1You should want a good name more than you want great riches. To be highly respected is better than having silver or gold.2The LORD made rich people and poor people. That’s what they have in common.3Wise people see danger and go to a safe place. But childish people keep going and suffer for it.4Being humble comes from having respect for the LORD. This will bring you wealth and honour and life.5Thorns and traps lie in the paths of evil people. But those who value their lives stay far away from them.6Start children off on the right path. And even when they are old, they will not turn away from it.7Rich people rule over those who are poor. Borrowers are slaves to lenders.8Anyone who plants evil gathers a harvest of trouble. Their power to treat others badly will be destroyed.9Those who give freely will be blessed. That’s because they share their food with those who are poor.10If you drive away those who make fun of others, fighting also goes away. Arguing and unkind words will stop.11A person who has a pure and loving heart and speaks kindly will be a friend of the king.12The eyes of the LORD keep watch over knowledge. But he does away with the words of those who aren’t faithful.13People who don’t want to work say, ‘There’s a lion outside!’ Or they say, ‘I’ll be murdered if I go out into the streets!’14The mouth of a woman who commits adultery is like a deep pit. Any man the LORD is angry with falls into it.15Children are going to do foolish things. But correcting them will drive that foolishness far away.16You might treat poor people badly or give gifts to rich people. Trying to get rich in these ways will instead make you poor.
Saying 1
17Pay attention and listen to the sayings of wise people. Apply your heart to the sayings I teach.18It is pleasing when you keep them in your heart. Have all of them ready on your lips.19You are the one I am teaching today. That’s because I want you to trust in the LORD.20I have written 30 sayings for you. They will give you knowledge and good advice.21I am teaching you to be honest and to speak the truth. Then you can give honest reports to those you serve.
Saying 2
22Don’t take advantage of poor people just because they are poor. Don’t treat badly those who are in need by taking them to court.23The LORD will stand up for them in court. He will require the lives of people who have taken the lives of those in need.
Saying 3
24Don’t be a friend of a person who has a bad temper. Don’t go around with a person who gets angry easily.25You might learn their habits. And then you will be trapped by them.
Saying 4
26Don’t agree to pay for what someone else owes. And don’t agree to pay their bills for them.27If you don’t have the money to pay, your bed will be taken right out from under you!28Don’t move old boundary stones set up by your people of long ago.
Saying 5 Saying 6
29Do you see someone who does good work? That person will serve kings. That person won’t serve officials of lower rank.
Proverbs 22
English Standard Version
1A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold. (Ec 7:1)2The rich and the poor meet together; the Lord is the Maker of them all. (Job 31:15; Pr 14:31; Pr 29:13)3The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it. (Pr 14:16; Pr 27:12)4The reward for humility and fear of the Lord is riches and honor and life.[1] (Pr 21:20)5Thorns and snares are in the way of the crooked; whoever guards his soul will keep far from them. (Pr 15:19; Pr 21:23; 1Jo 5:18)6Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. (Eph 6:4; 2Ti 3:15)7The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender. (Jas 2:6)8Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity, and the rod of his fury will fail. (Job 4:8; Isa 14:6; Isa 30:31; Ho 10:13)9Whoever has a bountiful[2] eye will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor. (Pr 19:17; Lu 14:13; 2Co 9:6)10Drive out a scoffer, and strife will go out, and quarreling and abuse will cease. (Ge 21:9; Pr 26:20)11He who loves purity of heart, and whose speech is gracious, will have the king as his friend. (Ps 101:6; Pr 14:35; Pr 16:13; Ec 10:12)12The eyes of the Lord keep watch over knowledge, but he overthrows the words of the traitor. (Pr 11:3; Pr 21:12)13The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside! I shall be killed in the streets!” (Pr 26:13)14The mouth of forbidden[3] women is a deep pit; he with whom the Lord is angry will fall into it. (Pr 2:16; Pr 23:27; Ec 7:26)15Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him. (Pr 13:24)16Whoever oppresses the poor to increase his own wealth, or gives to the rich, will only come to poverty. (Pr 28:22)
Words of the Wise
17Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply your heart to my knowledge, (Pr 1:6; Pr 5:1; Pr 23:12; Pr 24:23)18for it will be pleasant if you keep them within you, if all of them are ready on your lips.19That your trust may be in the Lord, I have made them known to you today, even to you.20Have I not written for you thirty sayings of counsel and knowledge, (Pr 8:6)21to make you know what is right and true, that you may give a true answer to those who sent you? (Lu 1:3)22Do not rob the poor, because he is poor, or crush the afflicted at the gate, (Ex 23:6; Job 5:4; Job 31:21; Zec 7:10; Mal 3:5)23for the Lord will plead their cause and rob of life those who rob them. (1Sa 25:39; Ps 12:5; Ps 35:10; Ps 68:5; Ps 140:12; Pr 23:11; Jer 51:36)24Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man,25lest you learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare.26Be not one of those who give pledges, who put up security for debts. (Job 17:3)27If you have nothing with which to pay, why should your bed be taken from under you? (Ex 22:26; Pr 20:16)28Do not move the ancient landmark that your fathers have set. (De 19:14; De 27:17; Job 24:2; Pr 23:10; Ho 5:10)29Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men. (Ge 41:46; 1Ki 10:8)