Bible Browser

The Deceptiveness of Appearances

11The wisdom of the humble lifts their heads high,
   and seats them among the great.
² Do not praise individuals for their good looks,
   or loathe anyone because of appearance alone.
³ The bee is small among flying creatures,
   but what it produces is the best of sweet things.
⁴ Do not boast about wearing fine clothes,
   and do not exalt yourself when you are honoured;
for the works of the Lord are wonderful,
   and his works are concealed from humankind.
⁵ Many kings have had to sit on the ground,
   but one who was never thought of has worn a crown.
⁶ Many rulers have been utterly disgraced,
   and the honoured have been handed over to others.

Deliberation and Caution

⁷ Do not find fault before you investigate;
   examine first, and then criticize.
⁸ Do not answer before you listen,
   and do not interrupt when another is speaking.
⁹ Do not argue about a matter that does not concern you,
   and do not sit with sinners when they judge a case.

¹⁰ My child, do not busy yourself with many matters;
   if you multiply activities, you will not be held blameless.
If you pursue, you will not overtake,
   and by fleeing you will not escape.
¹¹ There are those who work and struggle and hurry,
   but are so much the more in want.
¹² There are others who are slow and need help,
   who lack strength and abound in poverty;
but the eyes of the Lord look kindly upon them;
   he lifts them out of their lowly condition
¹³ and raises up their heads
   to the amazement of many.

¹⁴ Good things and bad, life and death,
   poverty and wealth, come from the Lord.^*
17 The Lord’s gift remains with the devout,
   and his favour brings lasting success.
¹⁸ One becomes rich through diligence and self-denial,
   and the reward allotted to him is this:
¹⁹ when he says, ‘I have found rest,
   and now I shall feast on my goods!’
he does not know how long it will be
   until he leaves them to others and dies.

²⁰ Stand by your agreement and attend to it,
   and grow old in your work.
²¹ Do not wonder at the works of a sinner,
   but trust in the Lord and keep at your job;
for it is easy in the sight of the Lord
   to make the poor rich suddenly, in an instant.
²² The blessing of the Lord is^* the reward of the pious,
   and quickly God causes his blessing to flourish.
²³ Do not say, ‘What do I need,
   and what further benefit can be mine?’
²⁴ Do not say, ‘I have enough,
   and what harm can come to me now?’
²⁵ In the day of prosperity, adversity is forgotten,
   and in the day of adversity, prosperity is not remembered.
²⁶ For it is easy for the Lord on the day of death
   to reward individuals according to their conduct.
²⁷ An hour’s misery makes one forget past delights,
   and at the close of one’s life one’s deeds are revealed.
²⁸ Call no one happy before his death;
   by how he ends, a person becomes known.^*

Care in Choosing Friends

²⁹ Do not invite everyone into your home,
   for many are the tricks of the crafty.
³⁰ Like a decoy partridge in a cage, so is the mind of the proud,
   and like spies they observe your weakness;^*
31 for they lie in wait, turning good into evil,
   and to worthy actions they attach blame.
³² From a spark many coals are kindled,
   and a sinner lies in wait to shed blood.
³³ Beware of scoundrels, for they devise evil,
   and they may ruin your reputation for ever.
³⁴ Receive strangers into your home and they will stir up trouble for you,
   and will make you a stranger to your own family.