For they shall be an ornament of grace unto your head, and chains about your neck.

My son, if they sinning shall entice thee, thou shalt not go in.

If they say, Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood, let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause:

Let’s swallow them alive, like Sheol,
still healthy as they go down to the Pit.

Throw in your lot with us [they insist];
We will all have one money bag [in common],”

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

And they lie in wait for their own blood; they lurk secretly for their own lives.

Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:

Because they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:

They would have none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.

Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.

Who are rejoicing to do evil, They delight in frowardness of the wicked,

Whose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths:

They will deliver you from the strange woman, the stranger who flatters with her words,

None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life.

But, the lawless, out of the earth, shall he cut off, and, traitors, shall they tear away therefrom.

For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to you.

A tree of life, is she, to them who secure her, - and, they who hold her fast, are every one to be pronounced happy.

My child, may they not escape from your {sight}; may you keep sound wisdom and prudence.

So shall they be life unto your soul, and grace to your neck.

They will inherit the honor of the wise, but stubborn fools, disgrace.

Hear, my son, and receive my sayings, and they will multiply to thee the years of life.

For they sleep not, unless they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause someone to fall.

For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence.

The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.

May they not escape from your {sight}; keep them in [the] midst of your heart.

For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.

They should be for you alone
and not for you to share with strangers.

When you walk here and there, they will guide you;
when you lie down, they will watch over you;
when you wake up, they will talk to you.

They will keep you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the strange woman.

They do not despise the thief, When he stealeth to fill his soul when he is hungry,

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

They are all plain to him that understands, and right to them that find knowledge.

I love those that love me; and they that seek me early shall find me.

Now therefore hearken unto me, O you children: for blessed are they that keep my ways.

But he that sins against me wrongs his own soul: all they that hate me love death.

“Stolen waters (pleasures) are sweet [because they are forbidden];
And bread eaten in secret is pleasant.”

But they do not realize that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of the grave.

The Lord will not let the righteous go hungry,
but He denies the wicked what they crave.

What the righteous person says nourishes many, but fools die because they lack discerning hearts.

When there is no helping suggestion the people will have a fall, but with a number of wise guides they will be safe.

A gracious woman maintaineth honesty; as for the mighty, they maintain riches.

They that are of a perverse heart are abomination to the LORD: but such as are upright in their way are his delight.

Though they join hand to hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished: but the descendants of the righteous shall be delivered.

Those who give freely gain even more; others hold back what they owe, becoming even poorer.

People will curse the one who withholds grain, but they will praise the one who sells it.

If the righteous receive what they are due here on earth, how much more will the wicked and the sinner.

The talking of the ungodly is how they may lay wait for blood; but the mouth of the righteous will deliver them.

Overthrow the wicked, and they are not, And the house of the righteous standeth.

They that imagine evil in their mind, will deceive; but the counselors of peace shall have joy following them.

Lying lips are abomination to the LORD: but they that deal truly are his delight.

Some men are rich, though they have nothing; again, some men are poor having great riches.

Hastily gotten goods are soon spent; but they that be gathered together with the hand, shall increase.

Desire realized is sweet to the soul;
But it is detestable to fools to turn away from evil [which they have planned].

Do they not err that devise evil? but mercy and truth shall be to them that devise good.

The wicked one is thrown down by his own sin,
but the righteous one has a refuge in his death.

The heart of him who understands will seek knowledge, but the faces of fools, they will feed on folly.

Better is a little, with the fear of the LORD, than great treasure; for they are not without sorrow.

Without counsel plans go wrong: but in the multitude of counselors they are established.

Everyone that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: though they join hand in hand, none shall be unpunished.

Righteous lips are the delight of kings; and they love him that speaks what is right.

He that justifies the wicked, and he that condemns the just, even they both are abomination to the LORD.

The words of a talebearer are like tasty morsels, and they go down into the innermost parts of the body.

The unity of brethren is stronger than a castle, and they that hold together are like the bar of a palace.

Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.

All the brethren of the poor do hate him: how much more do his friends go far from him? he pursues them with words, yet they are nothing to him.

The scoffer you shall strike, and the simple, may they learn prudence, and reprove the intelligent [and] he will gain knowledge.

It is a man's honour to keep himself from strife; but they that have pleasure in brawling, are fools every one.

Unequal weights and unequal measures, they are all disgusting to the Lord.

A proud attitude, accompanied by a haughty look, is sin; they reveal wicked people.

Making a fortune by a lying tongue is like a vapor driven back and forth; they seek death.

The violence of the wicked shall destroy them; because they refuse to do justice.

The wicked become a ransom for the righteous,
And the treacherous in the place of the upright [for they fall into their own traps].

A wise man scales the city of the mighty, and casts down the stronghold in which they trust.

The offering of evil-doers is disgusting: how much more when they give it with an evil purpose!

For it is a pleasant thing if you keep them within you; they shall all be fitted on your lips.

Do not take away the property of the poor man because he is poor, or be cruel to the crushed ones when they come before the judge:

for if thou hast nothing to pay, they shall take away thy bed from under thee.

Seest thou not, that they which be diligent in their business stand before kings, and not among the simple people?

Be not desirous of his delicacies: for they are deceitful food.

Will you set your eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.

For the drunkard and gluttonous, they will become poor, and [with] rags, drowsiness will clothe them

They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.

They have stricken me, you shall say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.

because they plan violence, and they are always talking about trouble.

Whoso is devising to do evil, Him they call a master of wicked thoughts.

My son, eat thou honey, because it is good, - and droppings from the comb because they are sweet to thy palate:

They will be destroyed suddenly, and who knows what kind of punishment will come from these two?

But they who rebuke will have delight, and upon them blessings of goodness will come.

The words of a whisperer are as dainty morsels, And they go down into the innermost parts.

With his lips the hater makes things seem what they are not, but deceit is stored up inside him;

A stone is heavy, and the sand weighty; But a fool's vexation is heavier than they both.

The prudent hath seen the evil, he is hidden, The simple have passed on, they are punished.

Because of the sin of the land, its troubles are increased; but by a man of wisdom and knowledge they will be put out like a fire.

They that forsake the law praise the wicked; But such as keep the law contend with them.

Evil men understand not justice; But they that seek Jehovah understand all things.

He who misleads the upright onto the way of evil, into his pits he will fall. But as for the blameless, they will inherit good.

When the wicked rise, men hide themselves; But when they perish, the righteous increase.

The righteous person is concerned about the poor; but the wicked don't understand what they need to know.

The bloodthirsty hate him that is perfect; And as for the upright, they seek his life.