Throw in your lot with us,
We shall all have one purse,”

Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come back,
And tomorrow I will give it,”
When you have it with you.

I have directed you in the way of wisdom;
I have led you in upright paths.

And you say, “How I have hated instruction!
And my heart spurned reproof!

“I have not listened to the voice of my teachers,
Nor inclined my ear to my instructors!

My son, if you have become surety for your neighbor,
Have given a pledge for a stranger,

If you have been snared with the words of your mouth,
Have been caught with the words of your mouth,

Do this then, my son, and deliver yourself;
Since you have come into the hand of your neighbor,
Go, humble yourself, and importune your neighbor.

“I was due to offer peace offerings;
Today I have paid my vows.

“Therefore I have come out to meet you,
To seek your presence earnestly, and I have found you.

“I have spread my couch with coverings,
With colored linens of Egypt.

“I have sprinkled my bed
With myrrh, aloes and cinnamon.

“Come, eat of my food
And drink of the wine I have mixed.

He who tills his land will have plenty of bread,
But he who pursues worthless things lacks sense.

Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil,
But counselors of peace have joy.

The backslider in heart will have his fill of his own ways,
But a good man will be satisfied with his.

In the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence,
And his children will have refuge.

A man of great anger will bear the penalty,
For if you rescue him, you will only have to do it again.

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

The rich and the poor have a common bond,
The Lord is the maker of them all.

So that your trust may be in the Lord,
I have taught you today, even you.

Have I not written to you excellent things
Of counsels and knowledge,

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

Do not move the ancient boundary
Which your fathers have set.

You will vomit up the morsel you have eaten,
And waste your compliments.

For it is better that it be said to you, “Come up here,”
Than for you to be placed lower in the presence of the prince,
Whom your eyes have seen.

Have you found honey? Eat only what you need,
That you not have it in excess and vomit it.

He who tills his land will have plenty of food,
But he who follows empty pursuits will have poverty in plenty.

He who gives to the poor will never want,
But he who shuts his eyes will have many curses.

The poor man and the oppressor have this in common:
The Lord gives light to the eyes of both.

Surely I am more stupid than any man,
And I do not have the understanding of a man.

Neither have I learned wisdom,
Nor do I have the knowledge of the Holy One.

This is the way of an adulterous woman:
She eats and wipes her mouth,
And says, “I have done no wrong.”

The locusts have no king,
Yet all of them go out in ranks;

If you have been foolish in exalting yourself
Or if you have plotted evil, put your hand on your mouth.

The heart of her husband trusts in her,
And he will have no lack of gain.

“Many daughters have done nobly,
But you excel them all.”