Happy [is] {the one} who finds wisdom, and one who obtains understanding.

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.

Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour.

She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her.

Yahweh in wisdom founded the earth; he established the heavens in understanding.

So shall they become life to thy soul, and an adorning to thy neck;

Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble.

When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet.

Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh.

For the Lord will be your confidence, firm and strong,
And will keep your foot from being caught [in a trap].

Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.

Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and to morrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee.

Do not plot harm against your neighbor [who] dwells in confidence beside you.

Do not quarrel with a man without cause,
If he has done you no harm.

Be not envious of a man of violence, Nor fix thou on any of his ways.

For the perverse is an abomination to Jehovah; But his friendship is with the upright.

The curse of the LORD is in the house of the wicked: but he blesseth the habitation of the just.

Though He scoffs at the scoffers and scorns the scorners,
Yet He gives His grace [His undeserved favor] to the humble [those who give up self-importance].

The wise will inherit honor and glory,
But dishonor and shame is conferred on fools.

Hear, O children, the instruction of a father,
And pay attention [and be willing to learn] so that you may gain understanding and intelligent discernment.

For I was my father's son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother.

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

Get wisdom, get true knowledge; keep it in memory, do not be turned away from the words of my mouth.

The beginning of wisdom: Get wisdom! With all [that is in] your possession, gain insight.

Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her.

She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.

I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths.

When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened; and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble.

Lay hold on instruction, do not desist, Keep her, for she is thy life.

Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men.

Avoid it, pass not by it; Turn from it, and pass on.

For they do not sleep, except when they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away unless they cause some to fall.

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

But the path of the righteous is as the shining light, going on and brightening until the day be fully come.

The way of the unjust as darkness: they shall not know in what they shall stumble.

Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart.

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

Put away from you an evil tongue, and let false lips be far from you.

Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.

Keep a watch on your behaviour; let all your ways be rightly ordered.

[in order] to keep prudence, and knowledge will guard your lips.

For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:

But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword.

Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.

So that she does not think [seriously] about the path of life;
Her ways are aimless and unstable; you cannot know where her path leads.

Let your way [in life] be far from her,
And do not go near the door of her house [avoid even being near the places of temptation],

lest you give your honor to others, and your years to the cruel one;

Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger;

And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,

And you will say, How was teaching hated by me, and my heart put no value on training;

I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.

Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.

Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets.

Let them be only thine own, and not strangers' with thee.

Let thy fountain be blessed; And rejoice in the wife of thy youth.

A hind of loves, and a roe of grace! Let her loves satisfy thee at all times, In her love magnify thyself continually.

Why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an immoral woman
And embrace the bosom of an outsider (pagan)?

For a man's ways are before the eyes of the Lord, and he puts all his goings in the scales.

His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.

He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.

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

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

Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself, when thou art come into the hand of thy friend; go, humble thyself, and make sure thy friend.

Go unto the ant, O slothful one, See her ways and be wise;

Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.

How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?

A little sleep, a little rest, a little folding of the hands in sleep:

So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.

A worthless man, an evil man, goes around with {deceitful speech}.

Winking in his eye, shuffling in his foot, pointing in his fingers,

Frowardness is in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually; he soweth discord.

Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; On a sudden shall he be broken, and that without remedy.

These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:

A proud look [the attitude that makes one overestimate oneself and discount others], a lying tongue,
And hands that shed innocent blood,

An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,

A false witness who doth breathe out lies -- And one sending forth contentions between brethren.

My son, keep the rule of your father, and have in memory the teaching of your mother:

Bind them on thy heart continually, Tie them on thy neck.

When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.

To preserve thee from an evil woman, From the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.

Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids.

For on account of a harlot a man is brought to a piece of bread; And the adulteress hunteth for the precious life.

Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?

Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?

So he that goeth in to his neighbour's wife; whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent.

Men do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry;

Still, if caught, he must pay seven times as much;
he must give up all the wealth in his house.

But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul.

He will receive a beating and dishonor, and his shame won't disappear,

For jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.

He won't regard any ransom, neither will he rest content, though you give many gifts.

My son, keep my words
And treasure my commandments within you [so they are readily available to guide you].

Bind them on thy fingers, Write them on the tablet of thy heart.

Say unto wisdom, My sister, thou! and, an acquaintance, call thou, understanding:

[In order] to guard yourself from {an adulteress}, from the foreigner who {makes her words smooth}.

For, in the window of my house, through my lattice, I looked out;

I saw among the young men one without sense,

Passing on in the street, near her corner, And the way to her house he doth step,

In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night: