Bible Browser

18The one who lives alone is self-indulgent,
   showing contempt for all who have sound judgement.^*
2 A fool takes no pleasure in understanding,
   but only in expressing personal opinion.
³ When wickedness comes, contempt comes also;
   and with dishonour comes disgrace.
⁴ The words of the mouth are deep waters;
   the fountain of wisdom is a gushing stream.
⁵ It is not right to be partial to the guilty,
   or to subvert the innocent in judgement.
⁶ A fool’s lips bring strife,
   and a fool’s mouth invites a flogging.
⁷ The mouths of fools are their ruin,
   and their lips a snare to themselves.
⁸ The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels;
   they go down into the inner parts of the body.
⁹ One who is slack in work
   is close kin to a vandal.
¹⁰ The name of the Lord is a strong tower;
   the righteous run into it and are safe.
¹¹ The wealth of the rich is their strong city;
   in their imagination it is like a high wall.
¹² Before destruction one’s heart is haughty,
   but humility goes before honour.
¹³ If one gives answer before hearing,
   it is folly and shame.
¹⁴ The human spirit will endure sickness;
   but a broken spirit—who can bear?
¹⁵ An intelligent mind acquires knowledge,
   and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.
¹⁶ A gift opens doors;
   it gives access to the great.
¹⁷ The one who first states a case seems right,
   until the other comes and cross-examines.
¹⁸ Casting the lot puts an end to disputes
   and decides between powerful contenders.
¹⁹ An ally offended is stronger than a city;^*
   such quarrelling is like the bars of a castle.
²⁰ From the fruit of the mouth one’s stomach is satisfied;
   the yield of the lips brings satisfaction.
²¹ Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
   and those who love it will eat its fruits.
²² He who finds a wife finds a good thing,
   and obtains favour from the Lord.
²³ The poor use entreaties,
   but the rich answer roughly.
²⁴ Some^* friends play at friendship^*
   but a true friend sticks closer than one’s nearest kin.

19Better the poor walking in integrity
   than one perverse of speech who is a fool.
² Desire without knowledge is not good,
   and one who moves too hurriedly misses the way.
³ One’s own folly leads to ruin,
   yet the heart rages against the Lord.
⁴ Wealth brings many friends,
   but the poor are left friendless.
⁵ A false witness will not go unpunished,
   and a liar will not escape.
⁶ Many seek the favour of the generous,
   and everyone is a friend to a giver of gifts.
⁷ If the poor are hated even by their kin,
   how much more are they shunned by their friends!
When they call after them, they are not there.^*
8 To get wisdom is to love oneself;
   to keep understanding is to prosper.
⁹ A false witness will not go unpunished,
   and the liar will perish.
¹⁰ It is not fitting for a fool to live in luxury,
   much less for a slave to rule over princes.
¹¹ Those with good sense are slow to anger,
   and it is their glory to overlook an offence.
¹² A king’s anger is like the growling of a lion,
   but his favour is like dew on the grass.
¹³ A stupid child is ruin to a father,
   and a wife’s quarrelling is a continual dripping of rain.
¹⁴ House and wealth are inherited from parents,
   but a prudent wife is from the Lord.
¹⁵ Laziness brings on deep sleep;
   an idle person will suffer hunger.
¹⁶ Those who keep the commandment will live;
   those who are heedless of their ways will die.
¹⁷ Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord,
   and will be repaid in full.
¹⁸ Discipline your children while there is hope;
   do not set your heart on their destruction.
¹⁹ A violent-tempered person will pay the penalty;
   if you effect a rescue, you will only have to do it again.^*
20 Listen to advice and accept instruction,
   that you may gain wisdom for the future.
²¹ The human mind may devise many plans,
   but it is the purpose of the Lord that will be established.
²² What is desirable in a person is loyalty,
   and it is better to be poor than a liar.
²³ The fear of the Lord is life indeed;
   filled with it one rests secure
   and suffers no harm.
²⁴ The lazy person buries a hand in the dish,
   and will not even bring it back to the mouth.
²⁵ Strike a scoffer, and the simple will learn prudence;
   reprove the intelligent, and they will gain knowledge.
²⁶ Those who do violence to their father and chase away their mother
   are children who cause shame and bring reproach.
²⁷ Cease straying, my child, from the words of knowledge,
   in order that you may hear instruction.
²⁸ A worthless witness mocks at justice,
   and the mouth of the wicked devours iniquity.
²⁹ Condemnation is ready for scoffers,
   and flogging for the backs of fools.

20Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler,
   and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.
² The dread anger of a king is like the growling of a lion;
   anyone who provokes him to anger forfeits life itself.
³ It is honourable to refrain from strife,
   but every fool is quick to quarrel.
⁴ The lazy person does not plough in season;
   harvest comes, and there is nothing to be found.
⁵ The purposes in the human mind are like deep water,
   but the intelligent will draw them out.
⁶ Many proclaim themselves loyal,
   but who can find one worthy of trust?
⁷ The righteous walk in integrity—
   happy are the children who follow them!
⁸ A king who sits on the throne of judgement
   winnows all evil with his eyes.
⁹ Who can say, ‘I have made my heart clean;
   I am pure from my sin’?
¹⁰ Diverse weights and diverse measures
   are both alike an abomination to the Lord.
¹¹ Even children make themselves known by their acts,
   by whether what they do is pure and right.
¹² The hearing ear and the seeing eye—
   the Lord has made them both.
¹³ Do not love sleep, or else you will come to poverty;
   open your eyes, and you will have plenty of bread.
¹⁴ ‘Bad, bad’, says the buyer,
   then goes away and boasts.
¹⁵ There is gold, and abundance of costly stones;
   but the lips informed by knowledge are a precious jewel.
¹⁶ Take the garment of one who has given surety for a stranger;
   seize the pledge given as surety for foreigners.
¹⁷ Bread gained by deceit is sweet,
   but afterwards the mouth will be full of gravel.
¹⁸ Plans are established by taking advice;
   wage war by following wise guidance.
¹⁹ A gossip reveals secrets;
   therefore do not associate with a babbler.
²⁰ If you curse father or mother,
   your lamp will go out in utter darkness.
²¹ An estate quickly acquired in the beginning
   will not be blessed in the end.
²² Do not say, ‘I will repay evil’;
   wait for the Lord, and he will help you.
²³ Differing weights are an abomination to the Lord,
   and false scales are not good.
²⁴ All our steps are ordered by the Lord;
   how then can we understand our own ways?
²⁵ It is a snare for one to say rashly, ‘It is holy’,
   and begin to reflect only after making a vow.
²⁶ A wise king winnows the wicked,
   and drives the wheel over them.
²⁷ The human spirit is the lamp of the Lord,
   searching every inmost part.
²⁸ Loyalty and faithfulness preserve the king,
   and his throne is upheld by righteousness.^*
29 The glory of youths is their strength,
   but the beauty of the aged is their grey hair.
³⁰ Blows that wound cleanse away evil;
   beatings make clean the innermost parts.