My son, do not walk in the way with them.
Keep your feet from their path,

“But he who listens to me shall live securely
And will be at ease from the dread of evil.”

For the Lord gives wisdom;
From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.

To deliver you from the way of evil,
From the man who speaks perverse things;

From those who leave the paths of uprightness
To walk in the ways of darkness;

To deliver you from the strange woman,
From the adulteress who flatters with her words;

But the wicked will be cut off from the land
And the treacherous will be uprooted from it.

Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the Lord and turn away from evil.

Honor the Lord from your wealth
And from the first of all your produce;

My son, let them not vanish from your sight;
Keep sound wisdom and discretion,

For the Lord will be your confidence
And will keep your foot from being caught.

Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,
When it is in your power to do it.

Acquire wisdom! Acquire understanding!
Do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth.

Avoid it, do not pass by it;
Turn away from it and pass on.

Do not let them depart from your sight;
Keep them in the midst of your heart.

Watch over your heart with all diligence,
For from it flow the springs of life.

Put away from you a deceitful mouth
And put devious speech far from you.

Do not turn to the right nor to the left;
Turn your foot from evil.

Now then, my sons, listen to me
And do not depart from the words of my mouth.

Keep your way far from her
And do not go near the door of her house,

Drink water from your own cistern
And fresh water from your own well.

Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hunter’s hand
And like a bird from the hand of the fowler.

How long will you lie down, O sluggard?
When will you arise from your sleep?

To keep you from the evil woman,
From the smooth tongue of the adulteress.

That they may keep you from an adulteress,
From the foreigner who flatters with her words.

“From everlasting I was established,
From the beginning, from the earliest times of the earth.

When He made firm the skies above,
When the springs of the deep became fixed,

“For he who finds me finds life
And obtains favor from the Lord.

She has sent out her maidens, she calls
From the tops of the heights of the city:

Ill-gotten gains do not profit,
But righteousness delivers from death.

Riches do not profit in the day of wrath,
But righteousness delivers from death.

The righteous is delivered from trouble,
But the wicked takes his place.

A good man will obtain favor from the Lord,
But He will condemn a man who devises evil.

An evil man is ensnared by the transgression of his lips,
But the righteous will escape from trouble.

From the fruit of a man’s mouth he enjoys good,
But the desire of the treacherous is violence.

The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life,
To turn aside from the snares of death.

Desire realized is sweet to the soul,
But it is an abomination to fools to turn away from evil.

A wise man is cautious and turns away from evil,
But a fool is arrogant and careless.

The path of life leads upward for the wise
That he may keep away from Sheol below.

The Lord is far from the wicked,
But He hears the prayer of the righteous.

The plans of the heart belong to man,
But the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.

By lovingkindness and truth iniquity is atoned for,
And by the fear of the Lord one keeps away from evil.

The highway of the upright is to depart from evil;
He who watches his way preserves his life.

The lot is cast into the lap,
But its every decision is from the Lord.

He who returns evil for good,
Evil will not depart from his house.

A wicked man receives a bribe from the bosom
To pervert the ways of justice.

He who finds a wife finds a good thing
And obtains favor from the Lord.

Wealth adds many friends,
But a poor man is separated from his friend.

House and wealth are an inheritance from fathers,
But a prudent wife is from the Lord.

Cease listening, my son, to discipline,
And you will stray from the words of knowledge.

Keeping away from strife is an honor for a man,
But any fool will quarrel.

Who can say, “I have cleansed my heart,
I am pure from my sin”?

A man who wanders from the way of understanding
Will rest in the assembly of the dead.

He who guards his mouth and his tongue,
Guards his soul from troubles.

Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse;
He who guards himself will be far from them.

Train up a child in the way he should go,
Even when he is old he will not depart from it.

Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child;
The rod of discipline will remove it far from him.

If you have nothing with which to pay,
Why should he take your bed from under you?

Do not weary yourself to gain wealth,
Cease from your consideration of it.

Do not hold back discipline from the child,
Although you strike him with the rod, he will not die.

You shall strike him with the rod
And rescue his soul from Sheol.

My son, eat honey, for it is good,
Yes, the honey from the comb is sweet to your taste;

Or the Lord will see it and be displeased,
And turn His anger away from him.

For their calamity will rise suddenly,
And who knows the ruin that comes from both of them?

Take away the dross from the silver,
And there comes out a vessel for the smith;

Like cold water to a weary soul,
So is good news from a distant land.

Like a bird that wanders from her nest,
So is a man who wanders from his home.

Though you pound a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain,
Yet his foolishness will not depart from him.

He who turns away his ear from listening to the law,
Even his prayer is an abomination.

He who pampers his slave from childhood
Will in the end find him to be a son.

Many seek the ruler’s favor,
But justice for man comes from the Lord.

Keep deception and lies far from me,
Give me neither poverty nor riches;
Feed me with the food that is my portion,

There is a kind who is pure in his own eyes,
Yet is not washed from his filthiness.

There is a kind of man whose teeth are like swords
And his jaw teeth like knives,
To devour the afflicted from the earth
And the needy from among men.

She is like merchant ships;
She brings her food from afar.

She considers a field and buys it;
From her earnings she plants a vineyard.