Proverbs 22:1--23:35

22:1 A [good] name [is] rather to be chosen than great riches, [and] loving favour rather than silver and gold. 22:2 The rich and poor meet together: the LORD [is] the maker of them all. 22:3 A prudent [man] foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished. 22:4 By humility [and] the fear of the LORD [are] riches, and honour, and life. 22:5 Thorns [and] snares [are] in the way of the froward: he that doth keep his soul shall be far from them. 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. 22:7 The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower [is] servant to the lender. 22:8 He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity: and the rod of his anger shall fail. 22:9 He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor. 22:10 Cast out the scorner, and contention shall go out; yea, strife and reproach shall cease. 22:11 He that loveth pureness of heart, [for] the grace of his lips the king [shall be] his friend. 22:12 The eyes of the LORD preserve knowledge, and he overthroweth the words of the transgressor. 22:13 The slothful [man] saith, [There is] a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets. 22:14 The mouth of strange women [is] a deep pit: he that is abhorred of the LORD shall fall therein. 22:15 Foolishness [is] bound in the heart of a child; [but] the rod of correction shall drive it far from him. 22:16 He that oppresseth the poor to increase his [riches, and] he that giveth to the rich, [shall] surely [come] to want. 22:17 Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge. 22:18 For [it is] a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee; they shall withal be fitted in thy lips. 22:19 That thy trust may be in the LORD, I have made known to thee this day, even to thee. 22:20 Have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge, 22:21 That I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth; that thou mightest answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee? 22:22 Rob not the poor, because he [is] poor: neither oppress the afflicted in the gate: 22:23 For the LORD will plead their cause, and spoil the soul of those that spoiled them. 22:24 Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go: 22:25 Lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul. 22:26 Be not thou [one] of them that strike hands, [or] of them that are sureties for debts. 22:27 If thou hast nothing to pay, why should he take away thy bed from under thee? 22:28 Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set. 22:29 Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean [men]. 23:1 When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what [is] before thee: 23:2 And put a knife to thy throat, if thou [be] a man given to appetite. 23:3 Be not desirous of his dainties: for they [are] deceitful meat. 23:4 Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom. 23:5 Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for [riches] certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven. 23:6 Eat thou not the bread of [him that hath] an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats: 23:7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so [is] he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart [is] not with thee. 23:8 The morsel [which] thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words. 23:9 Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words. 23:10 Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless: 23:11 For their redeemer [is] mighty; he shall plead their cause with thee. 23:12 Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge. 23:13 Withhold not correction from the child: for [if] thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. 23:14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell. 23:15 My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine. 23:16 Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things. 23:17 Let not thine heart envy sinners: but [be thou] in the fear of the LORD all the day long. 23:18 For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off. 23:19 Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way. 23:20 Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh: 23:21 For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe [a man] with rags. 23:22 Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old. 23:23 Buy the truth, and sell [it] not; [also] wisdom, and instruction, and understanding. 23:24 The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise [child] shall have joy of him. 23:25 Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice. 23:26 My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways. 23:27 For a whore [is] a deep ditch; and a strange woman [is] a narrow pit. 23:28 She also lieth in wait as [for] a prey, and increaseth the transgressors among men. 23:29 Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? 23:30 They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine. 23:31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, [when] it moveth itself aright. 23:32 At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder. 23:33 Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things. 23:34 Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast. 23:35 They have stricken me, [shalt thou say, and] I was not sick; they have beaten me, [and] I felt [it] not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.