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

Proverbs 1

1 The parables of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel,

2 To know wisdom, and instruction:

3 To understand the words of prudence: and to receive the instruction of doctrine, justice, and judgment, and equity:

4 To give subtilty to little ones, to the young man knowledge and understanding.

5 A wise man shall hear, and shall be wiser: and he that understandeth shall possess governments.

6 He shall understand a parable and the interpretation, the words of the wise, and their mysterious sayings.

7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Fools despise wisdom and instruction.

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

9 That grace may be added to thy head, and a chain of gold to thy neck.

10 My son, if sinners shall entice thee, consent not to them.

11 If they shall say: Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood, let us hide snares for the innocent without cause:

12 Let us swallow him up alive like hell, and whole as one that goeth down into the pit.

13 We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoils.

14 Cast in thy lot with us, let us all have one purse.

15 My son, walk not thou with them, restrain thy foot from their paths.

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

17 But a net is spread in vain before the eyes of them that have wings.

18 And they themselves lie in wait for their own blood, and practise deceits against their own souls.

19 So the ways of every covetous man destroy the souls of the possessors.

20 Wisdom preacheth abroad, she uttereth her voice in the streets:

21 At the head of multitudes she crieth out, in the entrance of the gates of the city she uttereth her words, saying:

22 O children, how long will you love childishness, and fools covet those things which are hurtful to themselves, and the unwise hate knowledge?

23 Turn ye at my reproof: behold I will utter my spirit to you, and will shew you my words.

24 Because I called, and you refused: I stretched out my hand, and there was none that regarded.

25 You have despised all my counsel, and have neglected my reprehensions.

26 I also will laugh in your destruction, and will mock when that shall come to you which you feared.

27 When sudden calamity shall fall on you, and destruction, as a tempest, shall be at hand: when tribulation and distress shall come upon you:

28 Then shall they call upon me, and I will not hear: they shall rise in the morning, and shall not find me:

29 Because they have hated instruction, and received not the fear of the Lord,

30 Nor consented to my counsel, but despised all my reproof.

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

32 The turning away of little ones shall kill them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.

33 But he that shall hear me, shall rest without terror, and shall enjoy abundance, without fear of evils.

Proverbs 2

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

2 That thy ear may hearken to wisdom: incline thy heart to know prudence.

3 For if thou shalt call for wisdom, and incline thy heart to prudence:

4 If thou shalt seek her as money, and shalt dig for her as for a treasure:

5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and shalt find the knowledge of God:

6 Because the Lord giveth wisdom: and out of his mouth cometh prudence and knowledge.

7 He wilt keep the salvation of the righteous, and protect them that walk in simplicity,

8 Keeping the paths of justice, and guarding the ways of saints.

9 Then shalt thou understand justice, and judgment, and equity, and every good path.

10 If wisdom shall enter into thy heart, and knowledge please thy soul:

11 Counsel shall keep thee, and prudence shall preserve thee,

12 That thou mayst be delivered from the evil way, and from the man that speaketh perverse things:

13 Who leave the right way, and walk by dark ways:

14 Who are glad when they have done evil, and rejoice in the most wicked things:

15 Whose ways are perverse, and their steps infamous.

16 That thou mayst be delivered from the strange woman, and from the stranger, who softeneth her words;

17 And forsaketh the guide of her youth,

18 And hath forgotten the covenant of her God: for her house inclineth unto death, and her paths to hell.

19 None that go in unto her, shall return again, neither shall they take hold of the paths of life.

20 That thou mayst walk in a good way: and mayst keep the paths of the just.

21 For they that are upright, shall dwell in the earth; and the simple shall continue in it.

22 But the wicked shall be destroyed from the earth: and they that do unjustly, shall be taken away from it.

Proverbs 3

1 My son, forget not my law, and let thy heart keep my commandments.

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

3 Let not mercy aud truth leave thee, put them about thy neck, and write them in the tables of thy heart.

4 And thou shalt find grace, and good understanding before God and men.

5 Have confidence in the Lord with all thy heart, and lean not upon thy own prudence.

6 In all thy ways think on him, and he will direct thy steps.

7 Be not wise in thy own conceit: fear God, and depart from evil:

8 For it shall be health to thy navel, and moistening to thy bones.

9 Honour the Lord with thy substance, and give him of the first of all thy fruits;

10 And thy barns shall be filled with abundance, and thy presses shall run over with wine.

11 My son, reject not the correction of the Lord: and do not faint when thou art chastised by him:

12 For whom the Lord loveth, he chastiseth: and as a father in the son he pleaseth himself.

13 Blessed is the man that findeth wisdom, and is rich in prudence:

14 The purchasing thereof is better than the merchandise of silver, and her fruit than the chief and purest gold:

15 She is more precious than all riches: and all the things that are desired, are not to be compared to her.

16 Length of days is in her right hand, and in her left hand riches and glory.

17 Her ways are beautiful ways, and all her paths are peaceable.

18 She is a tree of life to them that lay hold on her: and he that shall retain her is blessed.

19 The Lord by wisdom hath founded the earth, hath established the heavens by prudence.

20 By his wisdom the depths have broken out, and the clouds grow thick with dew.

21 My son, let not these things depart from thy eyes: keep the law and counsel:

22 And there shall be life to thy soul, and grace to thy mouth.

23 Then shalt thou walk confidently in thy way, and thy foot shall not stumble:

24 If thou sleep, thou shalt not fear: thou shalt rest, and thy sleep shall be sweet.

25 Be not afraid of sudden fear, nor of the power of the wicked falling upon thee.

26 For the Lord will be at thy side, and will keep thy foot that thou be not taken.

27 Do not withhold him from doing good, who is able: if thou art able, do good thyself also.

28 Say not to thy friend: Go, and come again: and to morrow I will give to thee: when thou canst give at present.

29 Practise not evil against thy friend, when he hath confidence in thee.

30 Strive not against a man without cause, when he hath done thee no evil.

31 Envy not the unjust man, and do not follow his ways.

32 For every mocker is an abomination to the Lord, and his communication is with the simple.

33 Want is from the Lord in the house of the wicked: but the habitations of the just shall be blessed.

34 He shall scorn the scorners, and to the meek he will give grace.

35 The wise shall possess glory: the promotion of fools is disgrace.

Proverbs 4

1 Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend, that you may know prudence.

2 I will give you a good gift, forsake not my law.

3 For I also was my father’s son, tender, and as an only son in the sight of my mother:

4 And he taught me, and said: Let thy heart receive my words, keep my commandments, and thou shalt live.

5 Get wisdom, get prudence: forget not, neither decline from the words of my mouth.

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

7 The beginning of wisdom, get wisdom, and with all thy possession purchase prudence.

8 Take hold on her, and she shall exalt thee: thou shalt be glorified by her, when thou shalt embrace her.

9 She shall give to thy head increase of graces, and protect thee with a noble crown.

10 Hear, O my son, and receive my words, that years of life may be multiplied to thee.

11 I will shew thee the way of wisdom, I will lead thee by the paths of equity:

12 Which when thou shalt have entered, thy steps shall not be straitened, and when thou runnest, thou shalt not meet a stumblingblock.

13 Take hold on instruction, leave it not: keep it, because it is thy life.

14 Be not delighted in the paths of the wicked, neither let the way of evil men please thee.

15 Flee from it, pass not by it: go aside, and forsake it.

16 For they sleep not, except they have done evil: and their sleep is taken away unless they have made some to fall.

17 They eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of iniquity.

18 But the path of the just, as a shining light, goeth forwards, and increaseth even to perfect day.

19 The way of the wicked is darksome: they know not where they fall.

20 My son, hearken to my words, and 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 flesh.

23 With all watchfulness keep thy heart, because life issueth out from it.

24 Remove from thee a froward mouth, and let detracting lips be far from thee.

25 Let thy eyes look straight on, and let thy eyelids go before thy steps.

26 Make straight the path for thy feet, and all thy ways shall be established.

27 Decline not to the right hand, nor to the left: turn away thy foot from evil. For the Lord knoweth the ways that are on the right hand: but those are perverse which are on the left hand. But he will make thy courses straight, he will bring forward thy ways in peace.

Proverbs 5

1 My son, attend to my wisdom, and incline thy ear to my prudence,

2 That thou mayst keep thoughts, and thy lips may preserve instruction. Mind not the deceit of a woman.

3 For the lips of a harlot are like a honeycomb dropping, and her throat is smoother than oil.

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

5 Her feet go down into death, and her steps go in as far as hell.

6 They walk not by the path of life, her steps are wandering, and unaccountable.

7 Now, therefore, my son, hear me, and depart not from the words of my mouth.

8 Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the doors of her house.

9 Give not thy honour to strangers, and thy years to the cruel.

10 Lest strangers be filled with thy strength, and thy labours be in another man’s house,

11 And thou mourn at the last, when thou shalt have spent thy flesh and thy body, and say;

12 Why have I hated instruction, and my heart consented not to reproof,

13 And have not heard the voice of them that taught me, and have not inclined my ear to masters?

14 I have almost been in all evil, in the midst of the church and of the congregation.

15 Drink water out of thy own cistern, and the streams of thy own well:

16 Let thy fountains be conveyed abroad, and in the streets divide thy waters.

17 Keep them to thyself alone, neither let strangers be partakers with thee.

18 Let thy vein be blessed, and rejoice with the wife of thy youth:

19 Let her be thy dearest hind, and most agreeable fawn: let her breasts inebriate thee at all times: be thou delighted continually with her love.

20 Why art thou seduced, my son, by a strange woman, and art cherished in the bosom of another?

21 The Lord beholdeth the ways of man, and considereth all his steps.

22 His own iniquities catch the wicked, and he is fast bound with the ropes of his own sins.

23 He shall die, because he hath not received instruction, and in the multitude of his folly he shall be deceived.

Proverbs 6

1 My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, thou hast engaged fast thy hand to a stranger,

2 Thou art ensnared with the words of thy mouth, and caught with thy own words.

3 Do, therefore, my son, what I say, and deliver thyself: because thou art fallen into the hand of thy neighbour. Run about, make haste, stir up thy friend:

4 Give not sleep to thy eyes, neither let thy eyelids slumber.

5 Deliver thyself as a doe from the hand, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.

6 Go to the ant, O sluggard, and consider her ways, and learn wisdom:

7 Which, although she hath no guide, nor master, nor captain,

8 Provideth her meat for herself 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 Thou wilt sleep a little, thou wilt slumber a little, thou wilt fold thy hands a little to sleep:

11 And want shall come upon thee, as a traveller, and poverty as a man armed. But if thou be diligent, thy harvest shall come as a fountain, and want shall flee far from thee.

12 A man that is an apostate, an unprofitable man, walketh with a perverse mouth,

13 He winketh with the eyes, presseth with the foot, speaketh with the finger.

14 With a wicked heart he deviseth evil, and at all times he soweth discord.

15 To such a one his destruction shall presently come, and he shall suddenly be destroyed, and shall no longer have any remedy.

16 Six things there are, which the Lord hateth, and the seventh his soul detesteth:

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

18 A heart that deviseth wicked plots, feet that are swift to run into mischief,

19 A deceitful witness that uttereth lies, and him that soweth discord among brethren.

20 My son, keep the commandments of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother.

21 Bind them in thy heart continually, and put them about thy neck.

22 When thou walkest, let them go with thee: when thou sleepest, let them keep thee, and when thou awakest, talk with them.

23 Because the commandment is a lamp, and the law a light, and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:

24 That they may keep thee from the evil woman, and from the flattering tongue of the stranger.

25 Let not thy heart covet her beauty, be not caught with her winks:

26 For the price of a harlot is scarce one loaf: but the woman catcheth the precious soul of a man.

27 Can a man hide fire in his bosom, and his garments not burn?

28 Or can he walk upon hot coals, and his feet not be burnt?

29 So he that goeth in to his neighbour’s wife, shall not be clean when he shall touch her.

30 The fault is not so great when a man hath stolen: for he stealeth to fill his hungry soul:

31 And if he be taken, he shall restore sevenfold, and shall give up all the substance of his house.

32 But he that is an adulterer, for the folly of his heart shall destroy his own soul:

33 He gathereth to himself shame and dishonour, and his reproach shall not be blotted out:

34 Because the jealousy and rage of the husband will not spare in the day of revenge,

35 Nor will he yield to any man’s prayers, nor will he accept for satisfaction ever so many gifts.

Proverbs 7

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

2 Keep my commandments, and thou shalt live: and my law as the apple of thy eye:

3 Bind it upon thy fingers, write it upon the tables of thy heart.

4 Say to wisdom: Thou art my sister: and call prudence thy friend,

5 That she may keep thee from the woman that is not thine, and from the stranger who sweeteneth her words.

6 For I looked out of the window of my house through the lattice,

7 And I see little ones, I behold a foolish young man,

8 Who passeth through the street by the corner, and goeth nigh the way of her house,

9 In the dark when it grows late, in the darkness and obscurity of the night.

10 And behold a woman meeteth him in harlot’s attire, prepared to deceive souls: talkative and wandering,

11 Not bearing to be quiet, not able to abide still at home,

12 Now abroad, now in the streets, now lying in wait near the corners.

13 And catching the young man, she kisseth him, and with an impudent face, flattereth, saying:

14 I vowed victims for prosperity, this day I have paid my vows.

15 Therefore I am come out to meet thee, desirous to see thee, and I have found thee.

16 I have woven my bed with cords, I have covered it with painted tapestry, brought from Egypt.

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

18 Come, let us be inebriated with the breasts, and let us enjoy the desired embraces, till the day appear.

19 For my husband is not at home, he is gone a very long journey.

20 He took with him a bag of money: he will return home the day of the full moon.

21 She entangled him with many words, and drew him away with the flattery of her lips.

22 Immediately he followeth her as an ox led to be a victim, and as a lamb playing the wanton, and not knowing that he is drawn like a fool to bonds,

23 Till the arrow pierce his liver: as if a bird should make haste to the snare, and knoweth not that his life is in danger.

24 Now, therefore, my son, hear me, and attend to the words of my mouth.

25 Let not thy mind be drawn away in her ways: neither be thou deceived with her paths.

26 For she hath cast down many wounded, and the strongest have been slain by her.

27 Her house is the way to hell, reaching even to the inner chambers of death.

Proverbs 8

1 Doth not wisdom cry aloud, and prudence put forth her voice?

2 Standing in the top of the highest places by the way, in the midst of the paths,

3 Beside the gates of the city, in the very doors she speaketh, saying:

4 O ye men, to you I call, and my voice is to the sons of men.

5 O little ones understand subtlety, and ye unwise, take notice.

6 Hear, for I will speak of great things: and my lips shall be opened to preach right things.

7 My mouth shall meditate truth, and my lips shall hate wickedness.

8 All my words are just, there is nothing wicked, nor perverse in them.

9 They are right to them that understand, and just to them that find knowledge.

10 Receive my instruction, and not money: choose knowledge rather than gold.

11 For wisdom is better than all the most precious things: and whatsoever may be desired cannot be compared to it.

12 I, wisdom, dwell in counsel, and am present in learned thoughts.

13 The fear of the Lord hateth evil; I hate arrogance, and pride, and every wicked way, and a mouth with a double tongue.

14 Counsel and equity is mine, prudence is mine, strength is mine.

15 By me kings reign, and lawgivers decree just things.

16 By me princes rule, and the mighty decree justice.

17 I love them that love me: and they that in the morning early watch for me, shall find me.

18 With me are riches and glory, glorious riches and justice.

19 For my fruit is better than gold and the precious stone, and my blossoms than choice silver.

20 I walk in the way of justice, in the midst of the paths of judgment,

21 That I may enrich them that love me, and may fill their treasures.

22 The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his ways, before he made any thing from the beginning.

23 I was set up from eternity, and of old, before the earth was made.

24 The depths were not as yet, and I was already conceived, neither had the fountains of waters as yet sprung out.

25 The mountains, with their huge bulk, had not as yet been established: before the hills, I was brought forth:

26 He had not yet made the earth, nor the rivers, nor the poles of the world.

27 When he prepared the heavens, I was present: when with a certain law, and compass, he enclosed the depths:

28 When he established the sky above, and poised the fountains of waters:

29 When he compassed the sea with its bounds, and set a law to the waters that they should not pass their limits: when he balanced the foundations of the earth;

30 I was with him forming all things: and was delighted every day, playing before him at all times;

31 Playing in the world: and my delights were to be with the children of men.

32 Now, therefore, ye children, hear me: 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, and that watcheth daily at my gates, and waiteth at the posts of my doors.

35 He that shall find me, shall find life, and shall have salvation from the Lord.

36 But he that shall sin against me shall hurt his own soul. All that hate me love death.

Proverbs 9

1 Wisdom hath built herself a house, she hath hewn her out seven pillars.

2 She hath slain her victims, mingled her wine, and set forth her table.

3 She hath sent her maids to invite to the tower, and to the walls of the city:

4 Whosoever is a little one, let him come to me. And to the unwise she said:

5 Come, eat my bread, and drink the wine which I have mingled for you.

6 Forsake childishness, and live, and walk by the ways of prudence.

7 He that teacheth a scorner, doth an injury to himself; and he that rebuketh a wicked man, getteth himself a blot.

8 Rebuke not a scorner, lest he hate thee. Rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee.

9 Give an occasion to a wise man, and wisdom shall be added to him. Teach a just man, and he shall make haste to receive it.

10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is prudence.

11 For by me shall thy days be multiplied, and years of life shall be added to thee.

12 If thou be wise, thou shalt be so to thyself: and if a scorner, thou alone shalt bear the evil.

13 A foolish woman and clamorous, and full of allurements, and knowing nothing at all,

14 Sat at the door of her house, upon a seat, in a high place of the city,

15 To call them that pass by the way, and go on their journey:

16 He that is a little one, let him turn to me. And to the fool she said:

17 Stolen waters are sweeter, and hidden bread is more pleasant.

18 And he did not know that giants are there, and that her guests are in the depths of hell.