Lest he that heareth it put thee to shame, and thine infamy turn not away.

It is not good to eat much honey: so for men to search their own glory is not glory.

As snow in summer, and as rain in harvest, so honour is not seemly for a fool.

As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come.

Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.

The legs of the lame are not equal: so is a parable in the mouth of fools.

He that passeth by, and meddleth with strife belonging not to him, is like one that taketh a dog by the ears.

So is the man that deceiveth his neighbour, and saith, Am not I in sport?

When he speaketh fair, believe him not: for there are seven abominations in his heart.

Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.

Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips.

Thine own friend, and thy father's friend, forsake not; neither go into thy brother's house in the day of thy calamity: for better is a neighbour that is near than a brother far off.

Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him.

For riches are not for ever: and doth the crown endure to every generation?

Evil men understand not judgment: but they that seek the LORD understand all things.

He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.

A faithful man shall abound with blessings: but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent.

To have respect of persons is not good: for for a piece of bread that man will transgress.

He that hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye, and considereth not that poverty shall come upon him.

He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack: but he that hideth his eyes shall have many a curse.

A man that flattereth his neighbour spreadeth a net for his feet.

The righteous considereth the cause of the poor: but the wicked regardeth not to know it.

A servant will not be corrected by words: for though he understand he will not answer.

Whoso is partner with a thief hateth his own soul: he heareth cursing, and bewrayeth it not.

Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man.

Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.

Two things have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die:

Accuse not a servant unto his master, lest he curse thee, and thou be found guilty.

There is a generation that curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother.

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

The horseleach hath two daughters, crying, Give, give. There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, four things say not, It is enough:

The grave; and the barren womb; the earth that is not filled with water; and the fire that saith not, It is enough.

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

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

A lion which is strongest among beasts, and turneth not away for any;

Give not thy strength unto women, nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings.

It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink:

The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.

She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.

She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens.

She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night.

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

She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.

All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.

All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.

And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour.

For there is a man whose labour is in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in equity; yet to a man that hath not laboured therein shall he leave it for his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil.

For all his days are sorrows, and his travail grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also vanity.

Yea, better is he than both they, which hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.

There is one alone, and there is not a second; yea, he hath neither child nor brother: yet is there no end of all his labour; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither saith he, For whom do I labour, and bereave my soul of good? This is also vanity, yea, it is a sore travail.

For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.

And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

There is no end of all the people, even of all that have been before them: they also that come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and vexation of spirit.

Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil.

Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.

When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.

Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.

Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?

If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter: for he that is higher than the highest regardeth; and there be higher than they.

He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity.

The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.

For he shall not much remember the days of his life; because God answereth him in the joy of his heart.

A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour, so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it: this is vanity, and it is an evil disease.

If a man beget an hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years be many, and his soul be not filled with good, and also that he have no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he.

Moreover he hath not seen the sun, nor known any thing: this hath more rest than the other.

Yea, though he live a thousand years twice told, yet hath he seen no good: do not all go to one place?

All the labour of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled.

Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools.

Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not inquire wisely concerning this.

Be not righteous over much; neither make thyself over wise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself?

Be not over much wicked, neither be thou foolish: why shouldest thou die before thy time?

It is good that thou shouldest take hold of this; yea, also from this withdraw not thine hand: for he that feareth God shall come forth of them all.

For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.

Which yet my soul seeketh, but I find not: one man among a thousand have I found; but a woman among all those have I not found.

Be not hasty to go out of his sight: stand not in an evil thing; for he doeth whatsoever pleaseth him.

For he knoweth not that which shall be: for who can tell him when it shall be?

Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.

But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he feareth not before God.

When I applied mine heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done upon the earth: (for also there is that neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes:)

Then I beheld all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because though a man labour to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; yea further; though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it.

All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.

For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.

I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.

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

If the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee, leave not thy place; for yielding pacifieth great offences.

If the iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength: but wisdom is profitable to direct.

The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he knoweth not how to go to the city.

Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!

Curse not the king, no not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter.

Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth.

He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.

As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all.

In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.

Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;

While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain:

Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother's children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept.

If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the shepherds' tents.

A bundle of myrrh is my wellbeloved unto me; he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts.

I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.