Remove not the ancient landmark, which your fathers have set.

Have you seen a man who is expert in his business? he will take his place before kings; his place will not be among low persons.

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.

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

The morsel which you have eaten shall you vomit up, and waste your sweet words.

Do not let the landmark of the widow be moved, and do not go into the fields of those who have no father;

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

For then you will have a future,
and your hope will never fade.

The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begets a wise child shall have joy in him.

Let your father and your mother be glad, let her who gave you birth have joy.

My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes have pleasure in my ways.

They have stricken me, you shall say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.

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

So shall the knowledge of wisdom be unto your soul: when you have found it, then there shall be a reward, and your hope shall not be cut off.

Do not be glad at the fall of your hater, and let not your heart have joy at his downfall:

Do not be troubled because of evil-doers, or have envy of sinners:

For the evil have no future;
the lamp of the wicked 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:

These things also belong to the wise. It is not good to have partiality in judgment.

But those who say sharp words to him will have delight, and a blessing of good will come on them.

And lo, it hath gone up -- all of it -- thorns! Covered its face have nettles, And its stone wall hath been broken down.

And I see -- I -- I do set my heart, I have seen -- I have received instruction,

It is the glory of God to keep a thing secret: but the glory of kings is to have it searched out.

For better it is that it be said unto you, Come up here; than that you should be put lower in the presence of the prince whom your eyes have seen.

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?

Have a talk with your neighbour himself about your cause, but do not give away the secret of another:

Or he who hears it will shame you
And the rumor about you [and your action in court] will have no end.

Have you found honey? eat only as much as is sufficient for you, lest you be filled with it, and vomit it.

Withdraw thy foot from thy neighbour's house, Lest he be satiated with thee, and have hated thee.

Weak have been the two legs of the lame, And a parable in the mouth of fools.

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

The words of a tale-bearer are as self-inflicted wounds, And they have gone down to the inner parts of the heart.

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.

Be wise, my son, and make my heart glad, that I may have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me.

The prudent hath seen the evil, he is hidden, The simple have passed on, they are punished.

He who gives a blessing to his friend with a loud voice, getting up early in the morning, will have it put to his account as a curse.

Whoever keeps a fig-tree will have its fruit; and the servant waiting on his master will be honoured.

Like as in one water there appear divers faces, even so divers men have divers hearts.

The underworld and Abaddon are never full, and the eyes of man have never enough.

Take care to have knowledge about the condition of your flocks, looking well after your herds;

The lambs shall clothe thee, and for the goats thou shalt have money to thy husbandry.

And you shall have goats' milk enough for your food, for the food of your household, and for the maintenance for your maidservants.

The wicked have fled and there is no pursuer. And the righteous as a young lion is confident.

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

Evil men have no knowledge of what is right; but those who go after the Lord have knowledge of all things.

Whosoever causes the righteous to go astray in an evil way, he shall fall himself into his own pit: but the upright shall have good things in possession.

He that covers his sins shall not prosper: but whosoever confesses and forsakes them shall have mercy.

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.

Whoso leadeth a godly and an innocent life, shall be safe; but he that goeth froward ways, shall once have a fall.

He that tilleth his land shall have plenty of bread; But he that followeth after vain persons'shall have poverty enough.

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

To have respect of persons is not good; Neither that a man should transgress for a piece of bread.

He who says words of protest to a man will later have more approval than one who says smooth words with his tongue.

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

When the upright have power, the people are glad; when an evil man is ruler, grief comes on the people.

The poor and the oppressor have this in common:
the Lord gives light to the eyes of both.

When evil men are in power, wrongdoing is increased; but the upright will have pleasure when they see their downfall.

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

He that delicately bringeth up his servant from a child Shall have him become a son at the last.

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

The words of Agur, the son of Jakeh, from Massa. The man says: I am full of weariness, O God, I am full of weariness; O God, I have come to an end:

Surely I am more brutish than any man, And have not the understanding of a man;

And I have not learned wisdom, Neither have I the knowledge of the Holy One.

Who has gone up to heaven and come down? who has taken the winds in his hands, prisoning the waters in his robe? by whom have all the ends of the earth been fixed? what is his name, and what is his son's name, if you are able to say?

Two things have I asked of thee; Deny me them not before I die:

Otherwise, I might have too much
and deny You, saying, “Who is the Lord?”
or I might have nothing and steal,
profaning the name of my God.

Some people view themselves as pure, but haven't been cleansed from their own filth.

There are people that have a proud look, and cast up their eyelids.

Some people have swords for teeth and knives for fangs to devour the afflicted from the earth and the needy from among mankind.

To the leech are two daughters, 'Give, give, Lo, three things are not satisfied, Four have not said 'Sufficiency;'

The grave; and the barren womb, the earth not filled with water, and the fire, have not said, Enough.

Three things have been too wonderful for me, Yea, four that I have not known:

So is the way of an adulterous woman; She eateth, and wipeth her mouth, And saith, I have done no wickedness.

The locusts have no king, Yet go they forth all of them by bands;

There are three things which have a stately step, and four are comely in going:

If you have done foolishly in lifting up yourself, or if you have thought evil, lay your hand upon your mouth.

For fear that through drinking they may come to have no respect for the law, wrongly judging the cause of those who are in trouble.

Let him have drink, and his need will go from his mind, and the memory of his trouble will be gone.

Let your mouth be open for those who have no voice, in the cause of those who are ready for death.

The heart of her husband trusteth in her, And he shall have no lack of gain.

Her hands she hath sent forth on a spindle, And her hands have held a distaff.

She openeth her hand to the poor, yea she stretcheth forth her hands to such as have need

Her sons have risen up, and pronounce her happy, Her husband, and he praiseth her,

Many daughters have done worthily, But thou excellest them all.

Give her credit for what her hands have made: let her be praised by her works in the public place.

What advantage does man have in all his work
Which he does under the sun?

Is there anything, whereof it may be said, "Lo, this is new?" For it was long ago in the times that have been before us.

There is no memory of those who have gone before, and of those who come after there will be no memory for those who are still to come after them.

I, the Teacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.

And I have given my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom concerning all that hath been done under the heavens. It is a sad travail God hath given to the sons of man to be humbled by it.

I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.

I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I have gotten me great wisdom above all that were before me in Jerusalem; yea, my heart hath had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.

And I give my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I have known that even this is vexation of spirit;

Then said I thus in my heart, "Now go to, I will take mine ease and have good days." But lo, that was vanity also:

I have sought in my heart to draw out with wine my appetite, (and my heart leading in wisdom), and to take hold on folly till that I see where is this -- the good to the sons of man of that which they do under the heavens, the number of the days of their lives.

And look whatsoever mine eyes desired, I let them have it: and wherein soever my heart delighted, or had any pleasure, I withheld it not from it. Thus my heart rejoiced in all that I did, and this I took for the portion of all my travail.

and I have looked on all my works that my hands have done, and on the labour that I have laboured to do, and lo, the whole is vanity and vexation of spirit, and there is no advantage under the sun!

And I turned to see wisdom, and madness, and folly, but what is the man who cometh after the king? that which is already -- they have done it!