My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:

For they shalt be an ornament of grace to thy head, and chains about thy neck.

Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse:

My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path:

So that thou incline thy ear to wisdom, and apply thy heart to understanding;

Yes, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;

When wisdom entereth into thy heart, and knowledge is pleasant to thy soul;

My son, forget not my law; but let thy heart keep my commandments;

Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thy heart:

Trust in the LORD with all thy heart; and lean not to thy own understanding.

In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he will direct thy paths.

Be not wise in thy own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.

It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.

Honor the LORD with thy substance, and with the first-fruits of all thy increase:

So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.

My son, let not them depart from thy eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion:

So shall they be life to thy soul, and grace to thy neck.

Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble.

When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: but thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet.

For the LORD will be thy confidence, and will keep thy foot from being taken.

Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thy hand to do it.

Say not to thy neighbor, Go, and come again, and to-morrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee.

Devise not evil against thy neighbor, seeing he dwelleth securely by thee.

He taught me also, and said to me, Let thy heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live.

Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.

She shall give to thy head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.

Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many.

When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened; and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble.

Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life.

My son, attend to my words; incline thy ear to my sayings.

Let them not depart from thy eyes; keep them in the midst of thy heart.

Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

Let thy eyes look right on, and let thy eyelids look straight before thee.

Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.

Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.

My son, attend to my wisdom, and bow thy ear to my understanding:

That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.

Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:

Lest thou give thy honor to others, and thy years to the cruel:

Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labors be in the house of a stranger;

And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,

Drink waters out of thy own cistern, and running waters out of thy own well.

Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets.

Let them be only thy own, and not for strangers with thee.

Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.

My son, if thou art surety for thy friend, if thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger,

Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.

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.

Give not sleep to thy eyes, nor slumber to thy eyelids.

How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?

So shall thy poverty come as one that traveleth, and thy want as an armed man.

My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother:

Bind them continually upon thy heart, and tie them about thy neck.

Lust not after her beauty in thy heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids.

Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thy eye.

Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thy heart.

Say to wisdom, Thou art my sister; and call understanding thy kinswoman:

Therefore I came forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee.

Let not thy heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths.

For by me thy days shall be multiplied, and the years of thy life shall be increased.

Commit thy works to the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.

Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying.

Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end.

Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thy eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.

Bow down thy ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thy heart to my knowledge.

For it is a pleasant thing if thou keepest them within thee; they shall withal be fitted in thy lips.

That thy trust may be in the LORD, I have made known to thee this day, even to thee.

Lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul.

If thou hast nothing to pay, why should he take away thy bed from under thee?

Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set.

And put a knife to thy throat, if thou art a man given to appetite.

Labor not to be rich: cease from thy own wisdom.

Wilt thou set thy eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make to themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle towards heaven.

The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.

Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.

Apply thy heart to instruction, and thy ears to the words of knowledge.

My son, if thy heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.

Yes, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things.

Let not thy heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long.

For surely there is an end; and thy expectation shall not be cut off.

Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thy heart in the way.

Hearken to thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.

Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bore thee shall rejoice.

My son, give me thy heart, and let thy eyes observe my ways.

Thy eyes shall behold strange women, and thy heart shall utter perverse things.

For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counselors there is safety.

If thou faintest in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.

If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? and will not he render to every man according to his works?

My son, eat thou honey, because it is good; and the honey-comb, which is sweet to thy taste:

So shall the knowledge of wisdom be to thy soul: when thou hast found it, then there shall be a reward, and thy expectation shall not be cut off.

Rejoice not when thy enemy falleth, and let not thy heart be glad when he stumbleth:

Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field; and afterwards build thy house.

Be not a witness against thy neighbor without cause; and deceive not with thy lips.

So shall thy poverty come as one that traveleth; and thy want as an armed man.

For better it is that it be said to thee, Come up hither; than that thou shouldst be put lower in the presence of the prince whom thy eyes have seen.

Go not forth hastily to strive, lest thou know not what to do in the end thereof, when thy neighbor hath put thee to shame.

Debate thy cause with thy neighbor himself; and reveal not a secret to another:

Lest he that heareth it put thee to shame, and thy infamy turn not away.

Withdraw thy foot from thy neighbor's house; lest he be weary of thee, and so hate thee.

If thy enemy shall hunger, give him bread to eat; and if he shall thirst, give him water to drink: