Proverbs 22:17-Proverbs 24:34 - Words Of The Wise

¹⁷ Listen closely, pay attention to the words of the wise,
and apply your mind to my knowledge.
¹⁸ For it is pleasing if you keep them within you
and if they are constantly on your lips.
¹⁹ I have instructed you today—even you—
so that your confidence may be in the Lord.
²⁰ Haven’t I written for you thirty sayings
about counsel and knowledge,
²¹ in order to teach you true and reliable words,
so that you may give a dependable report
to those who sent you?

²² Don’t rob a poor man because he is poor,
and don’t crush the oppressed at the gate,
²³ for the Lord will take up their case
and will plunder those who plunder them.

²⁴ Don’t make friends with an angry man,
and don’t be a companion of a hot-tempered man,
²⁵ or you will learn his ways
and entangle yourself in a snare.

²⁶ Don’t be one of those who enter agreements,
who put up security for loans.
²⁷ If you have no money to pay,
even your bed will be taken from under you.

²⁸ Don’t move an ancient boundary marker
that your fathers set up.

²⁹ Do you see a man skilled in his work?
He will stand in the presence of kings.
He will not stand in the presence of unknown men.

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¹ When you sit down to dine with a ruler,
consider carefully what is before you,
² and put a knife to your throat
if you have a big appetite;
³ don’t desire his choice food,
for that food is deceptive.

⁴ Don’t wear yourself out to get rich;
stop giving your attention to it.
⁵ As soon as your eyes fly to it, it disappears,
for it makes wings for itself
and flies like an eagle to the sky.

⁶ Don’t eat a stingy person’s bread,
and don’t desire his choice food,
⁷ for it’s like someone calculating inwardly.
“Eat and drink,” he says to you,
but his heart is not with you.
⁸ You will vomit the little you’ve eaten
and waste your pleasant words.

⁹ Don’t speak to a fool,
for he will despise the insight of your words.

¹⁰ Don’t move an ancient boundary marker,
and don’t encroach on the fields of the fatherless,
¹¹ for their Redeemer is strong,
and He will take up their case against you.

¹² Apply yourself to discipline
and listen to words of knowledge.

¹³ Don’t withhold discipline from a youth;
if you beat him with a rod, he will not die.
¹⁴ Strike him with a rod,
and you will rescue his life from Sheol.

¹⁵ My son, if your heart is wise,
my heart will indeed rejoice.
¹⁶ My innermost being will cheer
when your lips say what is right.

¹⁷ Don’t let your heart envy sinners;
instead, always fear the Lord.
¹⁸ For then you will have a future,
and your hope will never fade.

¹⁹ Listen, my son, and be wise;
keep your mind on the right course.
²⁰ Don’t associate with those who drink too much wine
or with those who gorge themselves on meat.
²¹ For the drunkard and the glutton will become poor,
and grogginess will clothe them in rags.

²² Listen to your father who gave you life,
and don’t despise your mother when she is old.
²³ Buy—and do not sell—truth,
wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
²⁴ The father of a righteous son will rejoice greatly,
and one who fathers a wise son will delight in him.
²⁵ Let your father and mother have joy,
and let her who gave birth to you rejoice.

²⁶ My son, give me your heart,
and let your eyes observe my ways.
²⁷ For a prostitute is a deep pit,
and a stranger is a narrow well;
²⁸ indeed, she sets an ambush like a robber
and increases those among men who are unfaithful.

²⁹ Who has woe? Who has sorrow?
Who has conflicts? Who has complaints?
Who has wounds for no reason?
Who has red eyes?
³⁰ Those who linger over wine,
those who go looking for mixed wine.
³¹ Don’t gaze at wine because it is red,
when it gleams in the cup
and goes down smoothly.
³² In the end it bites like a snake
and stings like a viper.
³³ Your eyes will see strange things,
and you will say absurd things.
³⁴ You’ll be like someone sleeping out at sea
or lying down on the top of a ship’s mast.
³⁵ “They struck me, but I feel no pain!
They beat me, but I didn’t know it!
When will I wake up?
I’ll look for another drink.”

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¹ Don’t envy evil men
or desire to be with them,
² for their hearts plan violence,
and their words stir up trouble.

³ A house is built by wisdom,
and it is established by understanding;
⁴ by knowledge the rooms are filled
with every precious and beautiful treasure.

⁵ A wise warrior is better than a strong one,
and a man of knowledge than one of strength;
⁶ for you should wage war with sound guidance—
victory comes with many counselors.

⁷ Wisdom is inaccessible to a fool;
he does not open his mouth at the gate.

⁸ The one who plots evil
will be called a schemer.
⁹ A foolish scheme is sin,
and a mocker is detestable to people.

¹⁰ If you do nothing in a difficult time,
your strength is limited.
¹¹ Rescue those being taken off to death,
and save those stumbling toward slaughter.
¹² If you say, “But we didn’t know about this,”
won’t He who weighs hearts consider it?
Won’t He who protects your life know?
Won’t He repay a person according to his work?

¹³ Eat honey, my son, for it is good,
and the honeycomb is sweet to your palate;
¹⁴ realize that wisdom is the same for you.
If you find it, you will have a future,
and your hope will never fade.

¹⁵ Wicked man, don’t set an ambush,
at the camp of the righteous man;
don’t destroy his dwelling.
¹⁶ Though a righteous man falls seven times,
he will get up,
but the wicked will stumble into ruin.

¹⁷ Don’t gloat when your enemy falls,
and don’t let your heart rejoice when he stumbles,
¹⁸ or the Lord will see, be displeased,
and turn His wrath away from him.

¹⁹ Don’t be agitated by evildoers,
and don’t envy the wicked.
²⁰ For the evil have no future;
the lamp of the wicked will be put out.

²¹ My son, fear the Lord, as well as the king,
and don’t associate with rebels,
²² for destruction from them will come suddenly;
who knows what distress these two can bring?

²³ These sayings also belong to the wise:

It is not good to show partiality in judgment.
²⁴ Whoever says to the guilty, “You are innocent”—
people will curse him, and tribes will denounce him;
²⁵ but it will go well with those who convict the guilty,
and a generous blessing will come to them.

²⁶ He who gives an honest answer
gives a kiss on the lips.

²⁷ Complete your outdoor work, and prepare your field;
afterward, build your house.

²⁸ Don’t testify against your neighbor without cause.
Don’t deceive with your lips.
²⁹ Don’t say, “I’ll do to him what he did to me;
I’ll repay the man for what he has done.”

³⁰ I went by the field of a slacker
and by the vineyard of a man lacking sense.
³¹ Thistles had come up everywhere,
weeds covered the ground,
and the stone wall was ruined.
³² I saw, and took it to heart;
I looked, and received instruction:
³³ a little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the arms to rest,
³⁴ and your poverty will come like a robber,
your need, like a bandit.