my son, don’t travel that road with them
or set foot on their path,

so that He may guard the paths of justice
and protect the way of His loyal followers.

for she is more profitable than silver,
and her revenue is better than gold.

She is more precious than jewels;
nothing you desire compares with her.

Listen, my sons, to a father’s discipline,
and pay attention so that you may gain understanding,

so that you may maintain discretion
and your lips safeguard knowledge.

Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey
and her words are smoother than oil,

She doesn’t consider the path of life;
she doesn’t know that her ways are unstable.

arrogant eyes, a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,

a heart that plots wicked schemes,
feet eager to run to evil,

Accept my instruction instead of silver,
and knowledge rather than pure gold.

For wisdom is better than jewels,
and nothing desirable can compare with it.

It is by me that kings reign
and rulers enact just law;

My fruit is better than solid gold,
and my harvest than pure silver.

when He set a limit for the sea
so that the waters would not violate His command,
when He laid out the foundations of the earth.

But he doesn’t know that the departed spirits are there,
that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.

Be assured that the wicked
will not go unpunished,
but the offspring of the righteous will escape.

Better to be dishonored, yet have a servant,
than to act important but have no food.

There is a way that seems right to a man,
but its end is the way to death.

The tongue that heals is a tree of life,
but a devious tongue breaks the spirit.

Better a little with the fear of the Lord
than great treasure with turmoil.

Better a meal of vegetables where there is love
than a fattened ox with hatred.

A man takes joy in giving an answer;
and a timely word—how good that is!

For the discerning the path of life leads upward,
so that he may avoid going down to Sheol.

One who listens to life-giving rebukes
will be at home among the wise.

Better a little with righteousness
than great income with injustice.

Get wisdom—
how much better it is than gold!
And get understanding—
it is preferable to silver.

Better to be lowly of spirit with the humble
than to divide plunder with the proud.

There is a way that seems right to a man,
but its end is the way to death.

A violent man lures his neighbor,
leading him in a way that is not good.

Patience is better than power,
and controlling one’s temper, than capturing a city.

Better a dry crust with peace
than a house full of feasting with strife.

A rebuke cuts into a perceptive person
more than a hundred lashes into a fool.

Better for a man to meet a bear robbed of her cubs
than a fool in his foolishness.

A gossip’s words are like choice food
that goes down to one’s innermost being.

An offended brother is harder to reach
than a fortified city,
and quarrels are like the bars of a fortress.

A man with many friends may be harmed,
but there is a friend who stays closer than a brother.

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Better a poor man who lives with integrity
than someone who has deceitful lips and is a fool.

Listen to counsel and receive instruction
so that you may be wise later in life.

What is desirable in a man is his fidelity;
better to be a poor man than a liar.

Doing what is righteous and just
is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.

The lamp that guides the wicked—
haughty eyes and an arrogant heart—is sin.

Better to live on the corner of a roof
than to share a house with a nagging wife.

Better to live in a wilderness
than with a nagging and hot-tempered wife.

A good name is to be chosen over great wealth;
favor is better than silver and gold.

I have instructed you today—even you—
so that your confidence may be in the Lord.

in order to teach you true and reliable words,
so that you may give a dependable report
to those who sent you?

Don’t move an ancient boundary marker
that your fathers set up.

don’t desire his choice food,
for that food is deceptive.

A wise warrior is better than a strong one,
and a man of knowledge than one of strength;

realize that wisdom is the same for you.
If you find it, you will have a future,
and your hope will never fade.

for it is better for him to say to you, “Come up here!”
than to demote you in plain view of a noble.

The man who boasts about a gift that does not exist
is like clouds and wind without rain.

Better to live on the corner of a roof
than to share a house with a nagging wife.

A proverb in the mouth of a fool
is like lame legs that hang limp.

Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes?
There is more hope for a fool than for him.

In his own eyes, a slacker is wiser
than seven men who can answer sensibly.

A person who is passing by and meddles in a quarrel that’s not his
is like one who grabs a dog by the ears.

A gossip’s words are like choice food
that goes down to one’s innermost being.

Better an open reprimand
than concealed love.

Oil and incense bring joy to the heart,
and the sweetness of a friend is better than self-counsel.

Don’t abandon your friend or your father’s friend,
and don’t go to your brother’s house
in your time of calamity;
better a neighbor nearby than a brother far away.

Be wise, my son, and bring my heart joy,
so that I can answer anyone who taunts me.

A destitute leader who oppresses the poor
is like a driving rain that leaves no food.

Better a poor man who lives with integrity
than a rich man who distorts right and wrong.

A greedy man is in a hurry for wealth;
he doesn’t know that poverty will come to him.

One who rebukes a person will later find more favor
than one who flatters with his tongue.

The one who robs his father or mother
and says, “That’s no sin,”
is a companion to a man who destroys.

Do you see a man who speaks too soon?
There is more hope for a fool than for him.

There is a generation that curses its father
and does not bless its mother.

There is a generation that is pure in its own eyes,
yet is not washed from its filth.

As for the eye that ridicules a father
and despises obedience to a mother,
may ravens of the valley pluck it out
and young vultures eat it.

The words of King Lemuel,
an oracle that his mother taught him:

Let him drink so that he can forget his poverty
and remember his trouble no more.

Who can find a capable wife?
She is far more precious than jewels.

She draws on her strength
and reveals that her arms are strong.

She sees that her profits are good,
and her lamp never goes out at night.