for understanding a proverb or a parable,
the words of the wise, and their riddles.

Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction,
and don’t reject your mother’s teaching,

for they will be a garland of grace on your head
and a gold chain around your neck.

We’ll find all kinds of valuable property
and fill our houses with plunder.

Throw in your lot with us,
and we’ll all share our money”—

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

It is foolish to spread a net
where any bird can see it,

Such are the paths of all who make profit dishonestly;
it takes the lives of those who receive it.

I, in turn, will laugh at your calamity.
I will mock when terror strikes you,

when terror strikes you like a storm
and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,
when trouble and stress overcome you.

were not interested in my counsel,
and rejected all my correction,

listening closely to wisdom
and directing your heart to understanding;

furthermore, if you call out to insight
and lift your voice to understanding,

For wisdom will enter your mind,
and knowledge will delight your heart.

whose paths are crooked,
and whose ways are devious.

My son, don’t forget my teaching,
but let your heart keep my commands;

Never let loyalty and faithfulness leave you.
Tie them around your neck;
write them on the tablet of your heart.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not rely on your own understanding;

think about Him in all your ways,
and He will guide you on the right paths.

This will be healing for your body
and strengthening for your bones.

Honor the Lord with your possessions
and with the first produce of your entire harvest;

then your barns will be completely filled,
and your vats will overflow with new wine.

Her ways are pleasant,
and all her paths, peaceful.

She is a tree of life to those who embrace her,
and those who hold on to her are happy.

Maintain your competence and discretion.
My son, don’t lose sight of them.

They will be life for you
and adornment for your neck.

Then you will go safely on your way;
your foot will not stumble.

When you lie down, you will not be afraid;
you will lie down, and your sleep will be pleasant.

Don’t fear sudden danger
or the ruin of the wicked when it comes,

for the Lord will be your confidence
and will keep your foot from a snare.

When it is in your power,
don’t withhold good from the one it belongs to.

Don’t say to your neighbor, “Go away! Come back later.
I’ll give it tomorrow”—when it is there with you.

Don’t plan any harm against your neighbor,
for he trusts you and lives near you.

Don’t envy a violent man
or choose any of his ways;

for the devious are detestable to the Lord,
but He is a friend to the upright.

he taught me and said:
“Your heart must hold on to my words.
Keep my commands and live.

Get wisdom, get understanding;
don’t forget or turn away from the words of my mouth.

She will place a garland of grace on your head;
she will give you a crown of beauty.”

When you walk, your steps will not be hindered;
when you run, you will not stumble.

Hold on to instruction; don’t let go.
Guard it, for it is your life.

For they can’t sleep
unless they have done what is evil;
they are robbed of sleep
unless they make someone stumble.

Don’t lose sight of them;
keep them within your heart.

For they are life to those who find them,
and health to one’s whole body.

Guard your heart above all else,
for it is the source of life.

Don’t let your mouth speak dishonestly,
and don’t let your lips talk deviously.

Let your eyes look forward;
fix your gaze straight ahead.

Carefully consider the path for your feet,
and all your ways will be established.

Don’t turn to the right or to the left;
keep your feet away from evil.

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.

Keep your way far from her.
Don’t go near the door of her house.

Otherwise, you will give up your vitality to others
and your years to someone cruel;

strangers will drain your resources,
and your earnings will end up in a foreigner’s house.

At the end of your life, you will lament
when your physical body has been consumed,

I didn’t obey my teachers
or listen closely to my mentors.

Drink water from your own cistern,
water flowing from your own well.

Should your springs flow in the streets,
streams of water in the public squares?

Let your fountain be blessed,
and take pleasure in the wife of your youth.

Why, my son, would you be infatuated
with a forbidden woman
or embrace the breast of a stranger?

For a man’s ways are before the Lord’s eyes,
and He considers all his paths.

My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor
or entered into an agreement with a stranger,

you have been trapped by the words of your lips—
ensnared by the words of your mouth.

Do this, then, my son, and free yourself,
for you have put yourself in your neighbor’s power:
Go, humble yourself, and plead with your neighbor.

Don’t give sleep to your eyes
or slumber to your eyelids.

Without leader, administrator, or ruler,

How long will you stay in bed, you slacker?
When will you get up from your sleep?

and your poverty will come like a robber,
your need, like a bandit.

The Lord hates six things;
in fact, seven are detestable to Him:

My son, keep your father’s command,
and don’t reject your mother’s teaching.

Always bind them to your heart;
tie them around your neck.

For a command is a lamp, teaching is a light,
and corrective discipline is the way to life.

Don’t lust in your heart for her beauty
or let her captivate you with her eyelashes.

For a prostitute’s fee is only a loaf of bread,
but an adulteress goes after a precious life.

He will not be appeased by anything
or be persuaded by lavish gifts.

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Keep my commands and live;
protect my teachings
as the pupil of your eye.

Tie them to your fingers;
write them on the tablet of your heart.

Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
and call understanding your relative.

until an arrow pierces its liver,
like a bird darting into a snare—
he doesn’t know it will cost him his life.

Don’t let your heart turn aside to her ways;
don’t stray onto her paths.

For she has brought many down to death;
her victims are countless.

Learn to be shrewd, you who are inexperienced;
develop common sense, you who are foolish.

All the words of my mouth are righteous;
none of them are deceptive or perverse.

All of them are clear to the perceptive,
and right to those who discover knowledge.

With me are riches and honor,
lasting wealth and righteousness.

I was born
when there were no watery depths
and no springs filled with water.

I was delivered
before the mountains and hills were established,

before He made the land, the fields,
or the first soil on earth.

“And now, my sons, listen to me;
those who keep my ways are happy.

Don’t rebuke a mocker, or he will hate you;
rebuke a wise man, and he will love you.

For by Wisdom your days will be many,
and years will be added to your life.

If you are wise, you are wise for your own benefit;
if you mock, you alone will bear the consequences.”

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

Blessings are on the head of the righteous,
but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.

When there are many words, sin is unavoidable,
but the one who controls his lips is wise.

When the whirlwind passes,
the wicked are no more,
but the righteous are secure forever.

The fear of the Lord prolongs life,
but the years of the wicked are cut short.

Dishonest scales are detestable to the Lord,
but an accurate weight is His delight.

The righteousness of the upright rescues them,
but the treacherous are trapped by their own desires.

With his mouth the ungodly destroys his neighbor,
but through knowledge the righteous are rescued.