Do not let a {slanderer} be established in the land; as for [the] man of violence, let evil hunt him quickly.

Let a righteous one strike me in kindness, and let him chasten me. [It is] oil for [my] head; let not my head refuse. For still my prayer [is] against their evil deeds.

I pour out my complaint before him; I declare my trouble before him.

O Yahweh, what [is] humankind that you take knowledge of him, [or the] son of man that you take thought of him?

Yahweh [is] near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.

He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry for help, and saves them.

Yahweh protects all those who love him, but all the wicked he will exterminate.

Yahweh takes pleasure in those who fear him, the ones who hope for his loyal love.

Praise Yah. Praise Yahweh from the heavens; praise him in the heights.

Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his hosts.

Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all stars of light.

Praise him, {highest heavens}, and waters above the heavens.

And he has raised high a horn for his people, praise for all his faithful-- for the children of Israel, a people close to him. Praise Yah.

Let them praise his name with dancing; let them sing praises to him with tambourine and lyre.

Praise Yah. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty firmament.

Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to the abundance of his greatness.

Praise him with blast of horn; praise him with harp and lyre.

Praise him with tambourine and dancing; praise him with strings and flute.

Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with clashing cymbals.

In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will straighten your paths.

His iniquities shall ensnare him, the evildoer, and in the vanity of his sin he shall be caught.

Then behold! A woman [comes] to meet him [with the] garment of a prostitute and {a secret heart}.

She took hold of him and kissed him. Her face was impudent, and she said to him,

She persuades him with the greatness of her teachings; with her smooth lips she compels him.

until an arrow pierces his {entrails}, like a bird rushing into a snare, but he does not know that {it will cost him his life}.

All of them are straight to him who understands, and upright to those who find knowledge.

I was {beside} him, a master workman, and I was delighting day by day, rejoicing before him {always},

"Whoever [is] simple, let him turn here." As for the one who lacks {sense}, she says to him,

"Whoever is simple, may he turn here!" As for he who lacks {sense}, she says to him,

The dread of the wicked will come upon him, but the desire of the righteous will be granted.

Like vinegar to the tooth and like smoke to the eyes, thus [is] the lazy to one who employs him.

Balances of deceit [are] an abomination of Yahweh, but {an accurate weight} delights him.

He who withholds grain, the people curse him, but a blessing [is] for the head of him who sells.

He who diligently seeks good seeks favor, but he who inquires of evil, it will come to him.

From the fruit of the mouth of a man, he is filled with good, and the reward of {a man's labor} will return to him.

Anxiety in the heart of a man will weigh him down, but a good word will cheer him.

He who keeps his mouth guards his life; he who opens his lips, ruin [belongs] to him.

Poverty and disgrace [belong to] him who ignores instruction, but he who guards reproof will be honored.

He who withholds his rod hates his child, but he who loves him {gives him} discipline.

He who walks in uprightness fears Yahweh, but he who is devious [in] his ways displeases him.

A scoffer seeks wisdom, but there is none, but knowledge {comes easily to him who understands}.

He who despises his neighbor is a sinner, but he who has mercy on the poor blesses him.

He who oppresses the poor insults him who made him, but he who has mercy on the poor honors him.

In the heart of him who has understanding, wisdom rests, but [even] in the midst of fools it becomes known.

The favor of a king [is] for the servant who deals wisely, but his wrath will be [on] him who acts shamefully.

Severe discipline [belongs] to him who forsakes the way; he who hates a rebuke will die.

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

Folly is a joy to him who lacks {sense}, and a person of understanding {will walk upright}.

The path of life [leads] upward for him who has insight, in order to turn away from Sheol below.

The ear of him who listens [to] admonitions of life, in the midst of the wise it will lodge.

When the ways of a man are pleasing [to] Yahweh, even his enemies he will cause to make peace with him.

The life of a worker works for him, for his {hunger} urges him.

A person of violence will entice his neighbor and cause him to walk on a way [that is] not good.

He who is slow to anger [is] better than him who is mighty, and he who controls his spirit than him who captures a city.

He who mocks the poor insults him who made him; he who rejoices at calamity will not go unpunished.

A rebuke strikes him who understands deeper than one hundred blows to a fool.

An evil person will seek only rebellion, and a cruel messenger will be sent against him.

He who begets a fool, [there is] trouble for him; the father of a fool will not rejoice.

A grief to his father [is] the child of a fool, and bitterness to her who bore him.

The mouth of a fool [is] ruin to him, and his lips [are] a snare to his soul.

A tower of strength is the name of Yahweh; into him the righteous will run and be safe.

He who returns a word before he will hear, folly itself [belongs] to him as well as shame.

The gift of a person will open doors for him, and before the great, it gives him access.

The first in his dispute is [deemed] righteous, [but] his neighbor will come and examine him.

All the brothers of the poor, [if] they hate him, how much more will his friends keep away from him. He pursues [them with] words, [and] they are gone.

The understanding of a person makes him slow to his {anger}, and his glory overlooks offense.

He who lends to Yahweh [is] he who is kind to the poor, and his benefits he will repay to him.

A hot-tempered person pays a penalty; if you rescue [him], you will do [it] yet again.

Roaring like the lion [is the] dreaded anger of a king; he who provokes him forfeits his life.

He who walks in his integrity [is] righteous; happy are his children who follow him.

"Bad, bad," the buyer will say, but [when] one goes to him, then he will boast.

The craving of a lazy person will kill him, for his hands refuse to work.

Folly is bound up in the heart of a boy; [the] rod of discipline will drive it from him.

[In order] to show you what is right--sayings of truth-- [in order] to return a true saying to him who sent you.

Do not withhold discipline from a child, if you will beat him with the rod, he will not die.

As for you, with the rod you shall beat him, and his life you will save from Sheol.

The father of the righteous will surely rejoice; he who bears a wise person will be happy with him.

And you will be like him who lies down in the heart of the sea, and like him who lies down on top of a mast.

He who plans to do evil for himself, they will call [him] "master of mischief."

lest Yahweh see and [it] be evil in his eyes, and turn his anger away from him.

Whoever says to the guilty, "You are righteous," the people will curse him; the nations will abhor him.

Do not say, "Just as he has done to me, so shall I do to him; I will pay back the man according to his deed."

Like the cold of snow on a day of harvest [is] a faithful messenger to those who send him, and the soul of his master is refreshed.

If your enemy [is] hungry, feed him bread, and if thirsty, let him drink water.

Do not answer a fool according to his folly lest you become like him--even you.

[Do] you see a man wise in his own eyes? [There is more] hope for a fool than for him.

When he makes his voice gracious, do not believe him, for seven abominations [are] in his heart.

He who digs a pit, in it he will fall, and he who rolls a stone, on him it will come back.

Be wise, my child, and make my heart glad, and I will answer him who reproaches me [with] a word.

He who blesses his neighbor with a loud voice early in the morning, a curse will be reckoned to him.

A crucible [is] for the silver, and a furnace for the gold, but a man [is tested by] the mouth of him who praises him.

If you crush a fool in the mortar with the pestle {along with} the crushed grain, it will not drive folly from upon him.

He who augments his wealth with interest and with usury gathers it for him who is kind to the poor.

A man of wealth [is] wise in his own eyes, but the intelligent poor sees through him.

A person who is burdened with [the] blood of {another}, until death he will flee; do not take hold of him.

He who hurries for wealth is {a man with an evil eye}, but he does not know that poverty will come upon him.

You see a man who is hasty in his words: [there is more] hope for a fool than him.

The pride of a person will bring him humiliation, and the lowly of spirit will obtain honor.

Every word of God [is] flawless; he [is] a shield for him who takes refuge in him.

Or else I will be satisfied and will deny [him] and say "Who [is] Yahweh?" Or I will be poor and will steal and profane the name of my God.