If they say, Come with us; let us make designs against the good, waiting secretly for the upright, without cause;

For their feet are running after evil, and they are quick to take a man's life.

Be turned again by my sharp words: see, I will send the flow of my spirit on you, and make my words clear to you.

So in the day of your trouble I will be laughing; I will make sport of your fear;

Then I will give no answer to their cries; searching for me early, they will not see me:

So the fruit of their way will be their food, and with the designs of their hearts they will be made full.

So that your ear gives attention to wisdom, and your heart is turned to knowledge;

So that you may go in the way of good men, and keep in the footsteps of the upright.

So you will have grace and a good name in the eyes of God and men.

So your store-houses will be full of grain, and your vessels overflowing with new wine.

My son, do not make your heart hard against the Lord's teaching; do not be made angry by his training:

So they will be life for your soul, and grace for your neck.

Say not to your neighbour, Go, and come again, and tomorrow I will give; when you have it by you at the time.

Give ear, my sons, to the teaching of a father; give attention so that you may have knowledge:

And he gave me teaching, saying to me, Keep my words in your heart; keep my rules so that you may have life:

For they take no rest till they have done evil; their sleep is taken away if they have not been the cause of someone's fall.

The way of sinners is dark; they see not the cause of their fall.

And keep watch over your heart with all care; so you will have life.

So that you may be ruled by a wise purpose, and your lips may keep knowledge.

And you will say, How was teaching hated by me, and my heart put no value on training;

For a man's ways are before the eyes of the Lord, and he puts all his goings in the scales.

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

Let not your heart's desire go after her fair body; let not her eyes take you prisoner.

For a loose woman is looking for a cake of bread, but another man's wife goes after one's very life.

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 who takes another man's wife is without all sense: he who does it is the cause of destruction to his soul.

Say to wisdom, You are my sister; let knowledge be named your special friend:

So that they may keep you from the strange woman, even from her whose words are smooth.

I saw among the young men one without sense,

So she took him by his hand, kissing him, and without a sign of shame she said to him:

So I came out in the hope of meeting you, looking for you with care, and now I have you.

Come, let us take our pleasure in love till the morning, having joy in love's delights.

So now, my sons, give ear to me; give attention to the sayings of my mouth;

So that I may give my lovers wealth for their heritage, making their store-houses full.

When he put a limit to the sea, so that the waters might not go against his word: when he put in position the bases of the earth:

Do not say sharp words to a man of pride, or he will have hate for you; make them clear to a wise man, and you will be dear to him.

But he does not see that the dead are there, that her guests are in the deep places of the underworld.

He who makes signs with his eyes is a cause of trouble, but he who makes a man see his errors is a cause of peace.

The property of the man of wealth is his strong town: the poor man's need is his destruction.

Like acid drink to the teeth and as smoke to the eyes, so is the hater of work to those who send him.

So righteousness gives life; but he who goes after evil gets death for himself.

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.

To get one's desire is sweet to the soul, but to give up evil is disgusting to the foolish.

The heritage of the good man is handed down to his children's children; and the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the upright man.

A true witness does not say what is false, but a false witness is breathing out deceit.

Go away from the foolish man, for you will not see the lips of knowledge.

No one has knowledge of a man's grief but himself; and a strange person has no part in his joy.

A king's glory is in the number of his people: and for need of people a ruler may come to destruction.

A foolish man puts no value on his father's training; but he who has respect for teaching has good sense.

The designs of the heart are man's, but the answer of the tongue comes from the Lord.

All a man's ways are clean to himself; but the Lord puts men's spirits into his scales.

When a man's ways are pleasing to the Lord, he makes even his haters be at peace with him.

True measures and scales are the Lord's: all the weights of the bag are his work.

In the light of the king's face there is life; and his approval is like a cloud of spring rain.

A violent man puts desire of evil into his neighbour's mind, and makes him go in a way which is not good.

Children's children are the crown of old men, and the glory of children is their fathers.

An uncontrolled man is only looking for trouble, so a cruel servant will be sent against him.

The start of fighting is like the letting out of water: so give up before it comes to blows.

The words of a man's mouth are like deep waters: the fountain of wisdom is like a flowing stream.

A foolish man's lips are a cause of fighting, and his mouth makes him open to blows.

A man's offering makes room for him, letting him come before great men.

With the fruit of a man's mouth his stomach will be full; the produce of his lips will be his in full measure.

There are friends who may be a man's destruction, but there is a lover who keeps nearer than a brother.

By his foolish behaviour a man's ways are turned upside down, and his heart is bitter against the Lord.

A man's good sense makes him slow to wrath, and the overlooking of wrongdoing is his glory.

The king's wrath is like the loud cry of a lion, but his approval is like dew on the grass.

Let your ear be open to suggestion and take teaching, so that at the end you may be wise.

A man's heart may be full of designs, but the purpose of the Lord is unchanging.

When blows overtake the man of pride, the simple will get sense; say sharp words to the wise, and knowledge will be made clear to him.

A good-for-nothing witness makes sport of the judge's decision: and the mouth of evil-doers sends out evil like a stream.

The hater of work will not do his ploughing because of the winter; so at the time of grain-cutting he will be requesting food and will get nothing.

Who is able to say, I have made my heart clean, I am free from my sin?

The hearing ear and the seeing eye are equally the Lord's work.

Take a man's clothing if he makes himself responsible for a strange man, and get an undertaking from him who gives his word for strange men.

He who goes about talking of the business of others gives away secrets: so have nothing to do with him whose lips are open wide.

Do not say, I will give punishment for evil: go on waiting for the Lord, and he will be your saviour.

A man's steps are of the Lord; how then may a man have knowledge of his way?

It is a danger to a man to say without thought, It is holy, and, after taking his oaths, to be questioning if it is necessary to keep them.

The king's heart in the hands of the Lord is like the water streams, and by him it is turned in any direction at his pleasure.

So that your faith may be in the Lord, I have made them clear to you this day, even to you.

To make you see how certain are true words, so that you may give a true answer to those who put questions to you?

For as the thoughts of his heart are, so is he: Take food and drink, he says to you; but his heart is not with you.

Say nothing in the hearing of a foolish man, for he will put no value on the wisdom of your words.

And my thoughts in me will be full of joy when your lips say right things.

Your eyes will see strange things, and you will say twisted things.

Yes, you will be like him who takes his rest on the sea, or on the top of a sail-support.

They have overcome me, you will say, and I have no pain; they gave me blows without my feeling them: when will I be awake from my wine? I will go after it again.

If you say, See, we had no knowledge of this: does not the tester of hearts give thought to it? and he who keeps your soul, has he no knowledge of it? and will he not give to every man the reward of his work?

So let your desire be for wisdom: if you have it, there will be a future, and your hope will not be cut off.

For fear that the Lord may see it, and it may be evil in his eyes, and his wrath may be turned away from him.

These are more sayings of the wise: To have respect for a person's position when judging is not good.

But those who say sharp words to him will have delight, and a blessing of good will come on them.

Put your work in order outside, and make it ready in the field; and after that, see to the building of your house.

Do not be a violent witness against your neighbour, or let your lips say what is false.

Say not, I will do to him as he has done to me; I will give the man the reward of his work.

Then looking at it, I gave thought: I saw, and I got teaching from it.

So loss will come on you like an outlaw, and your need like an armed man.

Or your hearer may say evil of you, and your shame will not be turned away.

As the cold of snow in the time of grain-cutting, so is a true servant to those who send him; for he gives new life to the soul of his master.

As clouds and wind without rain, so is one who takes credit for an offering he has not given.