them over your heart always;
Bind them around your throat.
22When you walk it will lead you;
When you lie down it will watch over you;
And when you are awake it will talk with you.
23For the commandment is a lamp,
The teaching is a light,
And the way to life is the rebuke that disciplines.
24It will keep you from an evil woman,
From the smooth tongue of a forbiddenc woman.
25Do not lust for her beauty
Or let her captivate you with her eyes.
26The last loaf of bread will go for a harlot;
A married woman will snare a person of honor.
27Can a man rake embers into his bosom
Without burning his clothes?
28Can a man walk on live coals
Without scorching his feet?
29It is the same with one who sleeps with his fellow’s wife;
None who touches her will go unpunished.
30A thief is not held in contempt
For stealing to appease his hunger;
31Yet if caught he must pay sevenfold;
He must give up all he owns.
32He who commits adultery is devoid of sense;
Only one who would destroy himself does such a thing.
33He will meet with disease and disgrace;
His reproach will never be expunged.
34The fury of the husband will be passionate;
He will show no pity on his day of vengeance.
35He will not have regard for any ransom;
He will refuse your bribe, however great.
7 My son, heed my words;
And store up my commandments with you.
2Keep my commandments and live,
My teaching, as the apple of your eye.
3Bind them on your fingers;
Write them on the tablet of your mind.
4Say to Wisdom, “You are my sister,”
And call Understanding a kinswoman.
5She will guard you from a forbiddena woman;
From an alien woman whose talk is smooth.
6From the window of my house,
Through my lattice, I looked out
7And saw among the simple,
Noticed among the youths,
A lad devoid of sense.
8He was crossing the street near her corner,
Walking toward her house
9In the dusk of evening,
In the dark hours of night.
10A woman comes toward him
b-Dressed like a harlot, with set purpose.-b
11She is bustling and restive;
She is never at home.
12Now in the street, now in the square,
She lurks at every corner.
13She lays hold of him and kisses him;
Brazenly she says to him,
14“I had to make a sacrifice of well-being;
Today I fulfilled my vows.
15Therefore I have come out to you,
Seeking you, and have found you.
16I have decked my couch with covers
Of dyed Egyptian linen;
17I have sprinkled my bed
With myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
18Let us drink our fill of love till morning;
Let us delight in amorous embrace.
19For the man of the house is away;
He is off on a distant journey.
20He took his bag of money with him
And will return only at mid-month.”
21She sways him with her eloquence,
Turns him aside with her smooth talk.
22Thoughtlessly he follows her,
Like an ox going to the slaughter,
b-Like a fool to the stocks for punishment-b—
23Until the arrow pierces his liver.
He is like a bird rushing into a trap,
Not knowing his life is at stake.
24Now, sons, listen to me;
Pay attention to my words;
25Let your mind not wander down her ways;
Do not stray onto her paths.
26For many are those she has struck dead,
And numerous are her victims.
27Her house is a highway to Sheol
Leading down to Death’s inner chambers.
8 It is Wisdom calling,
Understanding raising her voice.
2She takes her stand at the topmost heights,
By the wayside, at the crossroads,
3Near the gates at the city entrance;
At the entryways, she shouts,
4“O men, I call to you;
My cry is to all mankind.
5O simple ones, learn shrewdness;
O dullards, instruct your minds.
6Listen, for I speak noble things;
Uprightness comes from my lips;
7My mouth utters truth;
Wickedness is abhorrent to my lips.
8All my words are just,
None of them perverse or crooked;
9All are straightforward to the intelligent man,
And right to those who have attained knowledge.
10Accept my discipline rather than silver,
Knowledge rather than choice gold.
11For wisdom is better than rubies;
No goods can equal her.
12“I, Wisdom, live with Prudence;
I attain knowledge and foresight.
13To fear the LORD is to hate evil;
I hate pride, arrogance, the evil way,
And duplicity in speech.
14Mine are counsel and resourcefulness;
I am understanding; courage is mine.
15Through me kings reign
And rulers decree just laws;
16Through me princes rule,
Great men and all the a-righteous judges.-a
17Those who love me I love,
And those who seek me will find me.
18Riches and honor belong to me,
Enduring wealth and success.
19My fruit is better than gold, fine gold,
And my produce better than choice silver.
20I walk on the way of righteousness,
On the paths of justice.
21I endow those who love me with substance;
I will fill their treasuries.
22“The LORD created me at the beginning of His course
As the first of His works of old.
23In the distant past I was fashioned,
At the beginning, at the origin of earth.
24There was still no deep when I was brought forth,
No springs rich in water;
25Before [the foundation of] the mountains were sunk,
Before the hills I was born.
26He had not yet made earth and fields,
Or the world’s first clumps of clay.
27I was there when He set the heavens into place;
When He fixed the horizon upon the deep;
28When He made the heavens above firm,
And the fountains of the deep gushed forth;
29When He assigned the sea its limits,
So that its waters never transgress His command;
When He fixed the foundations of the earth,
30I was with Him as a confidant,
A source of delight every day,
Rejoicing before Him at all times,
31Rejoicing in His inhabited world,
Finding delight with mankind.
32Now, sons, listen to me;
Happy are they who keep my ways.
33Heed discipline and become wise;
Do not spurn it.
34Happy is the man who listens to me,
Coming early to my gates each day,
Waiting outside my doors.
35For he who finds me finds life
And obtains favor from the LORD.
36But he who misses me destroys himself;
All who hate me love death.”
9 Wisdom has built her house,
She has hewn her seven pillars.
2She has prepared the feast,
Mixed the wine,
And also set the table.
3She has sent out her maids to announce
On the heights of the town,
4“Let the simple enter here”;
To those devoid of sense she says,
5“Come, eat my food
And drink the wine that I have mixed;
6Give up simpleness and live,
Walk in the way of understanding.”
7To correct a scoffer,
a-Or rebuke a wicked man for his blemish,
Is to call down abuse on oneself.-a
8Do not rebuke a scoffer, for he will hate you;
Reprove a wise man, and he will love you.
9Instruct a wise man, and he will grow wiser;
Teach a righteous man, and he will gain in learning.
10The beginning of wisdom is fear of the LORD,
And knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
11For through me your days will increase,
And years be added to your life.
12If you are wise, you are wise for yourself;
If you are a scoffer, you bear it alone.
13The stupid woman bustles about;
She is simple and knows nothing.
14She sits in the doorway of her house,
Or on a chair at the heights of the town,
15Calling to all the wayfarers
Who go about their own affairs,
16“Let the simple enter here”;
And to those devoid of sense she says,
17“Stolen waters are sweet,
And bread eaten furtively is tasty.”
18He does not know that the shades are there,
That her guests are in the depths of Sheol.
10 The proverbs of Solomon:
A wise son brings joy to his father;
A dull son is his mother’s sorrow.
2Ill-gotten wealth is of no avail,
But righteousness saves from death.
3The LORD will not let the righteous go hungry,
But He denies the wicked what they crave.
4Negligent hands cause poverty,
But diligent hands enrich.
5He who lays in stores during the summer is a capable son,
But he who sleeps during the harvest is an incompetent.
6Blessings light upon the head of the righteous,
But lawlessness covers the mouth of the wicked.
7The name of the righteous is invoked in blessing,
But the fame of the wicked rots.
8He whose heart is wise accepts commands,
But he whose speech is foolish comes to grief.
9He who lives blamelessly lives safely,
But he who walks a crooked path will be found out.
10He who winks his eye causes sorrow;
He whose speech is foolish comes to grief.
11The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life,
But lawlessness covers the mouth of the wicked.
12Hatred stirs up strife,
But love covers up all faults.
13Wisdom is to be found on the lips of the intelligent,
But a rod is ready for the back of the senseless.
14The wise store up knowledge;
The mouth of the fool is an imminent ruin.
15The wealth of a rich man is his fortress;
The poverty of the poor is his ruin.
16The labor of the righteous man makes for life;
The produce of the wicked man makes for want.
17He who follows discipline shows the way to life,
But he who ignores reproof leads astray.
18He who conceals hatred has lying lips,
While he who speaks forth slander is a dullard.
19Where there is much talking, there is no lack of transgressing,
But he who curbs his tonguea shows sense.
20The tongue of a righteous man is choice silver,
But the mind of the wicked is of little worth.
21The lips of the righteous sustain many,
But fools die for lack of sense.
22It is the blessing of the LORD that enriches,
And no toil can increase it.
23As mischief is sport for the dullard,
So is wisdom for the man of understanding.
24What the wicked man plots overtakes him;
What the righteous desire is granted.
25When the storm passes the wicked man is gone,
But the righteous is an everlasting foundation.
26Like vinegar to the teeth,
Like smoke to the eyes,
Is a lazy man to those who send him on a mission.
27The fear of the LORD prolongs life,
While the years of the wicked will be shortened.
28The righteous can look forward to joy,
But the hope of the wicked is doomed.
29The way of the LORD is a stronghold for the blameless,
But a ruin for evildoers.
30The righteous will never be shaken;
The wicked will not inhabit the earth.
31The mouth of the righteous produces wisdom,
But the treacherous tongue shall be cut off.
32The lips of the righteous know what is pleasing;
The mouth of the wicked [knows] duplicity.
11 False scales are an abomination to the LORD;
An honesta weight pleases Him.
2When arrogance appears, disgrace follows,
But wisdom is with