To know wisdom and instruction; To discern the words of understanding;

To receive instruction in wise dealing, In righteousness and justice and equity;

To give prudence to the simple, To the young man knowledge and discretion:

To understand a proverb, and a figure, The words of the wise, and their dark sayings.

For their feet run to evil, And they make haste to shed blood.

I also will laugh in the day of your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;

So as to incline thine ear unto wisdom, And apply thy heart to understanding;

He layeth up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to them that walk in integrity;

To deliver thee from the way of evil, From the men that speak perverse things;

Who forsake the paths of uprightness, To walk in the ways of darkness;

Who rejoice to do evil, And delight in the perverseness of evil;

To deliver thee from the strange woman, Even from the foreigner that flattereth with her words;

None that go unto her return again, Neither do they attain unto the paths of life:

For length of days, and years of life, And peace, will they add to thee.

It will be health to thy navel, And marrow to thy bones.

She is more precious than rubies: And none of the things thou canst desire are to be compared unto her.

She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: And happy is every one that retaineth her.

By his knowledge the depths were broken up, And the skies drop down the dew.

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

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

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

For the perverse is an abomination to Jehovah; But his friendship is with the upright.

Hear, my'sons, the instruction of a father, And attend to know understanding:

Exalt her, and she will promote thee; She will bring thee to honor, when thou dost embrace her.

She will give to thy head a chaplet of grace; A crown of beauty will she deliver to thee.

For they sleep not, except they do evil; And their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall.

But the path of the righteous is as the dawning light, That shineth more and more unto the perfect day.

My son, attend to my words; Incline thine ear unto my sayings.

For they are life unto those that find them, And health to all their flesh.

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

My son, attend unto my wisdom; Incline thine ear to my understanding:

But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword.

Her feet go down to death; Her steps take hold on Sheol;

Neither have I obeyed the voice of my teachers, Nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!

As a loving hind and a pleasant doe, Let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; And be thou ravished always with her love.

He shall die for lack of instruction; And in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.

Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself, Seeing thou art come into the hand of thy neighbor: Go, humble thyself, and importune thy neighbor;

Give not sleep to thine eyes, Nor slumber to thine eyelids;

Go to the ant, thou sluggard; Consider her ways, and be wise:

Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to sleep:

A heart that deviseth wicked purposes, Feet that are swift in running to mischief,

Bind them continually upon thy heart; Tie them about thy neck.

To keep thee from the evil woman, From the flattery of the foreigner's tongue.

For on account of a harlot a man is brought to a piece of bread; And the adulteress hunteth for the precious life.

So he that goeth in to his neighbor's wife; Whosoever toucheth her shall not be unpunished.

Men do not despise a thief, if he steal To satisfy himself when he is hungry:

For jealousy is the rage of a man; And he will not spare in the day of vengeance.

Passing through the street near her corner; And he went the way to her house,

In the twilight, in the evening of the day, In the middle of the night and in the darkness.

Sacrifices of peace-offerings are with me; This day have I paid my vows.

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

With her much fair speech she causeth him to yield; With the flattering of her lips she forceth him along.

He goeth after her straightway, As an ox goeth to the slaughter, Or as one in fetters to the correction of the fool;

Till an arrow strike through his liver; As a bird hasteth to the snare, And knoweth not that it is for his life.

Now therefore, my'sons, hearken unto me, And attend to the words of my mouth.

Let not thy heart decline to her ways; Go not astray in her paths.

Her house is the way to Sheol, Going down to the chambers of death.

Unto you, O men, I call; And my voice is to the sons of men.

For my mouth shall utter truth; And wickedness is an abomination to my lips.

They are all plain to him that understandeth, And right to them that find knowledge.

For wisdom is better than rubies; And all the things that may be desired are not to be compared unto it.

The fear of Jehovah is to hate evil: Pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, And the perverse mouth, do I hate.

That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance, And that I may fill their treasuries.

When he gave to the sea its bound, That the waters should not transgress his commandment, When he marked out the foundations of the earth;

Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: As for him that is void of understanding, she saith to him,

He that correcteth a scoffer getteth to himself reviling; And he that reproveth a wicked man getteth himself a blot.

Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: Teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning.

To call to them that pass by, Who go right on their ways:

Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither; And as for him that is void of understanding, she saith to him,

Jehovah will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish; But he thrusteth away the desire of the wicked.

The labor of the righteous tendeth to life; The increase of the wicked, to sin.

The lips of the righteous feed many; But the foolish die for lack of understanding.

It is as sport to a fool to do wickedness; And'so is wisdom to a man of understanding.

As vinegar to the teeth, and as smoke to the eyes, So is the sluggard to them that send him.

The way of Jehovah is a stronghold to the upright; But it is a destruction to the workers of iniquity.

A false balance is an abomination to Jehovah; But a just weight is his delight.

Riches profit not in the day of wrath; But righteousness delivereth from death.

The merciful man doeth good to his own soul; But he that is cruel troubleth his own flesh.

He that is stedfast in righteousness'shall attain unto life; And he that pursueth evil doeth it to his own death.

They that are perverse in heart are an abomination to Jehovah; But such as are perfect in their way are his delight.

There is that scattereth, and increaseth yet more; And there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth only to want.

He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind; And the foolish shall be servant to the wise of heart.

A man shall be commended according to his wisdom; But he that is of a perverse heart shall be despised.

In the transgression of the lips is a snare to the evil man; But the righteous shall come out of trouble.

Deceit is in the heart of them that devise evil; But to the counsellors of peace is joy.

There shall no mischief happen to the righteous; But the wicked shall be filled with evil.

Lying lips are an abomination to Jehovah; But they that deal truly are his delight.

The righteous is a guide to his neighbor; But the way of the wicked causeth them to err.

The slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting; But the precious substance of men is to the diligent.

A righteous man hateth lying; But a wicked man is loathsome, and cometh to shame.

Poverty and shame'shall be to him that refuseth correction; But he that regardeth reproof shall be honored.

The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul; But it is an abomination to fools to depart from evil.

A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children's children; And the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the righteous.

The righteous eateth to the satisfying of his soul; But the belly of the wicked shall want.

The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way; But the folly of fools is deceit.

The simple believeth every word; But the prudent man looketh well to his going.

Do they not err that devise evil? But mercy and truth'shall be to them that devise good.

In all labor there is profit; But the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury.

He that is slow to anger is of great understanding; But he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly.

Righteousness exalteth a nation; But sin is a reproach to any people.