Proverbs 22

¹ A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, And loving favor rather than silver and gold.

² The rich and the poor meet together: Jehovah is the maker of them all.

³ A prudent man seeth the evil, and hideth himself; But the simple pass on, and suffer for it.

⁴ The reward of humility and the fear of Jehovah Is riches, and honor, and life.

⁵ Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse: He that keepeth his soul shall be far from them.

⁶ Train up a child in the way he should go, And even when he is old he will not depart from it.

⁷ The rich ruleth over the poor; And the borrower is servant to the lender.

⁸ He that soweth iniquity shall reap calamity; And the rod of his wrath shall fail.

⁹ He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; For he giveth of his bread to the poor.

¹⁰ Cast out the scoffer, and contention will go out; Yea, strife and ignominy will cease.

¹¹ He that loveth pureness of heart, For the grace of his lips the king will be his friend.

¹² The eyes of Jehovah preserve him that hath knowledge; But he overthroweth the words of the treacherous man.

¹³ The sluggard saith, There is a lion without; I shall be slain in the streets.

¹⁴ The mouth of strange women is a deep pit; He that is abhorred of Jehovah shall fall therein.

¹⁵ Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; But the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.

¹⁶ He that oppresseth the poor to increase his gain, And he that giveth to the rich, shall come only to want.

¹⁷ Incline thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, And apply thy heart unto my knowledge.

¹⁸ For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee, If they be established together upon thy lips.

¹⁹ That thy trust may be in Jehovah, I have made them known to thee this day, even to thee.

²⁰ Have not I written unto thee excellent things Of counsels and knowledge,

²¹ To make thee know the certainty of the words of truth, That thou mayest carry back words of truth to them that send thee?

²² Rob not the poor, because he is poor; Neither oppress the afflicted in the gate:

²³ For Jehovah will plead their cause, And despoil of life those that despoil them.

²⁴ Make no friendship with a man that is given to anger; And with a wrathful man thou shalt not go:

²⁵ Lest thou learn his ways, And get a snare to thy soul.

²⁶ Be thou not one of them that strike hands, Or of them that are sureties for debts.

²⁷ If thou hast not wherewith to pay, Why should he take away thy bed from under thee?

²⁸ Remove not the ancient landmark, Which thy fathers have set.

²⁹ Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; He shall not stand before mean men.