Look to the right and see;
For there is no one who regards me;
There is no escape for me;
No one cares for my soul.

Let our sons in their youth be as grown-up plants,
And our daughters as corner pillars fashioned as for a palace;

Let our cattle bear
Without mishap and without loss,
Let there be no outcry in our streets!

The eyes of all look to You,
And You give them their food in due time.

He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;
He will also hear their cry and will save them.

Do not trust in princes,
In mortal man, in whom there is no salvation.

He heals the brokenhearted
And binds up their wounds.

Let Israel be glad in his Maker;
Let the sons of Zion rejoice in their King.

Let the godly ones exult in glory;
Let them sing for joy on their beds.

Let the high praises of God be in their mouth,
And a two-edged sword in their hand,

To bind their kings with chains
And their nobles with fetters of iron,

To understand a proverb and a figure,
The words of the wise and their riddles.

Throw in your lot with us,
We shall all have one purse,”

My son, do not walk in the way with them.
Keep your feet from their path,

For their feet run to evil
And they hasten to shed blood.

But they lie in wait for their own blood;
They ambush their own lives.

“So they shall eat of the fruit of their own way
And be satiated with their own devices.

Whose paths are crooked,
And who are devious in their ways;

For they are life to those who find them
And health to all their body.

Therefore his calamity will come suddenly;
Instantly he will be broken and there will be no healing.

There are six things which the Lord hates,
Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him:

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

Passing through the street near her corner;
And he takes the way to her house,

Until an arrow pierces through his liver;
As a bird hastens to the snare,
So he does not know that it will cost him his life.

“All the utterances of my mouth are in righteousness;
There is nothing crooked or perverted in them.

To endow those who love me with wealth,
That I may fill their treasuries.

“When there were no depths I was brought forth,
When there were no springs abounding with water.

“When He established the heavens, I was there,
When He inscribed a circle on the face of the deep,

Calling to those who pass by,
Who are making their paths straight:

But he does not know that the dead are there,
That her guests are in the depths of Sheol.

The rich man’s wealth is his fortress,
The ruin of the poor is their poverty.

When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable,
But he who restrains his lips is wise.

The righteousness of the upright will deliver them,
But the treacherous will be caught by their own greed.

With his mouth the godless man destroys his neighbor,
But through knowledge the righteous will be delivered.

When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices,
And when the wicked perish, there is joyful shouting.

Where there is no guidance the people fall,
But in abundance of counselors there is victory.

The perverse in heart are an abomination to the Lord,
But the blameless in their walk are His delight.

There is one who scatters, and yet increases all the more,
And there is one who withholds what is justly due, and yet it results only in want.

There is one who speaks rashly like the thrusts of a sword,
But the tongue of the wise brings healing.

In the way of righteousness is life,
And in its pathway there is no death.

There is one who pretends to be rich, but has nothing;
Another pretends to be poor, but has great wealth.

Through insolence comes nothing but strife,
But wisdom is with those who receive counsel.

Fools mock at sin,
But among the upright there is good will.

There is a way which seems right to a man,
But its end is the way of death.

In all labor there is profit,
But mere talk leads only to poverty.

The crown of the wise is their riches,
But the folly of fools is foolishness.

In the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence,
And his children will have refuge.

There is a way which seems right to a man,
But its end is the way of death.

Grandchildren are the crown of old men,
And the glory of sons is their fathers.

Why is there a price in the hand of a fool to buy wisdom,
When he has no sense?

It is also not good to fine the righteous,
Nor to strike the noble for their uprightness.

A man of too many friends comes to ruin,
But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Discipline your son while there is hope,
And do not desire his death.

There is gold, and an abundance of jewels;
But the lips of knowledge are a more precious thing.

The glory of young men is their strength,
And the honor of old men is their gray hair.

There is precious treasure and oil in the dwelling of the wise,
But a foolish man swallows it up.

There is no wisdom and no understanding
And no counsel against the Lord.

The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside;
I will be killed in the streets!”

For the Lord will plead their case
And take the life of those who rob them.

For their Redeemer is strong;
He will plead their case against you.

Surely there is a future,
And your hope will not be cut off.

For their minds devise violence,
And their lips talk of trouble.

For by wise guidance you will wage war,
And in abundance of counselors there is victory.

Know that wisdom is thus for your soul;
If you find it, then there will be a future,
And your hope will not be cut off.

For there will be no future for the evil man;
The lamp of the wicked will be put out.

For their calamity will rise suddenly,
And who knows the ruin that comes from both of them?

Take away the dross from the silver,
And there comes out a vessel for the smith;

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

The sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road!
A lion is in the open square!”

For lack of wood the fire goes out,
And where there is no whisperer, contention quiets down.

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

And there will be goats’ milk enough for your food,
For the food of your household,
And sustenance for your maidens.

The rich man is wise in his own eyes,
But the poor who has understanding sees through him.

When the righteous triumph, there is great glory,
But when the wicked rise, men hide themselves.

When a wise man has a controversy with a foolish man,
The foolish man either rages or laughs, and there is no rest.

When the wicked increase, transgression increases;
But the righteous will see their fall.

Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained,
But happy is he who keeps the law.

A slave will not be instructed by words alone;
For though he understands, there will be no response.

Do you see a man who is hasty in his words?
There is more hope for a fool than for him.

There is a kind of man who curses his father
And does not bless his mother.

There is a kind who is pure in his own eyes,
Yet is not washed from his filthiness.

There is a kind—oh how lofty are his eyes!
And his eyelids are raised in arrogance.

There is a kind of man whose teeth are like swords
And his jaw teeth like knives,
To devour the afflicted from the earth
And the needy from among men.

The leech has two daughters,
“Give,” “Give.”
There are three things that will not be satisfied,
Four that will not say, “Enough”:

There are three things which are too wonderful for me,
Four which I do not understand:

Under three things the earth quakes,
And under four, it cannot bear up:

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

The shephanim are not mighty people,
Yet they make their houses in the rocks;

There are three things which are stately in their march,
Even four which are stately when they walk:

Also, the sun rises and the sun sets;
And hastening to its place it rises there again.

All the rivers flow into the sea,
Yet the sea is not full.
To the place where the rivers flow,
There they flow again.

That which has been is that which will be,
And that which has been done is that which will be done.
So there is nothing new under the sun.

Is there anything of which one might say,
“See this, it is new”?
Already it has existed for ages
Which were before us.

There is no remembrance of earlier things;
And also of the later things which will occur,
There will be for them no remembrance
Among those who will come later still.

Because in much wisdom there is much grief, and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain.

I explored with my mind how to stimulate my body with wine while my mind was guiding me wisely, and how to take hold of folly, until I could see what good there is for the sons of men to do under heaven the few years of their lives.

Thus I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had exerted, and behold all was vanity and striving after wind and there was no profit under the sun.

For there is no lasting remembrance of the wise man as with the fool, inasmuch as in the coming days all will be forgotten. And how the wise man and the fool alike die!

When there is a man who has labored with wisdom, knowledge and skill, then he gives his legacy to one who has not labored with them. This too is vanity and a great evil.

There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good. This also I have seen that it is from the hand of God.