Proverbs 22:1–29

¹ A good name is more desirable than great riches; favor is better than silver and gold. ² The rich and the poor have this in common: The LORD is Maker of them all. ³ The prudent see danger and take cover, but the simple keep going and suffer the consequences. ⁴ The rewards of humility and the fear of the LORD are wealth and honor and life. ⁵ Thorns and snares lie on the path of the perverse; he who guards his soul stays far from them. ⁶ Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. ⁷ The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender. ⁸ He who sows injustice will reap disaster, and the rod of his fury will be destroyed. ⁹ A generous man will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor. ¹⁰ Drive out the mocker, and conflict will depart; even quarreling and insults will cease. ¹¹ He who loves a pure heart and gracious lips will have the king for a friend. ¹² The LORD’s eyes keep watch over knowledge, but He frustrates the words of the faithless. ¹³ The slacker says, “There is a lion outside! I will be slain in the streets!” ¹⁴ The mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit; he who is under the wrath of the LORD will fall into it. ¹⁵ Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him. ¹⁶ Oppressing the poor to enrich oneself or giving gifts to the rich will surely lead to poverty. ¹⁷ Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise— apply your mind to my knowledge— ¹⁸ for it is pleasing when you keep them within you and they are constantly on your lips. ¹⁹ So that your trust may be in the LORD, I instruct you today—yes, you. ²⁰ Have I not written for you thirty sayings about counsel and knowledge, ²¹ to show you true and reliable words, that you may soundly answer those who sent you? ²² Do not rob a poor man because he is poor, and do not crush the afflicted at the gate, ²³ for the LORD will take up their case and will plunder those who rob them. ²⁴ Do not make friends with an angry man, and do not associate with a hot-tempered man, ²⁵ or you may learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare. ²⁶ Do not be one who gives pledges, who puts up security for debts. ²⁷ If you have nothing with which to pay, why should your bed be taken from under you? ²⁸ Do not move an ancient boundary stone which your fathers have placed. ²⁹ Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will be stationed in the presence of kings; he will not stand before obscure men.