23 When thou sittest to eat with a ruler,

Consider diligently what is before thee:

2  And put a knife to thy throat,

If thou be a man agiven to bappetite.

3  cBe not desirous of his cddainties:

For they are deceitful meat.

4  eLabour not to be rich:

Cease from thine own fwisdom.

5  †Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not?

For griches certainly make themselves wings;

They fly away as an eagle toward heaven.

6  hEat thou not the bread of him that hath ian evil eye,

cNeither desire thou his cddainty meats:

7  For as he thinketh in his bheart, so is he:

Eat and drink, saith he to thee;

jBut his heart is not with thee.

8  The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou kvomit up,

And llose thy sweet words.

9  lSpeak not in the ears of a fool:

For he will despise the wisdom of thy words.

10  mRemove not the old ||landmark;

And enter not into the fields of the fatherless:

11  For their nredeemer is mighty;

He oshall plead their cause with thee.

12  Apply thine heart unto pinstruction,

And thine ears to the words of knowledge.

13  Withhold not pcorrection from the qchild:

For if thou beatest him with the rod, rhe shall not die.

14  Thou shalt beat him with the rod,

And shalt sdeliver his soul from hell.

15  tMy son, if thine heart be wise,

My heart shall rejoice, ||ueven mine.

16  Yea, xmy reins shall rejoice,

When thy lips speak yright things.

17  Let not thine heart zenvy sinners:

But be thou in athe fear of the Lord all the day long.

18  For surely bthere is an ||cend;

bAnd thine dexpectation shall not be cut off.

19  Hear thou, my son, and ebe wise,

And fguide thine gheart in the way.

20  Be not among hiwinebibbers;

Among ijriotous eaters †of flesh:

21  For the idrunkard and the ijglutton shall come to poverty:

And kdrowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.

22  lHearken unto thy father that begat thee,

And despise not thy mother when she is old.

23  mBuy the truth, and sell it not;

Also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.

24  nThe father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice:

And he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him.

25  Thy father and thy mother shall be glad,

And oshe that bare thee shall rejoice.

26  My son, give me thine heart,

And let thine eyes observe my ways.

27  For a whore is pa deep ditch;

And qa strange woman is a narrow rpit.

28  sShe also lieth in wait ||as for a prey,

And increaseth the transgressors among men.

29  tWho hath woe? who hath sorrow?

Who hath contentions? who hath babbling?

Who hath uwounds without cause?

Who hath vredness of eyes?

30  tThey that wtarry long at the wine;

They that go to seek xmixed wine.

31  Look not thou upon the wine when it is red,

When it giveth his colour in the cup,

When it ymoveth itself yzaright.

32  aAt the last it bbiteth like a serpent,

And stingeth like ||an cadder.

33  Thine eyes shall behold dstrange women,

And thine heart shall utter eperverse things.

34  Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down †fin the midst of the sea,

Or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.

35  They have gstricken me, hshalt thou say, and I gwas not sick;

They have beaten me, and †iI felt it not:

When shall I awake?

kI will seek it yet again.

24 aBe not thou envious against evil men,

Neither desire to be bwith them.

2  cFor their heart studieth destruction,

And their lips talk of dmischief.

3  Through ewisdom is an house builded;

And by understanding it eis established:

4  And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled

With all precious and pleasant riches.

5  fA wise man †is strong;

Yea, a man of knowledge †increaseth strength.

6  For hby wise counsel thou shalt make thy war:

And iin multitude of counsellers there is safety.

7  kWisdom is ltoo high for a fool:

He openeth not his mouth min the gate.

8  He that ndeviseth to do evil

Shall be called oa mischievous person.

9  The pthought of foolishness is sin:

And the scorner is an abomination to men.

10  If thou faint in the day of adversity,

Thy strength is †small.

11  If thou forbear qto deliver them that are drawn unto death,

And those that are rready to be slain;

12  If thou sayest, sBehold, we knew it not;

Doth not he that tpondereth the heart consider it?

And he that ukeepeth thy soul, doth not he know it?

And shall not he render to every man waccording to his works?

13  My son, eat thou xyhoney, because it is good;

And the xyhoneycomb, which is sweet †to thy taste:

14  ySo shall the knowledge of wisdom be unto thy soul:

When thou hast found it, then zthere shall be a reward,

zAnd thy expectation shall not be cut off.

15  aLay not wait, O wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous;

Spoil not his resting place:

16  bFor a just man falleth cseven times, and riseth up again:

But dthe wicked shall efall into mischief.

17  fRejoice not when thine enemy falleth,

And let not thine heart be glad when he estumbleth:

18  Lest the Lord see it, and †it displease him,

And he turn away his wrath from him.

19  g||Fret not thyself because of evil men,

Neither hbe thou envious at the wicked;

20  For there shall be no ireward to the evil man;

kThe ||candle of the wicked shall be put out.

21  My son, lfear thou the Lord and the king:

And meddle not with †them that are given to change:

22  For their calamity shall rise suddenly;

And llwho knoweth the mruin of nthem both?

23  These things also belong to the wise.

It is not good oto have respect of persons in judgment.

24  pHe that saith unto the wicked, Thou art righteous;

qHim shall the people curse, nations shall abhor him:

25  But to them that rebuke him shall be delight,

And †a good blessing shall come upon them.

26  Every man shall kiss his lips

†That giveth a rright answer.

27  sPrepare thy work without,

And make it fit for thyself in the field;

And afterwards build thine house.

28  tBe not a witness against thy neighbour without cause;

And deceive not with thy lips.

29  uSay not, I will do so to him as he hath done to me:

I will render to the man according to his work.

30  xI went by the field of the slothful,

And by the vineyard of the man yvoid of understanding;

31  And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns,

And znettles had covered the face thereof,

And the stone awall thereof was broken down.

32  Then I saw, and †considered it well:

I xlooked upon it, and received instruction.

33  bYet a little sleep, a little slumber,

A little folding of the hands to sleep:

34  So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth;

And thy want as †an armed man.

25 *These are also aproverbs of Solomon, which bthe men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied out.

2  It is the glory of God cto conceal a thing:

But the honour of kings is dto search out a matter.

3  The heaven for height, and the earth for depth,

And the heart of kings †is unsearchable.

4  eTake away fthe dross from the silver,

And there shall come forth a vessel for the finer.

5  eTake away gthe wicked from before the king,

And hhis throne shall be established in righteousness.

6  †Put not forth thyself in the presence of the king,

And istand not in the place of great men:

7  jFor better it is that it be said unto thee, Come up hither;

Than that thou shouldest be put lower in the presence of the prince

kWhom thine eyes have seen.

8  lGo not forth hastily to strive,

Lest thou know not what to do in the end thereof,

When thy neighbour hath llput thee to shame.

9  mDebate thy cause with thy neighbour himself;

And ||discover not a secret to another:

10  Lest he that heareth it nput thee to shame,

And thine infamy turn not away.

11  oA word †fitly spoken

Is like papples of gold in qpictures of silver.

12  As ran earring of gold, and an sornament of tfine gold,

uSo is a wise reprover upon an xobedient ear.

13  As the cold of snow in the time of harvest,

So is ya faithful messenger to them that send him:

For he refresheth the soul of his masters.

14  zWhoso boasteth himself †of a false gift

Is like aclouds and wind without rain.

15  bBy clong forbearing is a dprince persuaded,

And a soft tongue breaketh the bone.

16  eHast thou found honey? eat so much as is sufficient for thee,

Lest thou be filled therewith, and fvomit it.

17  ||Withdraw thy foot from thy neighbour’s house;

Lest he be †weary of thee, and so hate thee.

18  A man that gbeareth false witness against his neighbour

Is a maul, and ha sword, and a isharp arrow.

19  Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble

Is like a broken tooth, and ka foot out of joint.

20  As he that ltaketh away a garment in cold weather,

And as vinegar upon mnitre,

So is he nthat singeth songs to an heavy heart.

21  oIf thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat;

And if he be thirsty, give him water to drink:

22  For thou shalt pheap qcoals of fire upon his head,

And the Lord shall reward thee.

23  ||The north wind driveth away rain:

So doth an angry countenance a sbackbiting tongue.

24  tIt is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop,

tThan with a brawling woman and in a wide house.

25  As cold waters uto a thirsty soul,

So is wgood news from a far country.

26  A righteous man xfalling down before the wicked

Is as a ytroubled fountain, and a corrupt spring.

27  zIt is not good to eat much honey:

aSo for men bto search their own bcglory is not glory.

28  dHe that hath no rule over his own spirit

Is like a city that is ebroken down, and without walls.

26 As snow in summer, and aas rain in harvest,

bSo honour is not cseemly for a fool.

2  As the dbird by wandering, as the dswallow by flying,

So ethe curse causeless shall not come.

3  fA whip for the horse, a bridle for the ass,

And ga rod for the fool’s back.

4  hAnswer not a fool according to his folly,

Lest thou also be like unto him.

5  iAnswer a fool according to his folly,

Lest he be wise in †his own conceit.

6  He that sendeth a message by the hand of a fool

Cutteth off the feet, and kdrinketh ||damage.

7  The legs of the lame †are not equal:

So is a lparable in the mouth of fools.

8  ||As he that bindeth a stone in a sling,

bSo is he that giveth honour to a fool.

9  As ma thorn goeth up into the hand of a drunkard,

So is a lparable in the mouth of fools.

10  ||The great God that nformed all things

Both rewardeth the fool, and rewardeth transgressors.

11  As pa dog returneth to his vomit,

So qa fool †returneth to his folly.

12  rSeest thou a man wise in his own conceit?

sThere is more hope of a fool than of him.

13  tThe slothful man saith, There is ua lion in the way;

A lion is in the streets.

14  As the door turneth upon his hinges,

So doth the slothful upon his bed.

15  wThe slothful hideth his hand in his bosom;

||It grieveth him to bring it again to his mouth.

16  The sluggard is wiser xin his own conceit

Than yseven men that can zrender a zzreason.

17  He that passeth by, and ||ameddleth with strife belonging not to him,

Is like one that taketh a dog by the ears.

18  As a mad man who casteth †firebrands, arrows, and death,

19  So is the man that deceiveth his neighbour,

And saith, Am not I in sport?

20  †Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out:

So where there is no ||talebearer, bthe strife †ceaseth.

21  As ccoals are to dburning coals, and wood to fire;

So is ea contentious man to kindle strife.

22  fThe words of a talebearer are as wounds,

And they go down into the †innermost parts of the belly.

23  gBurning lips and a wicked heart

Are like a potsherd hcovered with silver idross.

24  He that hateth ||kdissembleth with his lips,

And layeth up deceit within him;

25  lWhen he †speaketh fair, believe him not:

For there are yseven abominations in his heart.

26  Whose ||hatred is covered by deceit,

His wickedness shall be mshewed nbefore the whole congregation.

27  oWhoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein:

And he that rolleth a stone, it will preturn upon him.

28  A lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it;

And a flattering mouth worketh ruin.

27 aBoast not thyself of †to morrow;

aFor thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.

2  bLet another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth;

A stranger, and not thine own lips.

3  A stone is †heavy, and cthe sand weighty;

But a ccfool’s wrath is heavier than them both.

4  †Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous;

But who is able to stand before ||envy?

5  eOpen rebuke is better than secret love.

6  eFaithful are fthe wounds of a friend;

But the gkisses of an enemy are ||deceitful.

7  The full soul †loatheth han honeycomb;

But to the hungry soul ievery bitter thing is sweet.

8  jAs a bird that wandereth from her nest,

So is a man that wandereth from his place.

9  kOintment and perfume rejoice the heart:

So doth the sweetness of a man’s friend †by lhearty counsel.

10  Thine own friend, and mthy father’s friend, forsake not;

Neither go into thy brother’s house in the day of thy calamity:

For nbetter is a neighbour that is near than a brother far off.

11  oMy son, pbe wise, and make my heart glad,

That I may qanswer rhim that reproacheth me.

12  sA prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself;

But tthe simple pass on, and are punished.

13  uTake his garment that is surety for a stranger,

And take a pledge of him for a strange woman.

14  He that blesseth his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning,

It shall be counted a curse to him.

15  xA continual dropping in a very rainy day

And a contentious woman are alike.

16  Whosoever hideth her hideth the wind,

And the ointment of his right hand, which ybewrayeth itself.

17  Iron sharpeneth iron;

So a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.

18  zWhoso akeepeth the fig tree shall eat the fruit thereof:

So he that waiteth on his master shall be honoured.

19  As in water aaface answereth to face,

So the heart of man to man.

20  bHell and destruction care †never full;

So dthe eyes of man eare never satisfied.

21  fAs the fining pot for silver, and the furnace for gold;

gSo is a man hto his praise.

22  iThough thou shouldest bray a fool in a kmortar among lwheat with a pestle,

Yet will not his foolishness depart from him.

23  Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks,

And †look well to thy herds.

24  For †riches are not for ever:

And doth the crown endure †to every generation?

25  mThe hay appeareth, and the ntender grass sheweth itself,

And mherbs of the mountains are gathered.

26  oThe lambs are for pthy clothing,

And the goats are the price of the field.

27  And thou shalt have goats’ milk enough for pthy food,

For the food of thy household,

And for the †maintenance for thy maidens.