He whose ears are stopped at the cry of the poor, will himself get no answer to his cry for help.

The evil-doer will be given as a price for the life of the good man, and the worker of deceit in the place of the upright.

The desire of the hater of work is death to him, for his hands will do no work.

The evil-doer makes his face hard, but as for the upright, he gives thought to his way.

The horse is made ready for the day of war, but power to overcome is from the Lord.

The reward of a gentle spirit and the fear of the Lord is wealth and honour and life.

Thorns and nets are in the way of the twisted: he who keeps watch over his soul will be far from them.

He who is kind will have a blessing, for he gives of his bread to the poor.

He whose heart is clean is dear to the Lord; for the grace of his lips the king will be his friend.

Foolish ways are deep-seated in the heart of a child, but the rod of punishment will send them far from him.

He who is cruel to the poor for the purpose of increasing his profit, and he who gives to the man of wealth, will only come to be in need.

Let your ear be bent down for hearing my words, and let your heart give thought to knowledge.

For it is a delight to keep them in your heart, to have them ready on your lips.

Have I not put in writing for you thirty sayings, with wise suggestions and knowledge,

For the Lord will give support to their cause, and take the life of those who take their goods.

For fear of learning his ways and making a net ready for your soul.

Be not one of those who give their hands in an agreement, or of those who make themselves responsible for debts:

And put a knife to your throat, if you have a strong desire for food.

Have no desire for his delicate food, for it is the bread of deceit.

Take no care to get wealth; let there be an end to your desire for money

Are your eyes lifted up to it? it is gone: for wealth takes to itself wings, like an eagle in flight up to heaven.

Do not take the food of him who has an evil eye, or have any desire for his delicate meat:

For as the thoughts of his heart are, so is he: Take food and drink, he says to you; but his heart is not with you.

Say nothing in the hearing of a foolish man, for he will put no value on the wisdom of your words.

For their saviour is strong, and he will take up their cause against you.

Do not keep back training from the child: for even if you give him blows with the rod, it will not be death to him.

Have no envy of sinners in your heart, but keep in the fear of the Lord all through the day;

For without doubt there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.

For those who take delight in drink and feasting will come to be in need; and through love of sleep a man will be poorly clothed

Get for yourself that which is true, and do not let it go for money; get wisdom and teaching and good sense.

For a loose woman is a deep hollow, and a strange woman is a narrow water-hole.

Yes, she is waiting secretly like a beast for its food, and deceit by her is increased among men.

Those who are seated late over the wine: those who go looking for mixed wine.

Have no envy for evil men, or any desire to be with them:

For the purposes of their hearts are destruction, and their lips are talking of trouble.

For by wise guiding you will overcome in war: and in a number of wise guides there is salvation.

My son, take honey, for it is good; and the flowing honey, which is sweet to your taste:

So let your desire be for wisdom: if you have it, there will be a future, and your hope will not be cut off.

For an upright man, after falling seven times, will get up again: but trouble is the downfall of the evil.

For fear that the Lord may see it, and it may be evil in his eyes, and his wrath may be turned away from him.

For there will be no future for the evil man; the light of sinners will be put out.

My son, go in fear of the Lord and the king: have nothing to do with those who are in high positions:

For their downfall will come suddenly; and who has knowledge of the destruction of those in high positions?

These are more sayings of the wise: To have respect for a person's position when judging is not good.

Take away the waste from silver, and a vessel will come out for the silver-worker.

Do not take glory for yourself before the king, and do not put yourself in the place of the great:

For it is better to have it said to you, Come up here; than for you to be put down in a lower place before the ruler.

Do not be quick to go to law about what you have seen, for what will you do in the end, when your neighbour has put you to shame?

As the cold of snow in the time of grain-cutting, so is a true servant to those who send him; for he gives new life to the soul of his master.

As clouds and wind without rain, so is one who takes credit for an offering he has not given.

A judge is moved by one who for a long time undergoes wrongs without protest, and by a soft tongue even bone is broken.

If you have honey, take only as much as is enough for you; for fear that, being full of it, you may not be able to keep it down.

For so you will put coals of fire on his head, and the Lord will give you your reward.

As cold water to a tired soul, so is good news from a far country.

It is not good to take much honey: so he who is not looking for honour will be honoured.

Like snow in summer and rain when the grain is being cut, so honour is not natural for the foolish.

A whip for the horse, a mouth-bit for the ass, and a rod for the back of the foolish.

Have you seen a man who seems to himself to be wise? There is more hope for the foolish than for him.

Without wood, the fire goes out; and where there is no secret talk, argument is ended.

Like breath on coals and wood on fire, so a man given to argument gets a fight started.

When he says fair words, have no belief in him; for in his heart are seven evils:

A false tongue has hate for those who have clean hearts, and a smooth mouth is a cause of falling.

Do not make a noise about tomorrow, for you are not certain what a day's outcome may be.

The full man has no use for honey, but to the man in need of food every bitter thing is sweet.

Do not give up your friend and your father's friend; and do not go into your brother's house in the day of your trouble: better is a neighbour who is near than a brother far off.

Take a man's clothing if he makes himself responsible for a strange man, and get an undertaking from him who gives his word for strange men.

He who keeps secret the secret of his friend, will get himself a name for good faith.

The heating-pot is for silver and the oven-fire for gold, and a man is measured by what he is praised for.

For wealth is not for ever, and money does not go on for all generations.

The lambs are for your clothing, and the he-goats make the value of a field:

There will be goats' milk enough for your food, and for the support of your servant-girls.

The evil man goes running away when no man is after him, but the upright are without fear, like the lion.

Because of the sin of the land, its troubles are increased; but by a man of wisdom and knowledge they will be put out like a fire.

Those who have no respect for the law give praise to the evil-doer; but such as keep the law are against him.

He who makes his wealth greater by taking interest, only gets it together for him who has pity on the poor.

As for the man whose ear is turned away from hearing the law, even his prayer is disgusting.

Anyone causing the upright to go wandering in an evil way, will himself go down into the hole he has made; but the upright will have good things for their heritage.

Happy is the man in whom is the fear of the Lord at all times; but he whose heart is hard will come into trouble.

The prince who has no sense is a cruel ruler; but he who has no desire to get profit for himself will have long life.

By ploughing his land a man will have bread in full measure; but he who goes after good-for-nothing persons will be poor enough.

A man of good faith will have great blessing, but one attempting to get wealth quickly will not go free from punishment.

It is not good to have respect for a man's position: for a man will do wrong for a bit of bread.

A man who says smooth things to his neighbour is stretching out a net for his steps.

In the steps of an evil man there is a net for him, but the upright man gets away quickly and is glad.

The king who is a true judge in the cause of the poor, will be safe for ever on the seat of his power.

A servant will not be trained by words; for though the sense of the words is clear to him, he will not give attention.

Have you seen a man who is quick with his tongue? There is more hope for a foolish man than for him.

If a servant is gently cared for from his early years, he will become a cause of sorrow in the end.

A man who takes part with a thief has hate for his soul; he is put under oath, but says nothing.

The fear of man is a cause of danger: but whoever puts his faith in the Lord will have a safe place on high.

For I am more like a beast than any man, I have no power of reasoning like a man:

I have made request to you for two things; do not keep them from me before my death:

Put far from me all false and foolish things: do not give me great wealth or let me be in need, but give me only enough food:

For fear that if I am full, I may be false to you and say, Who is the Lord? or if I am poor, I may become a thief, using the name of my God wrongly.

There is a generation who seem to themselves to be free from sin, but are not washed from their unclean ways.

There is a generation whose teeth are like swords, their strong teeth like knives, for the destruction of the poor from the earth, and of those who are in need from among men.

The night-spirit has two daughters, Give, give. There are three things which are never full, even four which never say, Enough:

The underworld, and the woman without a child; the earth which never has enough water, and the fire which never says, Enough.

The eye which makes sport of a father, and sees no value in a mother when she is old will be rooted out by the ravens of the valley, and be food for the young eagles.

There are three things, the wonder of which overcomes me, even four things outside my knowledge: