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.

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.

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,

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.