Proverbs 1:8-33; Proverbs 2; Proverbs 3; Proverbs 4; Proverbs 5; Proverbs 6; Proverbs 7; Proverbs 8; Proverbs 9

Proverbs 1:8-33

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

9 For they [shalt be] an ornament of grace to thy head, and chains about thy neck.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

18 And they lay wait for their [own] blood; they lurk privily for their [own] lives.

19 So [are] the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; [who] taketh away the life of its owners.

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

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

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

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

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

25 But ye have set at naught all my counsel, and rejected my reproof:

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

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

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

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

30 They rejected my counsel: they despised all my reproof.

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

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

33 But whoever hearkeneth to me shall dwell in safety, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.

Proverbs 2

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

2 So that thou incline thy ear to wisdom, [and] apply thy heart to understanding;

3 Yes, if thou criest after knowledge, [and] liftest up thy voice for understanding;

4 If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as [for] hid treasures;

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

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

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

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

9 Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; [and] every good path.

10 When wisdom entereth into thy heart, and knowledge is pleasant to thy soul;

11 Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:

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

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

14 Who rejoice to do evil, [and] delight in the frowardness of the wicked;

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

16 To deliver thee from the strange woman, [even] from the stranger [who] flattereth with her words;

17 Who forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God.

18 For her house inclineth to death, and her paths to the dead.

19 None that go to her return again, neither do they take hold of the paths of life.

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

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

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

Proverbs 3

1 My son, forget not my law; but let thy heart keep my commandments;

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

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

4 So shalt thou find favor and good understanding in the sight of God and man.

5 Trust in the LORD with all thy heart; and lean not to thy own understanding.

6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he will direct thy paths.

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

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

9 Honor the LORD with thy substance, and with the first-fruits of all thy increase:

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

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

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

13 Happy [is] the man [that] findeth wisdom, and the man [that] getteth understanding.

14 For the merchandise of it [is] better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain of it than fine gold.

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

16 Length of days [is] in her right hand; [and] in her left hand riches and honor.

17 Her ways [are] ways of pleasantness, and all her paths [are] peace.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

26 For the LORD will be thy confidence, and will keep thy foot from being taken.

27 Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thy hand to do [it].

28 Say not to thy neighbor, Go, and come again, and to-morrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee.

29 Devise not evil against thy neighbor, seeing he dwelleth securely by thee.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Proverbs 4

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

18 But the path of the just [is] as the shining light, that shineth more and more to the perfect day.

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

20 My son, attend to my words; incline thy ear to my sayings.

21 Let them not depart from thy eyes; keep them in the midst of thy heart.

22 For they [are] life to those that find them, and health to all their flesh.

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

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

25 Let thy eyes look right on, and let thy eyelids look straight before thee.

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

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

Proverbs 5

1 My son, attend to my wisdom, [and] bow thy ear to my understanding:

2 That thou mayest regard discretion, and [that] thy lips may keep knowledge.

3 For the lips of a strange woman drop [as] a honey-comb, and her mouth [is] smoother than oil:

4 But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.

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

6 Lest thou shouldst ponder the path of life, her ways are movable, [that] thou canst not know [them].

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

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

9 Lest thou give thy honor to others, and thy years to the cruel:

10 Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labors [be] in the house of a stranger;

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

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

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

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

15 Drink waters out of thy own cistern, and running waters out of thy own well.

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

17 Let them be only thy own, and not for strangers with thee.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

Proverbs 6

1 My son, if thou art surety for thy friend, [if] thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger,

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

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

4 Give not sleep to thy eyes, nor slumber to thy eyelids.

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

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

7 Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler,

8 Provideth her provisions in the summer, [and] gathereth her food in the harvest.

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

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

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

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

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

14 Frowardness [is] in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually; he soweth discord.

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

16 These six [things] doth the LORD hate: yes, seven [are] an abomination to him:

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

18 A heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that are swift in running to mischief,

19 A false witness [that] speaketh lies, and him that soweth discord among brethren.

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

21 Bind them continually upon thy heart, [and] tie them about thy neck.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

29 So he that goeth in to his neighbor's wife; whoever toucheth her shall not be innocent.

30 [Men] do not despise a thief, if he stealeth to satisfy his soul when he is hungry;

31 But [if] he is found, he shall restore seven-fold; he shall give all the substance of his house.

32 [But] whoever committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he [that] doeth it destroyeth his own soul.

33 A wound and dishonor shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away.

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

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

Proverbs 7

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

2 Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thy eye.

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

4 Say to wisdom, Thou [art] my sister; and call understanding [thy] kinswoman:

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

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

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

8 Passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house.

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

10 And behold, there met him a woman [with] the attire of a harlot, and subtil of heart.

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

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

13 So she caught him, and kissed him, [and] with an impudent face said to him,

14 [I have] peace-offerings with me; this day have I paid my vows.

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

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

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

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

19 For the good-man [is] not at home, he is gone a long journey:

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

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

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

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

24 Now therefore hearken to me, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth.

25 Let not thy heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths.

26 For she hath cast down many wounded: yes, many strong [men] have been slain by her.

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

Proverbs 8

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

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

3 She crieth at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the entrance of the doors.

4 To you, O men, I call; and my voice [is] to the sons of man.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

12 I wisdom dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge of ingenious inventions.

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

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

15 By me kings reign, and princes decree justice.

16 By me princes rule, and nobles, [even] all the judges of the earth.

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

18 Riches and honor [are] with me; durable riches and righteousness.

19 My fruit [is] better than gold, yes, than fine gold; and my revenue than choice silver.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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:

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

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

32 Now therefore hearken to me, O ye children: for blessed [are they that] keep my ways.

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

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

35 For whoever findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favor from the LORD.

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

Proverbs 9

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

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

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

4 Whoever [is] simple, let him turn in hither: [as for] him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

13 A foolish woman [is] clamorous: [she is] simple, and knoweth nothing.

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

15 To call passengers who go right on their ways:

16 Whoever [is] simple, let him turn in hither: and [as for] him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him,

17 Stolen waters are sweet, and bread [eaten] in secret is pleasant.

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