1:1 The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel;
1:2 To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;
1:3 To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity;
1:4 To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.
1:5 A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:
1:6 To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.
1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
1:8 My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
1:9 For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.
1:10 My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.
1:11 If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:
1:12 Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit:
1:13 We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil:
1:14 Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse:
1:15 My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path:
1:16 For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.
1:17 Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.
1:18 And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives.
1:19 So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.
1:20 Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets:
1:21 She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying,
1:22 How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?
1:23 Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.
1:24 Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;
1:25 But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:
1:26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;
1:27 When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.
1:28 Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:
1:29 For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:
1:30 They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.
1:31 Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
1:32 For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.
1:33 But who so hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.
2:1 My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee;
2:2 So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;
2:3 Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;
2:4 If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;
2:5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.
2:6 For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.
2:7 He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly.
2:8 He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints.
2:9 Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path.
2:10 When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul;
2:11 Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:
2:12 To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things;
2:13 Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness;
2:14 Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked;
2:15 Whose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths:
2:16 To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words;
2:17 Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God.
2:18 For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead.
2:19 None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life.
2:20 That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous.
2:21 For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it.
2:22 But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.
3:1 My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:
3:2 For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.
3:3 Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:
3:4 So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.
3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
3:6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
3:7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.
3:8 It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.
3:9 Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:
3:10 So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.
3:11 My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction:
3:12 For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.
3:13 Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.
3:14 For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold.
3:15 She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her.
3:16 Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour.
3:17 Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.
3:18 She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her.
3:19 The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens.
3:20 By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew.
3:21 My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion:
3:22 So shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck.
3:23 Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble.
3:24 When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet.
3:25 Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh.
3:26 For the LORD shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken.
3:27 Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.
3:28 Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and to morrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee.
3:29 Devise not evil against thy neighbour, seeing he dwelleth securely by thee.
3:30 Strive not with a man without cause, if he have done thee no harm.
3:31 Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways.
3:32 For the froward is abomination to the LORD: but his secret is with the righteous.
3:33 The curse of the LORD is in the house of the wicked: but he blesseth the habitation of the just.
3:34 Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace unto the lowly.
3:35 The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools.
4:1 Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding.
4:2 For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law.
4:3 For I was my father's son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother.
4:4 He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live.
4:5 Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.
4:6 Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee.
4:7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.
4:8 Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her.
4:9 She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.
4:10 Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many.
4:11 I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths.
4:12 When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened; and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble.
4:13 Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life.
4:14 Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men.
4:15 Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.
4:16 For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall.
4:17 For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence.
4:18 But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.
4:19 The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.
4:20 My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.
4:21 Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart.
4:22 For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.
4:23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.
4:24 Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.
4:25 Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.
4:26 Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.
4:27 Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.
5:1 My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding:
5:2 That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.
5:3 For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:
5:4 But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.
5:5 Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.
5:6 Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.
5:7 Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.
5:8 Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:
5:9 Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:
5:10 Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger;
5:11 And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,
5:12 And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;
5:13 And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!
5:14 I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.
5:15 Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.
5:16 Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets.
5:17 Let them be only thine own, and not strangers' with thee.
5:18 Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.
5:19 Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.
5:20 And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?
5:21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings.
5:22 His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.
5:23 He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.
6:1 My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, if thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger,
6:2 Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.
6:3 Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself, when thou art come into the hand of thy friend; go, humble thyself, and make sure thy friend.
6:4 Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids.
6:5 Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.
6:6 Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:
6:7 Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler,
6:8 Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.
6:9 How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?
6:10 Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:
6:11 So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.
6:12 A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth.
6:13 He winketh with his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, he teacheth with his fingers;
6:14 Frowardness is in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually; he soweth discord.
6:15 Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy.
6:16 These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:
6:17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
6:18 An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,
6:19 A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.
6:20 My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
6:21 Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck.
6:22 When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.
6:23 For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:
6:24 To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.
6:25 Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids.
6:26 For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adultress will hunt for the precious life.
6:27 Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?
6:28 Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?
6:29 So he that goeth in to his neighbour's wife; whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent.
6:30 Men do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry;
6:31 But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold; he shall give all the substance of his house.
6:32 But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul.
6:33 A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away.
6:34 For jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.
6:35 He will not regard any ransom; neither will he rest content, though thou givest many gifts.
7:1 My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee.
7:2 Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye.
7:3 Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thine heart.
7:4 Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister; and call understanding thy kinswoman:
7:5 That they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words.
7:6 For at the window of my house I looked through my casement,
7:7 And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding,
7:8 Passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house,
7:9 In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night:
7:10 And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart.
7:11 (She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her house:
7:12 Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner.)
7:13 So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him,
7:14 I have peace offerings with me; this day have I payed my vows.
7:15 Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee.
7:16 I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt.
7:17 I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
7:18 Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves.
7:19 For the goodman is not at home, he is gone a long journey:
7:20 He hath taken a bag of money with him, and will come home at the day appointed.
7:21 With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him.
7:22 He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks;
7:23 Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life.
7:24 Hearken unto me now therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth.
7:25 Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths.
7:26 For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her.
7:27 Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.