1 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:
Jehovah is the maker of them all.
3 A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself;
But the simple pass on, and suffer for it.
4 The reward of humility and the fear of Jehovah
Is riches, and honor, and life.
5 Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse:
He that keepeth 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 ruleth over the poor;
And the borrower is servant to the lender.
8 He that soweth iniquity shall reap calamity;
And the rod of his wrath shall fail.
9 He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed;
For he giveth 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 loveth pureness of heart,
For the grace of his lips the king will be his friend.
12 The eyes of Jehovah preserve him that hath knowledge;
But he overthroweth the words of the treacherous man.
13 The sluggard saith, There is a lion without:
I shall be lain in the streets.
14 The mouth of strange women is a deep pit:
He that is abhorred of Jehovah shall fall therein.
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 oppresseth the poor to increase his gain,
And he that giveth to the rich, shall come only to want.
17 Incline thine ear, and hear the words of the wise,
And apply thy heart unto my knowledge.
18 For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee,
If they be established together upon thy lips.
19 That thy trust may be in Jehovah,
I have made them known to thee this day, even to thee.
20 Have not I written unto thee excellent things
Of counsels and knowledge,
21 To make thee know the certainty of the words of truth,
That thou mayest carry back words of truth to them that send thee?
22 Rob not the poor, because he is poor;
Neither oppress the afflicted in the gate:
23 For Jehovah will plead their cause,
And despoil of life those that despoil them.
24 Make no friendship with a man that is given to anger;
And with a wrathful man thou shalt not go:
25 Lest thou learn his ways,
And get a snare to thy soul.
26 Be thou not one of them that strike hands,
Or of them that are sureties for debts.
27 If thou hast not wherewith to pay,
Why should he take away thy bed from under thee?
28 Remove not the ancient landmark,
Which thy fathers have set.
29 Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings;
He shall not stand before mean men.