Thorns [and] snares are in the way of a perverse man. He who keeps his soul shall be far from them.

Be thou not one of those who strike hands, [or] of those who are sureties for debts.

and by knowledge the chambers are filled with all precious and pleasant riches.

Deliver those who are carried away to death, and hold thou back those who are ready to be slain.

My son, eat thou honey, for it is good, and the droppings of the honeycomb, which are sweet to thy taste,

For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises up again, but the wicked are overthrown by calamity.

My son, fear thou LORD and the king, [and] do not associate with those who are given to change.

These also are from the wise: To have respect of persons in judgment is not good.

He who says to a wicked man, Thou are righteous, peoples shall curse him, nations shall abhor him.

These also are proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied out.

[As] coals are to hot embers, and wood to fire, so is a contentious man to inflame strife.

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

Fervent lips and a wicked heart are an earthen vessel overlaid with silver dross.

When he speaks graciously, believe him not, for there are seven abominations in his heart.

Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are profuse.

A continual dropping in a very rainy day, and a contentious woman are alike.

Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, and the eyes of man are never satisfied.

For riches are not forever. And does the crown endure to all generations?

The hay is carried, and the tender grass shows itself, and the herbs of the mountains are gathered in.

The lambs are for thy clothing, and the goats are the cost of the field.

A wicked man flees when no man pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.

For the transgression of a land many are the rulers of it. But by men of understanding [and] knowledge the state shall be prolonged.

When the righteous are increased, the people rejoice, but when a wicked man bears rule, the people sigh.

If a ruler hearkens to falsehood, all his servants are wicked.

When the wicked are increased, transgression increases, but the righteous shall look upon their fall.

There is a generation who are pure in their own eyes, and [yet] are not washed from their filthiness.

There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes, and their eyelids are lifted up.

There is a generation whose teeth are swords, and their jaw teeth, knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men.

The leach has two daughters, [crying], Give, give. There are three things that are never satisfied, [yea], four that do not say, Enough:

There are three things which are too wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not:

There are four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceedingly wise:

The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their food in the summer,

the conies are but a feeble folk, yet they make their houses in the rocks,

There are three things which are stately in their march, yea, four which are stately in going:

Open thy mouth for the mute, in the cause of all such as are left desolate.

She is not afraid of the snow for her household, for all her household are clothed with scarlet.

Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come.

All things are full of weariness, man cannot utter [it]. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.

There is no remembrance of the former [things], nor shall there be any remembrance of the latter that are to come, among those who shall come after.

I have seen all the works that are done under the sun, and, behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.

The wise man's eyes are in his head, and the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that one event happens to them all.

For all his days are [but] sorrows, and his travail is grief, yea, even in the night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity.

I said in my heart, [It is] because of the sons of men, that God may prove them, and that they may see that they themselves are beasts.

All go to one place. All are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.

For in the multitude of dreams there are vanities, and in many words. But fear thou God.

If thou see the oppression of a poor man, and the violent wresting of justice and righteousness in a province, marvel not at the matter. For [a man] higher than the high is observing, and there are higher [men] than they.

When goods increase, they are increased who eat them. And what advantage is there to the owner of it, except the beholding [of them] with his eyes?

If a man begets a hundred sons, and lives many years so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not filled with good, and moreover he has no burial, I say, that an untimely birth is better than he.

Since there are many things that increase vanity, what is man the better?

Wisdom is a strength to the wise man more than ten rulers that are in a city.

Also do not take heed to all words that are spoken, lest thou hear thy servant curse thee.

And I find more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and nets, [and] whose hands are chains. He who pleases God shall escape from her, but the sinner shall be taken by her.

For the king's word [has] power, and who may say to him, What are thou doing?

But it shall not be well with a wicked man, neither shall he prolong [his] days, [which are] as a shadow, because he did not fear before God.

There is a vanity which is done upon the earth, that there are righteous men to whom it happens according to the work of the wicked, again, there are wicked men to whom it happens according to the work of the righteous. I said that

For all this I laid to my heart, even to explore all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God. No man understands, either love or hatred. All is before them.

For man also does not know his time. As the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare, even so are the sons of men snared in an evil time when it falls suddenly upon them.

Then I said, Wisdom is better than strength. Nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.

The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the cry of him who rules among fools.

The words of a wise man's mouth are gracious, but the lips of a fool will swallow himself up.

Happy are thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy rulers feast in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!

If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth, and if a tree falls toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falls, there shall it be.

Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.

before the sun, and the light, and the moon, and the stars, are darkened, and the clouds return after the rain,

in the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those who look out of the windows shall be darkened,

The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened [by] the masters of assemblies. They have been given from one shepherd.

Thy cheeks are comely with plaits [of hair], thy neck with strings of jewels.

Behold, thou are fair, my love, behold thou are fair. Thine eyes are doves.

Behold, thou are fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant. Also our couch is green.

The beams of our house are cedars, our rafters are firs.

The fig tree ripens her green figs, and the vines are in blossom. They give forth their fragrance. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.

O my dove, who are in the clefts of the rock, in the covert of the steep place, let me see thy countenance; let me hear thy voice. For sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.

Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vineyards. For our vineyards are in blossom.

Behold, it is the litter of Solomon. Sixty mighty men are around it, of the mighty men of Israel.

They all handle the sword, [and] are expert in war. Every man has his sword upon his thigh, because of fear in the night.

Thou are fair, O my love, as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem, sublime as an army with banners.

Thy teeth are like a flock of ewes, which have come up from the washing, of which every one has twins, and none is bereaved among them.

Thy temples are like a piece of a pomegranate behind thy veil.

There are sixty queens, and eighty concubines, and virgins without number.

How beautiful are thy feet in sandals, O prince's daughter! Thy rounded thighs are like jewels, the work of the hands of a skilful workman.

Thy two breasts are like two fawns that are twins of a roe.

How fair and how pleasant thou are, O love, for delights!

Let us get up early to the vineyards. Let us see whether the vine has budded, its blossom is open, the pomegranates are in flower. There I will give thee my love.

The mandrakes give forth fragrance. And at our doors are all manner of precious fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved.

Set me as a seal upon thy heart, as a seal upon thine arm. For love is strong as death, jealousy is cruel as Sheol. The flashes of it are flashes of fire, a most vehement flame.

Your country is desolate. Your cities are burned with fire. Your land--strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.

Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They are a trouble to me. I am weary of bearing them.

And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide my eyes from you. Yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear; your hands are full of blood.

If ye are willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land.

Thy rulers are rebellious, and companions of thieves. Everyone loves bribes, and follows after rewards. They judge not the fatherless, nor does the cause of the widow come to them.

For thou have forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they are filled [with things] from the east, and [are] soothsayers like the Philistines. And they strike hands with the children of foreigners.

and upon all the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan,

and upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up,

For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen, because their tongue and their doings are against LORD, to provoke the eyes of his glory.

As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, those who lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.

Moreover LORD said, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with outstretched necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet,

And the harp and the lute, the tambourine and the pipe, and wine, are [in] their feasts, but they do not regard the work of LORD, nor have they considered the operation of his hands.

Therefore my people have gone into captivity for lack of knowledge, and their honorable men are famished, and their multitude are parched with thirst.

And the common man is bowed down, and the great man is debased, and the eyes of the lofty are humbled,

Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!