22:1 A good name is to be more desired than great wealth;
Favor is better than silver and gold.
22:2 The rich and the poor ①have a common bond,
The LORD is the Maker of them all.
▷ ①Lit meet together
22:3 A prudent person sees evil and hides himself,
But the naive proceed, and pay the penalty.
22:4 The reward of humility and ①the fear of the LORD
Are riches, honor, and life.
▷ ①Or reverence for
22:5 Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse;
One who guards himself will be far from them.
22:6 Train up a child ①in the way he should go,
Even when he grows older he will not abandon it.
▷ ①Lit according to his way
22:7 The rich rules over the poor,
And the borrower becomes the lender’s slave.
22:8 One who sows injustice will reap disaster,
And the rod of his fury will perish.
22:9 One who ①is generous will be blessed,
Because he gives some of his food to the poor.
▷ ①Lit has a good eye
22:10 Drive out the scoffer, and strife will leave,
Even quarreling and dishonor will cease.
22:11 One who loves purity of heart
And ①whose speech is gracious, the king is his friend.
▷ ①Lit has grace on his lips
22:12 The eyes of the LORD protect knowledge,
But He overthrows the words of the treacherous person.
22:13 The ①lazy one says, “There is a lion outside;
I will be killed in the streets!”
▷ ①Lit idle
22:14 The mouth of ①an adulteress is a deep pit;
He who is cursed of the LORD will fall ②into it.
▷ ①Lit strange woman ②Lit there
22:15 Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child;
The rod of discipline will remove it far from him.
22:16 One who oppresses the poor to make ①more for himself,
Or gives to the rich, will only come to poverty.
▷ ①Lit much
22:17 Extend your ear and hear the words of the wise,
And apply your mind to my knowledge;
22:18 For it will be pleasant if you keep them within you,
①So that they may be ready on your lips.
▷ ①Lit They together
22:19 So that your trust may be in the LORD,
I have ①taught you today, you indeed.
▷ ①Lit made you know
22:20 Have I not written to you ①excellent things
Of counsels and knowledge,
▷ ①Or previous
22:21 To make you know the ①certainty of the words of truth,
So that you may ②correctly answer him who sent you?
▷ ①Lit truth ②Lit return words of truth
22:22 Do not rob the poor because he is poor,
Nor crush the needy at the gate;
22:23 For the LORD will plead their case
And ①take the life of those who rob them.
▷ ①Lit rob the soul
22:24 Do not make friends with a person given to anger,
Or go with a hot-tempered person,
22:25 Or you will learn his ways
And ①find a snare for yourself.
▷ ①Lit take
22:26 Do not be among those who shake hands,
Among those who become guarantors for debts.
22:27 If you have nothing with which to repay,
Why should he take your bed from under you?
22:28 Do not move the ancient boundary
Which your fathers have set.
22:29 Do you see a person skilled in his work?
He will stand before kings;
He will not stand before obscure people.