.

Treasure to be desired and oil [are] in the dwelling of a wise one, and a foolish man swallows it up.

The sacrifice of wicked ones [is] an abomination—how much more when he brings it in wickedness!

A name to be chosen [is] greater than wealth; favor is better than silver and gold.

The rich and the poor meet together; the maker of them all [is] YHWH.

For your trust to be in YHWH, I have caused you to know this day—even you.

Have I not written to you thirty sayings of counsels and knowledge,

to make you know the truth of the words of faithfulness, to return words of faithfulness to those sending you?

Will you make your eyes fly onto it, and it is not there? For it certainly makes for itself wings like an eagle [and] flies away [to] the heavens!

Do not remove a boundary of old, and do not enter into the fields of the fatherless.

Not Be among those getting drunk [on] wine, among those being gluttons of flesh to themelves.

For the drunkard and the glutton will be dispossessed, and drowsiness will clothe [them] in rags.

Listen to your father, this one begot you, and do not despise your mother when she is old.

Let your father and your mother be glad, and let she who bore you rejoice.

To whom [is] woe? To whom [is] sorrow? To whom [are] quarrels? To whom [is] complaining? To whom [are] wounds without cause? To whom [is] dullness of eyes?

To those lingering over the wine, to those going in search of mixed drink!

Do not look [at] the wine when it is red, when it gives forth its eye in the cup—it goes down with smoothness!

Its end [is] like a serpent—it bites, and like a viper it stings.

Your eyes will see strange things, and your heart will speak perverse things.

“They struck me; I did not become weak. They beat me; I did not know [it]. When I awake, I will add to seek it again?”

Deliver those being led away to death, and those stumbling to the slaughter, if only you would hold back.

If you say, “Behold we did not know this,” does not the One weighing hearts Himself know [it], and the One watching over your soul Himself know it? And He has rendered to each man according to his work.

Dispute your cause with your neighbor, and do not uncover the secret to another,

lest the one hearing [it] should bring shame to you, and your defamation shall not turn back.

You have found honey, eat your sufficiency, lest you be filled up with it and vomit it out.

If your enemy [is] hungry, give him bread, and if [he is] thirsty, give him water to drink,

For [in so doing] you will be heaping burning coals upon his head, and YHWH will give recompense to you.

A north wind twists out rain, and a secret tongue [brings] faces of indignanation.

To eat much honey [is] not good, [nor] the searching for his own honor.

With his lips the one hating disguises [it], and within himself he places deceit.

When his voice is favorable, you should not trust in him, for seven abominations [are] in his heart.

Though you may pound a fool in the mortar, in the midst of the grain with the pestle, his folly will not turn away from him.

Be sure to know the faces of your flock, [and] set your heart to your herds,

One covering his transgressions will not prosper, and one confessing and forsaking [them] will find mercy.

The one working his land will be filled [with] bread, and the one pursuing empty [things] will be filled with poverty.

A man often reproved hardening the neck, suddenly will be broken, and there is no healing.

A fool brings out all his spirit, and a wise one soothes it backward.

One ruling listening to words of deception, all his ministers [are] wicked.

A rod and rebuke give wisdom, and a child let away brings shame to his mother.

When there is no vision, the people are let loose, and the one keeping the Law [is] blessed.

One having a portion with a thief is hating his own soul; he hears the curse, and does not testify.

Put vanity and the word of a lie far away from me; do not give poverty or wealth to me; provide me the bread of my portion,

lest I become satisfied and I deny and say, ‘Who [is] YHWH?’ And lest I become dispossessed and steal, and I seize the name of my God.

A generation lightly esteems its father, and does not bless its mother.

The eye [that] mocks at a father and despises obedience to a mother—the ravens of the valley will dig it out, and the young eagles will eat it.

This [is] the way of a woman committing adultery: She eats and has wiped her mouth and has said, ‘I have not done wickedness.’

Open your mouth for a mute one, for the cause of all the sons of destitution.

Open your mouth, judge with righteousness, and plead the cause of the poor one and needy one.

The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he is not lacking [in] spoil.

Her husband is known in the gates, in his sitting with the elders of the land.

She watches the goings of her house, and the bread of idleness she does not eat.

Her children rise up and call her blessed, and her husband he praises her: