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 Hear, my son, the instruction of thy father, And leave not the law of thy mother,

9 For a graceful wreath [are] they to thy head, And chains to thy neck.

10 My son, if sinners entice thee be not willing.

11 If they say, `Come with us, we lay wait for blood, We watch secretly for the innocent without cause,

12 We swallow them as Sheol -- alive, And whole -- as those going down [to] the pit,

13 Every precious substance we find, We fill our houses [with] spoil,

14 Thy lot thou dost cast among us, One purse is -- to all of us.'

15 My son! go not in the way with them, Withhold thy foot from their path,

16 For their feet to evil do run, And they haste to shed blood.

17 Surely in vain is the net spread out before the eyes of any bird.

18 And they for their own blood lay wait, They watch secretly for their own lives.

19 So [are] the paths of every gainer of dishonest gain, The life of its owners it taketh.

20 Wisdom in an out-place crieth aloud, In broad places she giveth forth her voice,

21 At the head of the multitudes she calleth, In the openings of the gates, In the city her sayings she saith:

22 `Till when, ye simple, do ye love simplicity? And have scorners their scorning desired? And do fools hate knowledge?

23 Turn back at my reproof, lo, I pour forth to you my spirit, I make known my words with you.

24 Because I have called, and ye refuse, I stretched out my hand, and none is attending,

25 And ye slight all my counsel, And my reproof ye have not desired.

26 I also in your calamity do laugh, I deride when your fear cometh,

27 When your fear cometh as destruction, And your calamity as a hurricane doth come, When on you come adversity and distress.

28 Then they call me, and I do not answer, They seek me earnestly, and find me not.

29 Because that they have hated knowledge, And the fear of Jehovah have not chosen.

30 They have not consented to my counsel, They have despised all my reproof,

31 And they eat of the fruit of their way, And from their own counsels they are filled.

32 For the turning of the simple slayeth them, And the security of the foolish destroyeth them.

33 And whoso is hearkening to me dwelleth confidently, And [is] quiet from fear of evil!'

Proverbs 2

1 My son, if thou dost accept my sayings, And my commands dost lay up with thee,

2 To cause thine ear to attend to wisdom, Thou inclinest thy heart to understanding,

3 For, if for intelligence thou callest, For understanding givest forth thy voice,

4 If thou dost seek her as silver, And as hid treasures searchest for her,

5 Then understandest thou fear of Jehovah, And knowledge of God thou findest.

6 For Jehovah giveth wisdom, From His mouth knowledge and understanding.

7 Even to lay up for the upright substance, A shield for those walking uprightly.

8 To keep the paths of judgment, And the way of His saints He preserveth.

9 Then understandest thou righteousness, And judgment, and uprightness -- every good path.

10 For wisdom cometh into thy heart, And knowledge to thy soul is pleasant,

11 Thoughtfulness doth watch over thee, Understanding doth keep thee,

12 To deliver thee from an evil way, From any speaking froward things,

13 Who are forsaking paths of uprightness, To walk in ways of darkness,

14 Who are rejoicing to do evil, They delight in frowardness of the wicked,

15 Whose paths [are] crooked, Yea, they are perverted in their ways.

16 To deliver thee from the strange woman, From the stranger who hath made smooth her sayings,

17 Who is forsaking the guide of her youth, And the covenant of her God hath forgotten.

18 For her house hath inclined unto death, And unto Rephaim her paths.

19 None going in unto her turn back, Nor do they reach the paths of life.

20 That thou dost go in the way of the good, And the paths of the righteous dost keep.

21 For the upright do inhabit the earth, And the perfect are left in it,

22 And the wicked from the earth are cut off, And treacherous dealers plucked out of it!

Proverbs 3

1 My son! my law forget not, And my commands let thy heart keep,

2 For length of days and years, Life and peace they do add to thee.

3 Let not kindness and truth forsake thee, Bind them on thy neck, Write them on the tablet of thy heart,

4 And find grace and good understanding In the eyes of God and man.

5 Trust unto Jehovah with all thy heart, And unto thine own understanding lean not.

6 In all thy ways know thou Him, And He doth make straight thy paths.

7 Be not wise in thine own eyes, Fear Jehovah, and turn aside from evil.

8 Healing it is to thy navel, And moistening to thy bones.

9 Honour Jehovah from thy substance, And from the beginning of all thine increase;

10 And filled are thy barns [with] plenty, And [with] new wine thy presses break forth.

11 Chastisement of Jehovah, my son, despise not, And be not vexed with His reproof,

12 For whom Jehovah loveth He reproveth, Even as a father the son He is pleased with.

13 O the happiness of a man [who] hath found wisdom, And of a man [who] bringeth forth understanding.

14 For better [is] her merchandise Than the merchandise of silver, And than gold -- her increase.

15 Precious she [is] above rubies, And all thy pleasures are not comparable to her.

16 Length of days [is] in her right hand, In her left [are] wealth and honour.

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

18 A tree of life she [is] to those laying hold on her, And whoso is retaining her [is] happy.

19 Jehovah by wisdom did found the earth, He prepared the heavens by understanding.

20 By His knowledge depths have been rent, And clouds do drop dew.

21 My son! let them not turn from thine eyes, Keep thou wisdom and thoughtfulness,

22 And they are life to thy soul, and grace to thy neck.

23 Then thou goest thy way confidently, And thy foot doth not stumble.

24 If thou liest down, thou art not afraid, Yea, thou hast lain down, And sweet hath been thy sleep.

25 Be not afraid of sudden fear, And of the desolation of the wicked when it cometh.

26 For Jehovah is at thy side, And He hath kept thy foot from capture.

27 Withhold not good from its owners, When thy hand [is] toward God to do [it].

28 Say not thou to thy friend, `Go, and return, and to-morrow I give,' And substance with thee.

29 Devise not against thy neighbour evil, And he sitting confidently with thee.

30 Strive not with a man without cause, If he have not done thee evil.

31 Be not envious of a man of violence, Nor fix thou on any of his ways.

32 For an abomination to Jehovah [is] the perverted, And with the upright [is] His secret counsel.

33 The curse of Jehovah [is] in the house of the wicked. And the habitation of the righteous He blesseth.

34 If the scorners He doth scorn, Yet to the humble He doth give grace.

35 Honour do the wise inherit, And fools are bearing away shame!

Proverbs 4

1 Hear, ye sons, the instruction of a father, And give attention to know understanding.

2 For good learning I have given to you, My law forsake not.

3 For, a son I have been to my father -- tender, And an only one before my mother.

4 And he directeth me, and he saith to me: `Let thy heart retain my words, Keep my commands, and live.

5 Get wisdom, get understanding, Do not forget, nor turn away From the sayings of my mouth.

6 Forsake her not, and she doth preserve thee, Love her, and she doth keep thee.

7 The first thing [is] wisdom -- get wisdom, And with all thy getting get understanding.

8 Exalt her, and she doth lift thee up, She honoureth thee, when thou dost embrace her.

9 She giveth to thy head a wreath of grace, A crown of beauty she doth give thee freely.

10 Hear, my son, and receive my sayings, And years of life [are] multiplied to thee.

11 In a way of wisdom I have directed thee, I have caused thee to tread in paths of uprightness.

12 In thy walking thy step is not straitened, And if thou runnest, thou stumblest not.

13 Lay hold on instruction, do not desist, Keep her, for she [is] thy life.

14 Into the path of the wicked enter not, And be not happy in a way of evil doers.

15 Avoid it, pass not over into it, Turn aside from it, and pass on.

16 For they sleep not if they do not evil, And their sleep hath been taken violently away, If they cause not [some] to stumble.

17 For they have eaten bread of wickedness, And wine of violence they drink.

18 And the path of the righteous [is] as a shining light, Going and brightening till the day is established,

19 The way of the wicked [is] as darkness, They have not known at what they stumble.

20 My son, to my words give attention, To my sayings incline thine ear,

21 Let them not turn aside from thine eyes, Preserve them in the midst of thy heart.

22 For life they [are] to those finding them, And to all their flesh healing.

23 Above every charge keep thy heart, For out of it [are] the outgoings of life.

24 Turn aside from thee a froward mouth, And perverse lips put far from thee,

25 Thine eyes do look straightforward, And thine eyelids look straight before thee.

26 Ponder thou the path of thy feet, And all thy ways [are] established.

27 Incline not [to] the right or to the left, Turn aside thy foot from evil!

Proverbs 5

1 My son! to my wisdom give attention, To mine understanding incline thine ear,

2 To observe thoughtfulness, And knowledge do thy lips keep.

3 For the lips of a strange woman drop honey, And smoother than oil [is] her mouth,

4 And her latter end [is] bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a sword [with] mouths.

5 Her feet are going down to death, Sheol do her steps take hold of.

6 The path of life -- lest thou ponder, Moved have her paths -- thou knowest not.

7 And now, ye sons, hearken to me, And turn not from sayings of my mouth.

8 Keep far from off her thy way, And come not near unto the opening of her house,

9 Lest thou give to others thy honour, And thy years to the fierce,

10 Lest strangers be filled [with] thy power, And thy labours in the house of a stranger,

11 And thou hast howled in thy latter end, In the consumption of thy flesh and thy food,

12 And hast said, `How have I hated instruction, And reproof hath my heart despised,

13 And I have not hearkened to the voice of my directors, And to my teachers have not inclined mine ear.

14 As a little thing I have been all evil, In the midst of an assembly and a company.

15 Drink waters out of thine own cistern, Even flowing ones out of thine own well.

16 Let thy fountains be scattered abroad, In broad places rivulets of waters.

17 Let them be to thee for thyself, And not to strangers with thee.

18 Let thy fountain be blessed, And rejoice because of the wife of thy youth,

19 A hind of loves, and a roe of grace! Let her loves satisfy thee at all times, In her love magnify thyself continually.

20 And why dost thou magnify thyself, My son, with a stranger? And embrace the bosom of a strange woman?

21 For over-against the eyes of Jehovah are the ways of each, And all his paths He is pondering.

22 His own iniquities do capture the wicked, And with the ropes of his sin he is holden.

23 He dieth without instruction, And in the abundance of his folly magnifieth himself!

Proverbs 6

1 My son! if thou hast been surety for thy friend, Hast stricken for a stranger thy hand,

2 Hast been snared with sayings of thy mouth, Hast been captured with sayings of thy mouth,

3 Do this now, my son, and be delivered, For thou hast come into the hand of thy friend. Go, trample on thyself, and strengthen thy friend,

4 Give not sleep to thine eyes, And slumber to thine eyelids,

5 Be delivered as a roe from the hand, And as a bird from the hand of a fowler.

6 Go unto the ant, O slothful one, See her ways and be wise;

7 Which hath not captain, overseer, and ruler,

8 She doth prepare in summer her bread, She hath gathered in harvest her food.

9 Till when, O slothful one, dost thou lie? When dost thou arise from thy sleep?

10 A little sleep, a little slumber, A little clasping of the hands to rest,

11 And thy poverty hath come as a traveller, And thy want as an armed man.

12 A man of worthlessness, a man of iniquity, Walking [with] perverseness of mouth,

13 Winking with his eyes, speaking with his feet, Directing with his fingers,

14 Frowardness [is] in his heart, devising evil at all times, Contentions he sendeth forth.

15 Therefore suddenly cometh his calamity, Instantly he is broken -- and no healing.

16 These six hath Jehovah hated, Yea, seven [are] abominations to His soul.

17 Eyes high -- tongues false -- And hands shedding innocent blood --

18 A heart devising thoughts of vanity -- Feet hasting to run to evil --

19 A false witness [who] doth breathe out lies -- And one sending forth contentions between brethren.

20 Keep, my son, the command of thy father, And leave not the law of thy mother.

21 Bind them on thy heart continually, Tie them on thy neck.

22 In thy going up and down, it leadeth thee, In thy lying down, it watcheth over thee, And thou hast awaked -- it talketh [with] thee.

23 For a lamp [is] the command, And the law a light, And a way of life [are] reproofs of instruction,

24 To preserve thee from an evil woman, From the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.

25 Desire not her beauty in thy heart, And let her not take thee with her eyelids.

26 For a harlot consumeth unto a cake of bread, And an adulteress the precious soul hunteth.

27 Doth a man take fire into his bosom, And are his garments not burnt?

28 Doth a man walk on the hot coals, And are his feet not scorched?

29 So [is] he who hath gone in unto the wife of his neighbour, None who doth touch her is innocent.

30 They do not despise the thief, When he stealeth to fill his soul when he is hungry,

31 And being found he repayeth sevenfold, All the substance of his house he giveth.

32 He who committeth adultery [with] a woman lacketh heart, He is destroying his soul who doth it.

33 A stroke and shame he doth find, And his reproach is not wiped away,

34 For jealousy [is] the fury of a man, And he doth not spare in a day of vengeance.

35 He accepteth not the appearance of any atonement, Yea, he doth not consent, Though thou dost multiply bribes!

Proverbs 7

1 My son! keep my sayings, And my commands lay up with thee.

2 Keep my commands, and live, And my law as the pupil of thine eye.

3 Bind them on thy fingers, Write them on the tablet of thy heart.

4 Say to wisdom, `My sister Thou [art].' And cry to understanding, `Kinswoman!'

5 To preserve thee from a strange woman, From a stranger who hath made smooth her sayings.

6 For, at a window of my house, Through my casement I have looked out,

7 And I do see among the simple ones, I discern among the sons, A young man lacking understanding,

8 Passing on in the street, near her corner, And the way [to] her house he doth step,

9 In the twilight -- in the evening of day, In the darkness of night and blackness.

10 And, lo, a woman to meet him -- (A harlot's dress, and watchful of heart,

11 Noisy she [is], and stubborn, In her house her feet rest not.

12 Now in an out-place, now in broad places, And near every corner she lieth in wait) --

13 And she laid hold on him, and kissed him, She hath hardened her face, and saith to him,

14 `Sacrifices of peace-offerings [are] by me, To-day I have completed my vows.

15 Therefore I have come forth to meet thee, To seek earnestly thy face, and I find thee.

16 [With] ornamental coverings I decked my couch, Carved works -- cotton of Egypt.

17 I sprinkled my bed -- myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.

18 Come, we are filled [with] loves till the morning, We delight ourselves in loves.

19 For the man is not in his house, He hath gone on a long journey.

20 A bag of money he hath taken in his hand, At the day of the new moon he cometh to his house.'

21 She turneth him aside with the abundance of her speech, With the flattery of her lips she forceth him.

22 He is going after her straightway, As an ox unto the slaughter he cometh, And as a fetter unto the chastisement of a fool,

23 Till an arrow doth split his liver, As a bird hath hastened unto a snare, And hath not known that it [is] for its life.

24 And now, ye sons, hearken to me, And give attention to sayings of my mouth.

25 Let not thy heart turn unto her ways, Do not wander in her paths,

26 For many [are] the wounded she caused to fall, And mighty [are] all her slain ones.

27 The ways of Sheol -- her house, Going down unto inner chambers of death!

Proverbs 8

1 Doth not wisdom call? And understanding give forth her voice?

2 At the head of high places by the way, Between the paths she hath stood,

3 At the side of the gates, at the mouth of the city, The entrance of the openings, she crieth aloud,

4 `Unto you, O men, I call, And my voice [is] unto the sons of men.

5 Understand, ye simple ones, prudence, And ye fools, understand the heart,

6 Hearken, for noble things I speak, And the opening of my lips [is] uprightness.

7 For truth doth my mouth utter, And an abomination to my lips [is] wickedness.

8 In righteousness [are] all the sayings of my mouth, Nothing in them is froward and perverse.

9 All of them [are] plain to the intelligent, And upright to those finding knowledge.

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

11 For better [is] wisdom than rubies, Yea, all delights are not comparable with it.

12 I, wisdom, have dwelt with prudence, And a knowledge of devices I find out.

13 The fear of Jehovah [is] to hate evil; Pride, and arrogance, and an evil way, And a froward mouth, I have hated.

14 Mine [is] counsel and substance, I [am] understanding, I have might.

15 By me kings reign, and princes decree righteousness,

16 By me do chiefs rule, and nobles, All judges of the earth.

17 I love those loving me, And those seeking me earnestly do find me.

18 Wealth and honour [are] with me, Lasting substance and righteousness.

19 Better [is] my fruit than gold, even fine gold, And mine increase than choice silver.

20 In a path of righteousness I cause to walk, In midst of paths of judgment,

21 To cause my lovers to inherit substance, Yea, their treasures I fill.

22 Jehovah possessed me -- the beginning of His way, Before His works since then.

23 From the age I was anointed, from the first, From former states of the earth.

24 In there being no depths, I was brought forth, In there being no fountains heavy [with] waters,

25 Before mountains were sunk, Before heights, I was brought forth.

26 While He had not made the earth, and out-places, And the top of the dusts of the world.

27 In His preparing the heavens I [am] there, In His decreeing a circle on the face of the deep,

28 In His strengthening clouds above, In His making strong fountains of the deep,

29 In His setting for the sea its limit, And the waters transgress not His command, In His decreeing the foundations of earth,

30 Then I am near Him, a workman, And I am a delight -- day by day. Rejoicing before Him at all times,

31 Rejoicing in the habitable part of His earth, And my delights [are] with the sons of men.

32 And now, ye sons, hearken to me, Yea, happy are they who keep my ways.

33 Hear instruction, and be wise, and slight not.

34 O the happiness of the man hearkening to me, To watch at my doors day by day, To watch at the door-posts of my entrance.

35 For whoso is finding me, hath found life, And bringeth out good-will from Jehovah.

36 And whoso is missing me, is wronging his soul, All hating me have loved death!

Proverbs 9

1 Wisdom hath builded her house, She hath hewn out her pillars -- seven.

2 She hath slaughtered her slaughter, She hath mingled her wine, Yea, she hath arranged her table.

3 She hath sent forth her damsels, She crieth on the tops of the high places of the city:

4 `Who [is] simple? let him turn aside hither.' Whoso lacketh heart: she hath said to him,

5 `Come, eat of my bread, And drink of the wine I have mingled.

6 Forsake ye, the simple, and live, And be happy in the way of understanding.

7 The instructor of a scorner Is receiving for it -- shame, And a reprover of the wicked -- his blemish.

8 Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee, Give reproof to the wise, and he loveth thee.

9 Give to the wise, and he is wiser still, Make known to the righteous, And he increaseth learning.

10 The commencement of wisdom [is] the fear of Jehovah, And a knowledge of the Holy Ones [is] understanding.

11 For by me do thy days multiply, And added to thee are years of life.

12 If thou hast been wise, thou hast been wise for thyself, And thou hast scorned -- thyself bearest [it].

13 A foolish woman [is] noisy, Simple, and hath not known what.

14 And she hath sat at the opening of her house, On a throne -- the high places of the city,

15 To call to those passing by the way, Who are going straight [on] their paths.

16 `Who [is] simple? let him turn aside hither.' And whoso lacketh heart -- she said to him,

17 `Stolen waters are sweet, And hidden bread is pleasant.'

18 And he hath not known that Rephaim [are] there, In deep places of Sheol her invited ones!