Proverbs 1; Proverbs 2; Proverbs 3; Proverbs 4; Proverbs 5; Proverbs 6; Proverbs 7; Proverbs 8; Proverbs 9

Proverbs 1

1 These are the proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel,

2 for gaining wisdom and discipline, for comprehending words of insight,

3 and for receiving instruction in wise living and in righteousness, justice, and equity.

4 To impart prudence to the simple and knowledge and discretion to the young,

5 let the wise listen and gain instruction, and the discerning acquire wise counsel

6 by understanding the proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise.

7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

8 Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction, and do not forsake the teaching of your mother.

9 For they are a garland of grace on your head and a pendant around your neck.

10 My son, if sinners entice you, do not yield to them.

11 If they say, “Come along, let us lie in wait for blood, let us ambush the innocent without cause,

12 let us swallow them alive like Sheol, and whole like those descending into the Pit.

13 We will find all manner of precious goods; we will fill our houses with plunder.

14 Throw in your lot with us; let us all share one purse”—

15 my son, do not walk the road with them or set foot upon their path.

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

17 How futile it is to spread the net where any bird can see it!

18 But they lie in wait for their own blood; they ambush their own lives.

19 Such is the fate of all who are greedy, whose unjust gain takes the lives of its possessors.

20 Wisdom calls out in the street, she lifts her voice in the square;

21 in the main concourse she cries aloud, at the city gates she makes her speech:

22 “How long, O simple ones, will you love your simple ways? How long will scoffers delight in their scorn and fools hate knowledge?

23 If you had repented at my rebuke, then surely I would have poured out my spirit on you; I would have made my words known to you.

24 Because you refused my call, and no one took my outstretched hand,

25 because you neglected all my counsel, and wanted none of my correction,

26 in turn I will mock your calamity; I will sneer when terror strikes you,

27 when your dread comes like a storm, and your destruction like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish overwhelm you.

28 Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; they will earnestly seek me, but will not find me.

29 For they hated knowledge and chose not to fear the LORD.

30 They accepted none of my counsel; they despised all my reproof.

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

32 For the waywardness of the simple will slay them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them.

33 But whoever listens to me will dwell in safety, secure from the fear of evil.”

Proverbs 2

1 My son, if you accept my words and hide my commandments within you,

2 if you incline your ear to wisdom and direct your heart to understanding,

3 if you truly call out to insight and lift your voice to understanding,

4 if you seek it like silver and search it out like hidden treasure,

5 then you will discern the fear of the LORD and discover the knowledge of God.

6 For the LORD gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.

7 He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk with integrity,

8 to guard the paths of justice and protect the way of His saints.

9 Then you will discern righteousness and justice and equity—every good path.

10 For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will delight your soul.

11 Discretion will watch over you, and understanding will guard you,

12 to deliver you from the way of evil, from the man who speaks perversity,

13 from those who leave the straight paths to walk in the ways of darkness,

14 from those who enjoy doing evil and rejoice in the twistedness of evil,

15 whose paths are crooked and whose ways are devious.

16 It will rescue you from the forbidden woman, from the stranger with seductive words

17 who abandons the partner of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God.

18 For her house sinks down to death, and her tracks to the departed spirits.

19 None who go to her return or negotiate the paths of life.

20 So you will follow in the ways of the good, and keep to the paths of the righteous.

21 For the upright will inhabit the land, and the blameless will remain in it;

22 but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the unfaithful will be uprooted.

Proverbs 3

1 My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments;

2 for they will add length to your days, years and peace to your life.

3 Never let loving devotion or faithfulness leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.

4 Then you will find favor and high regard in the sight of God and man.

5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;

6 in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.

7 Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and turn away from evil.

8 This will bring healing to your body and refreshment to your bones.

9 Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your crops;

10 then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine.

11 My son, do not reject the discipline of the LORD, and do not loathe His rebuke;

12 for the LORD disciplines the one He loves, as does a father the son in whom he delights.

13 Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who acquires understanding,

14 for she is more profitable than silver, and her gain is better than fine gold.

15 She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire compares with her.

16 Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor.

17 All her ways are pleasant, and all her paths are peaceful.

18 She is a tree of life to those who embrace her, and those who lay hold of her are blessed.

19 The LORD founded the earth by wisdom and established the heavens by understanding.

20 By His knowledge the watery depths were broken open, and the clouds dripped with dew.

21 My son, do not lose sight of this: Preserve sound judgment and discernment.

22 They will be life to your soul and adornment to your neck.

23 Then you will go on your way in safety, and your foot will not stumble.

24 When you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you rest, your sleep will be sweet.

25 Do not fear sudden danger or the ruin that overtakes the wicked,

26 for the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from the snare.

27 Do not withhold good from the deserving when it is within your power to act.

28 Do not tell your neighbor, “Come back tomorrow and I will provide”— when you already have the means.

29 Do not devise evil against your neighbor, for he trustfully dwells beside you.

30 Do not accuse a man without cause, when he has done you no harm.

31 Do not envy a violent man or choose any of his ways;

32 for the LORD detests the perverse, but He is a friend to the upright.

33 The curse of the LORD is on the house of the wicked, but He blesses the home of the righteous.

34 He mocks the mockers, but gives grace to the humble.

35 The wise will inherit honor, but fools are held up to shame.

Proverbs 4

1 Listen, my sons, to a father’s instruction; pay attention and gain understanding.

2 For I give you sound teaching; do not abandon my directive.

3 When I was a son to my father, tender and the only child of my mother,

4 he taught me and said, “Let your heart lay hold of my words; keep my commands and you will live.

5 Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or turn from them.

6 Do not forsake wisdom, and she will preserve you; love her, and she will guard you.

7 Wisdom is supreme; so acquire wisdom. And whatever you may acquire, gain understanding.

8 Prize her, and she will exalt you; if you embrace her, she will honor you.

9 She will set a garland of grace on your head; she will present you with a crown of beauty.”

10 Listen, my son, and receive my words, and the years of your life will be many.

11 I will guide you in the way of wisdom; I will lead you on straight paths.

12 When you walk, your steps will not be impeded; when you run, you will not stumble.

13 Hold on to instruction; do not let go. Guard it, for it is your life.

14 Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evildoers.

15 Avoid it; do not travel on it. Turn from it and pass on by.

16 For they cannot sleep unless they do evil; they are deprived of slumber until they make someone fall.

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

18 The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining brighter and brighter until midday.

19 But the way of the wicked is like the darkest gloom; they do not know what makes them stumble.

20 My son, pay attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings.

21 Do not lose sight of them; keep them within your heart.

22 For they are life to those who find them, and health to the whole body.

23 Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow springs of life.

24 Put away deception from your mouth; keep your lips from perverse speech.

25 Let your eyes look forward; fix your gaze straight ahead.

26 Make a level path for your feet, and all your ways will be sure.

27 Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your feet away from evil.

Proverbs 5

1 My son, pay attention to my wisdom; incline your ear to my insight,

2 that you may maintain discretion and your lips may preserve knowledge.

3 Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey and her speech is smoother than oil,

4 in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a double-edged sword.

5 Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to Sheol.

6 She does not consider the path of life; she does not know that her ways are unstable.

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

8 Keep your path far from her; do not go near the door of her house,

9 lest you concede your vigor to others, and your years to one who is cruel;

10 lest strangers feast on your wealth, and your labors enrich the house of a foreigner.

11 At the end of your life you will groan when your flesh and your body are spent,

12 and you will say, “How I hated discipline, and my heart despised reproof!

13 I did not listen to the voice of my teachers or incline my ear to my mentors.

14 I am on the brink of utter ruin in the midst of the whole assembly.”

15 Drink water from your own cistern, and running water from your own well.

16 Why should your springs flow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares?

17 Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers.

18 May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth:

19 A loving doe, a graceful fawn— may her breasts satisfy you always; may you be captivated by her love forever.

20 Why be captivated, my son, by an adulteress, or embrace the bosom of a stranger?

21 For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and the LORD examines all his paths.

22 The iniquities of a wicked man entrap him; the cords of his sin entangle him.

23 He dies for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly.

Proverbs 6

1 My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, if you have struck hands in pledge with a stranger,

2 if you have been trapped by the words of your lips, ensnared by the words of your mouth,

3 then do this, my son, to free yourself, for you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands: Go, humble yourself, and press your plea with your neighbor.

4 Allow no sleep to your eyes or slumber to your eyelids.

5 Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler.

6 Walk in the manner of the ant, O slacker; observe its ways and become wise.

7 Without a commander, without an overseer or ruler,

8 it prepares its provisions in summer; it gathers its food at harvest.

9 How long will you lie there, O slacker? When will you get up from your sleep?

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

11 and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and need like a bandit.

12 A worthless person, a wicked man, walks with a perverse mouth,

13 winking his eyes, speaking with his feet, and pointing with his fingers.

14 With deceit in his heart he devises evil; he continually sows discord.

15 Therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly; in an instant he will be shattered beyond recovery.

16 There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to Him:

17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,

18 a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that run swiftly to evil,

19 a false witness who gives false testimony, and one who stirs up discord among brothers.

20 My son, keep your father’s commandment, and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.

21 Bind them always upon your heart; tie them around your neck.

22 When you walk, they will guide you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; when you awake, they will speak to you.

23 For this commandment is a lamp, this teaching is a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way to life,

24 to keep you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.

25 Do not lust in your heart for her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes.

26 For the levy of the prostitute is poverty, and the adulteress preys upon your very life.

27 Can a man embrace fire and his clothes not be burned?

28 Can a man walk on hot coals without scorching his feet?

29 So is he who sleeps with another man’s wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished.

30 Men do not despise the thief if he steals to satisfy his hunger.

31 Yet if caught, he must pay sevenfold; he must give up all the wealth of his house.

32 He who commits adultery lacks judgment; whoever does so destroys himself.

33 Wounds and dishonor will befall him, and his reproach will never be wiped away.

34 For jealousy enrages a husband, and he will show no mercy in the day of vengeance.

35 He will not be appeased by any ransom, or persuaded by lavish gifts.

Proverbs 7

1 My son, keep my words and treasure my commandments within you.

2 Keep my commandments and live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.

3 Tie them to your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.

4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” and call understanding your kinsman,

5 that they may keep you from the adulteress, from the stranger with seductive words.

6 For at the window of my house I looked through the lattice.

7 I saw among the simple, I noticed among the youths, a young man lacking judgment,

8 crossing the street near her corner, strolling down the road to her house,

9 at twilight, as the day was fading into the dark of the night.

10 Then a woman came out to meet him, with the attire of a harlot and cunning of heart.

11 She is loud and defiant; her feet do not remain at home.

12 Now in the street, now in the squares, she lurks at every corner.

13 She seizes him and kisses him; she brazenly says to him:

14 “I have made my peace offerings; today I have paid my vows.

15 So I came out to meet you; I sought you, and I have found you.

16 I have decked my bed with coverings, with colored linen from Egypt.

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

18 Come, let us take our fill of love till morning. Let us delight in loving caresses!

19 For my husband is not at home; he has gone on a long journey.

20 He took with him a bag of money and will not return till the moon is full.”

21 With her great persuasion she entices him; with her flattering lips she lures him.

22 He follows her on impulse, like an ox going to the slaughter, like a deer bounding into a trap,

23 until an arrow pierces his liver, like a bird darting into a snare— not knowing it will cost him his life.

24 Now, my sons, listen to me, and attend to the words of my mouth.

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

26 For she has brought many down to death; her slain are many in number.

27 Her house is the road to Sheol, descending to the chambers of death.

Proverbs 8

1 Does not wisdom call out, and understanding raise her voice?

2 On the heights overlooking the road, at the crossroads she takes her stand.

3 Beside the gates to the city, at the entrances she cries out:

4 “To you, O men, I call out, and my cry is to the sons of men.

5 O simple ones, learn to be shrewd; O fools, gain understanding.

6 Listen, for I speak of noble things, and the opening of my lips will reveal right.

7 For my mouth will speak the truth, and wickedness is detestable to my lips.

8 All the words of my mouth are righteous; none are crooked or perverse.

9 They are all plain to the discerning, and upright to those who find knowledge.

10 Receive my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than pure gold.

11 For wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire compares with her.

12 I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence, and I find knowledge and discretion.

13 To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate arrogant pride, evil conduct, and perverse speech.

14 Counsel and sound judgment are mine; I have insight and strength.

15 By me kings reign, and rulers enact just laws;

16 By me princes rule, and all nobles who govern justly.

17 I love those who love me, and those who seek me early shall find me.

18 With me are riches and honor, enduring wealth and righteousness.

19 My fruit is better than gold, pure gold, and my harvest surpasses choice silver.

20 I walk in the way of righteousness, along the paths of justice,

21 bestowing wealth on those who love me and making their treasuries full.

22 The LORD created me as His first course, before His works of old.

23 From everlasting I was established, from the beginning, before the earth began.

24 When there were no watery depths, I was brought forth, when no springs were overflowing with water.

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

26 before He made the land or fields, or any of the dust of the earth.

27 I was there when He established the heavens, when He inscribed a circle on the face of the deep,

28 when He established the clouds above, when the fountains of the deep gushed forth,

29 when He set a boundary for the sea, so that the waters would not surpass His command, when He marked out the foundations of the earth.

30 Then I was a skilled craftsman at His side, and His delight day by day, rejoicing always in His presence.

31 I was rejoicing in His whole world, delighting together in the sons of men.

32 Now therefore, my sons, listen to me, for blessed are those who keep my ways.

33 Listen to instruction and be wise; do not ignore it.

34 Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at the posts of my doorway.

35 For whoever finds me finds life and obtains the favor of the LORD.

36 But he who fails to find me harms himself; all who hate me love death.”

Proverbs 9

1 Wisdom has built her house; she has carved out her seven pillars.

2 She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine; she has also set her table.

3 She has sent out her maidservants; she calls out from the heights of the city.

4 “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” she says to him who lacks judgment.

5 “Come, eat my bread and drink the wine I have mixed.

6 Leave your folly behind, and you will live; walk in the way of understanding.”

7 He who corrects a mocker brings shame on himself; he who rebukes a wicked man taints himself.

8 Do not rebuke a mocker, or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man, and he will love you.

9 Instruct a wise man, and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man, and he will increase his learning.

10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

11 For through wisdom your days will be multiplied, and years will be added to your life.

12 If you are wise, you are wise to your own advantage; but if you scoff, you alone will bear the consequences.

13 The woman named Folly is loud; she is naive and knows nothing.

14 She sits at the door of her house, on a seat in the heights of the city,

15 calling out to those who pass by, who make their paths straight.

16 “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” she says to him who lacks judgment.

17 “Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is tasty!”

18 But they do not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.