But whoever gives ear to me will take his rest safely, living in peace without fear of evil.

My son, if you will take my words to your heart, storing up my laws in your mind;

Then the fear of the Lord will be clear to you, and knowledge of God will be yours.

Then you will have knowledge of righteousness and right acting, and upright behaviour, even of every good way.

For wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasing to your soul;

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

For the upright will be living in the land, and the good will have it for their heritage.

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

For they will give you increase of days, years of life, and peace.

So you will have grace and a good name in the eyes of God and men.

In all your ways give ear to him, and he will make straight your footsteps.

This will give strength to your flesh, and new life to your bones.

So your store-houses will be full of grain, and your vessels overflowing with new wine.

So they will be life for your soul, and grace for your neck.

Then you will go safely on your way, and your feet will have no cause for slipping.

When you take your rest you will have no fear, and on your bed sleep will be sweet to you.

Have no fear of sudden danger, or of the storm which will come on evil-doers:

For the Lord will be your hope, and will keep your foot from being taken in the net.

Say not to your neighbour, Go, and come again, and tomorrow I will give; when you have it by you at the time.

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

Do not give her up, and she will keep you; give her your love, and she will make you safe.

Put her in a high place, and you will be lifted up by her; she will give you honour, when you give her your love.

She will put a crown of grace on your head, giving you a head-dress of glory.

Give ear, O my son, and let your heart be open to my sayings; and long life will be yours.

When you go, your way will not be narrow, and in running you will not have a fall.

And keep watch over your heart with all care; so you will have life.

And you will be full of grief at the end of your life, when your flesh and your body are wasted;

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

The evil-doer will be taken in the net of his crimes, and prisoned in the cords of his sin.

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

How long will you be sleeping, O hater of work? when will you get up from your sleep?

Then loss will come on you like an outlaw, and your need like an armed man

For this cause his downfall will be sudden; quickly he will be broken, and there will be no help for him.

In your walking, it will be your guide; when you are sleeping, it will keep watch over you; when you are awake, it will have talk with you.

They will keep you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the strange woman.

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.

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.

Wounds will be his and loss of honour, and his shame may not be washed away.

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

He will not take any payment; and he will not make peace with you though your money offerings are increased.

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

Those who have given me their love are loved by me, and those who make search for me with care will get me.

For whoever gets me gets life, and grace from the Lord will come to him.

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.

For by me your days will be increased, and the years of your life will be long.

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 Lord will not let the upright be in need of food, but he puts far from him the desire of the evil-doers.

Blessings are on the head of the upright, but the face of sinners will be covered with sorrow.

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.

Where there is much talk there will be no end to sin, but he who keeps his mouth shut does wisely.

The thing feared by the evil-doer will come to him, but the upright man will get his desire.

The fear of the Lord gives long life, but the years of the evil-doer will be cut short.

The hope of the upright man will give joy, but the waiting of the evil-doer will have its end in sorrow.

The upright man will never be moved, but evil-doers will not have a safe resting-place in the land.

The mouth of the upright man is budding with wisdom, but the twisted tongue will be cut off.

The righteousness of the upright will be their guide, but the twisted ways of the false will be their destruction.

The righteousness of the good man will make his way straight, but the sin of the evil-doer will be the cause of his fall.

The righteousness of the upright will be their salvation, but the false will themselves be taken in their evil designs.

When there is no helping suggestion the people will have a fall, but with a number of wise guides they will be safe.

He who makes himself responsible for a strange man will undergo much loss; but the hater of such undertakings will be safe.

A woman who is full of grace is honoured, but a woman hating righteousness is a seat of shame: those hating work will undergo loss, but the strong keep their wealth.

The man who has mercy will be rewarded, but the cruel man is the cause of trouble to himself.

Certainly the evil-doer will not go free from punishment, but the seed of the upright man will be safe.

A man may give freely, and still his wealth will be increased; and another may keep back more than is right, but only comes to be in need.

He who gives blessing will be made fat, but the curser will himself be cursed.

He who keeps back grain will be cursed by the people; but a blessing will be on the head of him who lets them have it for a price.

He who, with all his heart, goes after what is good is searching for grace; but he who is looking for trouble will get it.

He who puts his faith in wealth will come to nothing; but the upright man will be full of growth like the green leaf.

The troubler of his house will have the wind for his heritage, and the foolish will be servant to the wise-hearted.

No man will make himself safe through evil-doing; but the root of upright men will never be moved.

Evil-doers are overturned and never seen again, but the house of upright men will keep its place.

A man will be praised in the measure of his wisdom, but a wrong-minded man will be looked down on.

He who does work on his land will not be short of bread; but he who goes after foolish men is without sense.

The resting-place of the sinner will come to destruction, but the root of upright men is for ever.

In the sin of the lips is a net which takes the sinner, but the upright man will come out of trouble.

From the fruit of his mouth will a man have good food in full measure, and the work of a man's hands will be rewarded.

No trouble will come to upright men, but sinners will be full of evil.

The hand of the ready worker will have authority, but he who is slow in his work will be put to forced work.

A man will get good from the fruit of his lips, but the desire of the false is for violent acts.

He who keeps a watch on his mouth keeps his life; but he whose lips are open wide will have destruction.

The hater of work does not get his desires, but the soul of the hard workers will be made fat.

A man will give his wealth in exchange for his life; but the poor will not give ear to sharp words.

There is a glad dawn for the upright man, but the light of the sinner will be put out.

Wealth quickly got will become less; but he who gets a store by the work of his hands will have it increased.

He who makes sport of the word will come to destruction, but the respecter of the law will be rewarded.

Need and shame will be the fate of him who is uncontrolled by training; but he who takes note of teaching will be honoured.

Go with wise men and be wise: but he who keeps company with the foolish will be broken.

Evil will overtake sinners, but the upright will be rewarded with good.

The upright man has food to the full measure of his desire, but there will be no food for the stomach of evil-doers.

In the mouth of the foolish man is a rod for his back, but the lips of the wise will keep them safe.

Go away from the foolish man, for you will not see the lips of knowledge.

The house of the sinner will be overturned, but the tent of the upright man will do well.

He whose heart is turned away will have the reward of his ways in full measure; but a good man will have the reward of his doings.

He who is quickly angry will do what is foolish, but the man of good sense will have quiet.

Will not the designers of evil come into error? But mercy and good faith are for the designers of good.

For him in whose heart is the fear of the Lord there is strong hope: and his children will have a safe place.

There is bitter punishment for him who is turned from the way; and death will be the fate of the hater of teaching.