Listen, my child, to the instruction from your father, and do not forsake the teaching from your mother.

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

Such are the paths of all who make profit dishonestly;
it takes the lives of those who receive it.

And they eat of the fruit of their way, And from their own counsels they are filled.

For the turning back of the simple from teaching will be the cause of their death, and the peace of the foolish will be their destruction.

But whosoever hearkens unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be secure from the fear of evil.

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

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

from those who abandon the right paths
to walk in ways of darkness,

from those who enjoy doing evil
and celebrate perversion,

To deliver you from the immoral woman, even from the seductress who flatters with her words;

who leaves the husband from her younger days, and forgets her marriage covenant made before God.

But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.

Let not mercy and good faith go from you; let them be hanging round your neck, recorded on your heart;

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

Honour Jehovah from thy substance, And from the beginning of all thine increase;

My child, do not despise discipline from the Lord, and do not loathe his rebuke.

Happy [blessed, considered fortunate, to be admired] is the man who finds [skillful and godly] wisdom,
And the man who gains understanding and insight [learning from God’s word and life’s experiences],

For the gain from it is better than the gain from silver, and the profit thereof than fine gold.

By his knowledge the deep was parted, and dew came dropping from the skies.

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

Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the ruin from the wicked, when it comes.

For the LORD shall be your confidence, and shall keep your foot from being snared.

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

For I give you good teaching; do not give up the knowledge you are getting from me.

Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither turn away from the words of my mouth.

Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.

For they eat bread gained from wickedness and drink wine obtained from violence.

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

With all vigilance, keep your heart, for from it [comes] the source of life.

Put away from you a deceitful mouth, and perverse lips put far from you.

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

For honey is dropping from the lips of the strange woman, and her mouth is smoother than oil;

Hear me now therefore, O you children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.

Remove your way far from her, and come not near the door of her house:

And strangers will be filled with your strength
And your hard-earned wealth will go to the house of a foreigner [who does not know God];

Let water from your store and not that of others be your drink, and running water from your fountain.

Let thy well-spring be blessed, - and get thy joy from the wife of thy youth: -

He will come to his end for need of teaching; he is so foolish that he will go wandering from the right way.

Deliver yourself as a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.

How long will you be sleeping, O hater of work? when will you get up from your sleep?

Observe thou, my son, the commandment of thy father, and do not decline from the instruction of thy mother:

During your travels wisdom will lead you; she will watch over you while you rest; and when you are startled from your sleep, she will commune with you.

To keep you from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a seductress.

So it is with him who goes in to his neighbour's wife; he who has anything to do with her will not go free from punishment.

He will not accept any ransom [offered to buy him off from demanding full punishment];
Nor will he be satisfied though you offer him many gifts (bribes).

That they may keep you from the immoral woman, from the seductress who flatters with her words.

Looking out from my house, and watching through the window,

“I have peace offerings with me;
Today I have paid my vows.

“So I came out to meet you [that you might share with me the feast of my offering],
Diligently I sought your face and I have found you.

I’ve spread coverings on my bed—
richly colored linen from Egypt.

At the hand of the gates, at the mouth of the city from the coming in of the doors she will cry:

Hear; for I will speak of excellent things; and from the opening of my lips shall come right things.

“I, [godly] wisdom, reside with prudence [good judgment, moral courage and astute common sense],
And I find knowledge and discretion.

Jehovah possessed me from the beginning of His way, before His works of old.

I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, before the earth was.

{when he made} skies from above, when he founded fountains of the deep,

Then I was by his side, as a master workman: and I was his delight from day to day, playing before him at all times;

For whoever gets me gets life, and grace from the Lord will come to him.

She has sent out her female servants;
she calls out from the highest points of the city:

For by me (wisdom from God) your days will be multiplied,
And years of life shall be increased.

Treasures of wickedness profit nothing: but righteousness delivers from death.

The Lord will not let the upright be in need of food, but he puts far from him the desire of the evil-doers.

The blessing from the Lord makes a person rich, and he adds no sorrow to it.

Riches profit not in the day of wrath: but righteousness delivers from death.

When a wicked person dies, his hope vanishes; and what he expected from his scheming comes to nothing.

The righteous one is rescued from trouble;
in his place, the wicked one goes in.

A city is exalted by the blessing provided from the upright, but it is destroyed by the counsel of the wicked.

He who puts up security and guarantees a debt for an outsider will surely suffer [for his foolishness],
But he who hates (declines) being a guarantor is secure [from its penalties].

Certainly the evil-doer will not go free from punishment, but the seed of the upright man will be safe.

A ring of gold in the nose of a swine, a fair woman and she departed from discernment

There is who is scattering, and yet is increased, And who is keeping back from uprightness, only to want.

The people curse him who holds back grain [when the public needs it],
But a blessing [from God and man] is upon the head of him who sells it.

A good man has grace in the eyes of the Lord; but the man of evil designs gets punishment from him.

The thoughts of the righteous are just,
but guidance from the wicked leads to deceit.

The wicked is snared by the transgression of his lips: but the just shall escape from trouble.

From the fruit of his mouth will a man have good food in full measure, and the work of a man's hands will be rewarded.

A man will get good from the fruit of his lips, but the desire of the false is for violent acts.

The ransom for a man’s life is his wealth,
But the poor man does not even have to listen to a rebuke or threats [from the envious].

Wealth from vanity becometh little, And whoso is gathering by the hand becometh great.

The law of the wise is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.

Every prudent man acts from knowledge, but a fool exposes folly.

The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul: but it is abomination to fools to depart from evil.

Go from the presence of a foolish man, when you perceive not in him the lips of knowledge.

The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways: and a good man shall be satisfied from above himself.

A wise man fears, and departs from evil: but the fool rages, and is confident.

Do they not go astray who devise evil and wander from the way of righteousness?
But kindness and truth will be to those who devise good.

The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, to turn one away from the snares of death.

Knowledge is dropping from the tongue of the wise; but from the mouth of the foolish comes a stream of foolish words.

The lips of the wise spread knowledge [sifting it as chaff from the grain];
But the hearts of [shortsighted] fools are not so.

There is bitter punishment for him who is turned from the way; and death will be the fate of the hater of teaching.

The way of life leads above to the wise, that he may depart from sheol beneath.

The heart of the upright gives thought to his answer; but from the mouth of the evil-doer comes a stream of evil things.

The LORD is far from the wicked: but he hears the prayer of the righteous.

From the light of the eyes, the heart will rejoice, and good news will enliven the bones.

The preparations of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.

Everyone who has pride in his heart is disgusting to the Lord: he will certainly not go free from punishment.

By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.

Honest scales and balances are from the Lord; all the weights in the bag are his handiwork.

The highway of the upright is to depart from evil: he that keeps his way preserves his soul.