Proverbs 22

¹A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches,

and favor is better than silver or gold.

²The rich and the poor meet together;

the Lord is the maker of them all.

³A prudent man sees danger and hides himself;

but the simple go on, and suffer for it.

⁴The reward for humility and fear of the Lord

is riches and honor and life.

⁵Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse;

he who guards himself will keep far from them.

⁶Train up a child in the way he should go,

and when he is old he will not depart from it.

⁷The rich rules over the poor,

and the borrower is the slave of the lender.

⁸He who sows injustice will reap calamity,

and the rod of his fury will fail.

⁹He who has a bountiful eye will be blessed,

for he shares his bread with the poor.

¹⁰Drive out a scoffer, and strife will go out,

and quarreling and abuse will cease.

¹¹He who loves purity of heart,

and whose speech is gracious, will have the king as his friend.

¹²The eyes of the Lord keep watch over knowledge,

but he overthrows the words of the faithless.

¹³The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside!

I shall be slain in the streets!”

¹⁴The mouth of a loose woman is a deep pit;

he with whom the Lord is angry will fall into it.

¹⁵Folly is bound up in the heart of a child,

but the rod of discipline drives it far from him.

¹⁶He who oppresses the poor to increase his own wealth,

or gives to the rich, will only come to want.

¹⁷Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise,

and apply your mind to my knowledge;

¹⁸for it will be pleasant if you keep them within you,

if all of them are ready on your lips.

¹⁹That your trust may be in the Lord,

I have made them known to you today, even to you.

²⁰Have I not written for you thirty sayings

of admonition and knowledge,

²¹to show you what is right and true,

that you may give a true answer to those who sent you?

²²Do not rob the poor, because he is poor,

or crush the afflicted at the gate;

²³for the Lord will plead their cause

and despoil of life those who despoil them.

²⁴Make no friendship with a man given to anger,

nor go with a wrathful man,

²⁵lest you learn his ways

and entangle yourself in a snare.

²⁶Be not one of those who give pledges,

who become surety for debts.

²⁷If you have nothing with which to pay,

why should your bed be taken from under you?

²⁸Remove not the ancient landmark

which your fathers have set.

²⁹Do you see a man skilful in his work?

he will stand before kings;

he will not stand before obscure men.