The wise sayings of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel.

To have knowledge of wise teaching; to be clear about the words of reason:

(The wise man, hearing, will get greater learning, and the acts of the man of good sense will be wisely guided:)

To get the sense of wise sayings and secrets, and of the words of the wise and their dark sayings.

The fear of the Lord is the start of knowledge: but the foolish have no use for wisdom and teaching.

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

Let us overcome them living, like the underworld, and in their strength, as those who go down to death;

Take your chance with us, and we will all have one money-bag:

Truly, to no purpose is the net stretched out before the eyes of the bird:

Such is the fate of everyone who goes in search of profit; it takes away the life of its owners.

Wisdom is crying out in the street; her voice is loud in the open places;

They had no desire for my teaching, and my words of protest were as nothing to them.

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

Truly, if you are crying out for good sense, and your request is for knowledge;

If you are looking for her as for silver, and searching for her as for stored-up wealth;

He has salvation stored up for the upright, he is a breastplate to those in whom there is no evil;

Wise purposes will be watching over you, and knowledge will keep you;

Giving you salvation from the evil man, from those whose words are false;

Whose ways are not straight, and whose footsteps are turned to evil:

Who is false to the husband of her early years, and does not keep the agreement of her God in mind:

For her house is on the way down to death; her footsteps go down to the shades:

But sinners will be cut off from the land, and those whose acts are false will be uprooted.

Happy is the man who makes discovery of wisdom, and he who gets knowledge.

For trading in it is better than trading in silver, and its profit greater than bright gold.

She is of more value than jewels, and nothing for which you may have a desire is fair in comparison with her.

Long life is in her right hand, and in her left are wealth and honour.

She is a tree of life to all who take her in their hands, and happy is everyone who keeps her.

My son, keep good sense, and do not let wise purpose go from your eyes.

Do not keep back good from those who have a right to it, when it is in the power of your hand to do it.

Do not make evil designs against your neighbour, when he is living with you without fear.

Have no envy of the violent man, or take any of his ways as an example.

For the wrong-hearted man is hated by the Lord, but he is a friend to the upright.

The curse of the Lord is on the house of the evil-doer, but his blessing is on the tent of the upright.

The wise will have glory for their heritage, but shame will be the reward of the foolish.

The first sign of wisdom is to get wisdom; go, give all you have to get true knowledge.

Take learning in your hands, do not let her go: keep her, for she is your 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 bread of evil-doing is their food, the wine of violent acts their drink.

But the way of the upright is like the light of early morning, getting brighter and brighter till the full day.

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

Keep your eyes on what is in front of you, looking straight before you.

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

For honey is dropping from the lips of the strange woman, and her mouth is smoother than oil;

But her end is bitter as wormwood, and sharp as a two-edged sword;

As a loving hind and a gentle doe, let her breasts ever give you rapture; let your passion at all times be moved by her love.

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

You are taken as in a net by the words of your mouth, the sayings of your lips have overcome you.

Go to the ant, you hater of work; give thought to her ways and be wise:

A good-for-nothing man is an evil-doer; he goes on his way causing trouble with false words;

His mind is ever designing evil: he lets loose violent acts.

For the rule is a light, and the teaching a shining light; and the guiding words of training are the way of life.

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.

Men do not have a low opinion of a thief who takes food when he is in need of it:

But if he is taken in the act he will have to give back seven times as much, giving up all his property which is in his house.

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

For bitter is the wrath of an angry husband; in the day of punishment he will have no mercy.

Keep my rules and you will have life; let my teaching be to you as the light of your eyes;

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

She is full of noise and uncontrolled; her feet keep not in her house.

Now she is in the street, now in the open spaces, waiting at every turning of the road.

My bed is covered with cushions of needlework, with coloured cloths of the cotton thread of Egypt;

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

For the master of the house is away on a long journey:

He has taken a bag of money with him; he is coming back at the full moon.

Like a bird falling into a net; with no thought that his life is in danger, till an arrow goes into his side.

Her house is the way to the underworld, going down to the rooms of death.

Is not wisdom crying out, and the voice of knowledge sounding?

Where the roads go into the town her cry goes out, at the doorways her voice is loud:

Give ear, for my words are true, and my lips are open to give out what is upright.

All the words of my mouth are righteousness; there is nothing false or twisted in them.

They are all true to him whose mind is awake, and straightforward to those who get knowledge.

For wisdom is better than jewels, and all things which may be desired are nothing in comparison with her.

I, wisdom, have made wise behaviour my near relation; I am seen to be the special friend of wise purposes.

The fear of the Lord is seen in hating evil: pride, a high opinion of oneself, the evil way, and the false tongue, are unpleasing to me.

Wise design and good sense are mine; reason and strength are mine.

My fruit is better than gold, even than the best gold; and my increase is more to be desired than silver.

The Lord made me as the start of his way, the first of his works in the past.

Then I was by his side, as a master workman: and I was his delight from day to day, playing before him at all times;

Take my teaching and be wise; do not let it go.

Happy is the man who gives ear to me, watching at my doors day by day, keeping his place by the pillars of my house.

She has put her fat beasts to death; her wine is mixed, her table is ready.

Whoever is simple, let him come in here; and to him who has no sense, she says:

Come, take of my bread, and of my wine which is mixed.

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.

Give teaching to a wise man, and he will become wiser; give training to an upright man, and his learning will be increased.

The fear of the Lord is the start of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One gives a wise mind

If you are wise, you are wise for yourself; if your heart is full of pride, you only will have the pain of it.

The foolish woman is full of noise; she has no sense at all.

Whoever is simple, let him come in here: and to him who is without sense, she says:

Drink taken without right is sweet, and food in secret is pleasing.

A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is a sorrow to his mother.

Wealth which comes from sin is of no profit, but righteousness gives salvation from death.

He who is slow in his work becomes poor, but the hand of the ready worker gets in wealth.

He who in summer gets together his store is a son who does wisely; but he who takes his rest when the grain is being cut is a son causing shame.

The memory of the upright is a blessing, but the name of the evil-doer will be turned to dust.

The wise-hearted man will let himself be ruled, but the man whose talk is foolish will have a fall.

He whose ways are upright will go safely, but he whose ways are twisted will be made low.

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 mouth of the upright man is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the evil-doer is a bitter cup.