field of orphans,
11For they have a mighty Kinsman,
And He will surely take up their cause with you.
12Apply your mind to discipline
And your ears to wise sayings.
13Do not withhold discipline from a child;
If you beat him with a rod he will not die.
14Beat him with a rod
And you will save him from the grave.
15My son, if your mind gets wisdom,
My mind, too, will be gladdened.
16I shall rejoice with all my hearta
When your lips speak right things.
17Do not envy sinners in your heart,
But only God-fearing men, at all times,
18For then you will have a future,
And your hope will never fail.
19Listen, my son, and get wisdom;
Lead your mind in a [proper] path.
20Do not be of those who guzzle wine,
Or glut themselves on meat;
21For guzzlers and gluttons will be impoverished,
And drowsing will clothe you in tatters.
22Listen to your father who begot you;
Do not disdain your mother when she is old.
23Buy truth and never sell it,
And wisdom, discipline, and understanding.
24The father of a righteous man will exult;
He who begets a wise son will rejoice in him.
25Your father and mother will rejoice;
She who bore you will exult.
26Give your mind to me, my son;
Let your eyes watch my ways.
27A harlot is a deep pit;
A forbiddenb woman is a narrow well.
28She too lies in wait as if for prey,
And destroys the unfaithful among men.
29Who cries, “Woe!” who, “Alas!”;
Who has quarrels, who complaints;
Who has wounds without cause;
Who has bleary eyes?
30Those whom wine keeps till the small hours,
Those who gather to drain the cups.
31Do not ogle that red wine
As it lends its color to the cup,
As it flows on smoothly;
32In the end, it bites like a snake;
It spits like a basilisk.
33Your eyes will see strange sights;
Your heartc will speak distorted things.
34You will be like one lying in bed on high seas,
Like one lying d-on top of the rigging.-d
35“They struck me, but I felt no hurt;
They beat me, but I was unaware;
As often as I wake,
I go after it again.”
24 Do not envy evil men;
Do not desire to be with them;
2For their heartsa talk violence,
And their lips speak mischief.
3A house is built by wisdom,
And is established by understanding;
4By knowledge are its rooms filled
With all precious and beautiful things.
5A wise man is strength;
A knowledgeable man exerts power;
6For by stratagems you wage war,
And victory comes with much planning.
7Wisdom is too lofty for a fool;
He does not open his mouth in the gate.
8He who lays plans to do harm
Is called by men a schemer.
9The schemes of folly are sin,
And a scoffer is an abomination to men.
10If you showed yourself slack in time of trouble,
Wanting in power,
11If you refrained from rescuing those taken off to death,
Those condemned to slaughter—
12If you say, “We knew nothing of it,”
Surely He who fathoms hearts will discern [the truth],
He who watches over your life will know it,
And He will pay each man as he deserves.
13My son, eat honey, for it is good;
Let its sweet drops be on your palate.
14Know: such is wisdom for your soul;
If you attain it, there is a future;
Your hope will not be cut off.
15Wicked man! Do not lurk by the home of the righteous man;
Do no violence to his dwelling.
16Seven times the righteous man falls and gets up,
While the wicked are tripped by one misfortune.
17If your enemy falls, do not exult;
If he trips, let your heart not rejoice,
18Lest the LORD see it and be displeased,
And avert His wrath from him.
19Do not be vexed by evildoers;
Do not be incensed by the wicked;
20For there is no future for the evil man;
The lamp of the wicked goes out.
21Fear the LORD, my son, and the king,
And do not mix with dissenters,
22For disaster comes from them suddenly;
The doom both decree who can foreknow?
23These also are by the sages:
It is not right to be partial in judgment.
24He who says to the guilty, “You are innocent,”
Shall be cursed by peoples,
Damned by nations;
25But it shall go well with them who decide justly;
Blessings of good things will light upon them.
26Giving a straightforward reply
Is like giving a kiss.
27Put your external affairs in order,
Get ready what you have in the field,
Then build yourself a home.
28Do not be a witness against your fellow without good cause;
Would you mislead with your speech?
29Do not say, “I will do to him what he did to me;
I will pay the man what he deserves.”
30I passed by the field of a lazy man,
By the vineyard of a man lacking sense.
31It was all overgrown with thorns;
Its surface was covered with chickweed,
And its stone fence lay in ruins.
32I observed and took it to heart;
I saw it and learned a lesson.
33A bit more sleep, a bit more slumber,
A bit more hugging yourself in bed,
34And poverty will come b-calling upon you,-b
And want, like a man with a shield.
25 These too are proverbs of Solomon, which the men of King Hezekiah of Judah copied:
2It is the glory of God to conceal a matter,
And the glory of a king to plumb a matter.
3Like the heavens in their height, like the earth in its depth,
Is the mind of kings—unfathomable.
4The dross having been separated from the silver,
A vessel emerged for the smith.
5Remove the wicked from the king’s presence,
And his throne will be established in justice.
6Do not exalt yourself in the king’s presence;
Do not stand in the place of nobles.
7For it is better to be told, “Step up here,”
Than to be degraded in the presence of the great.
Do not let what your eyes have seen
8Be vented rashly in a quarrel;
Thinka of what it will effect in the end,
When your fellow puts you to shame.
9Defend your right against your fellow,
But do not give away the secrets of another,
10Lest he who hears it reproach you,
And your bad repute never end.
11Like golden apples in silver showpiecesb
Is a phrase well turned.
12Like a ring of gold, a golden ornament,
Is a wise man’s reproof in a receptive ear.
13Like the coldness of snow at harvesttime
Is a trusty messenger to those who send him;
He lifts his master’s spirits.
14Like clouds, wind—but no rain—
Is one who boasts of gifts not given.
15Through forbearance a ruler may be won over;
A gentle tongue can break bones.
16If you find honey, eat only what you need,
Lest, surfeiting yourself, you throw it up.
17Visit your neighbor sparingly,
Lest he have his surfeit of you and loathe you.
18Like a club, a sword, a sharpened arrow,
Is a man who testifies falsely against his fellow.
19Like a loose tooth and an unsteady leg,
Is a treacherous support in time of trouble.
20Disrobing on a chilly day,
Like vinegar on natron,
Is one who sings songs to a sorrowful soul.
21If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat;
If he is thirsty, give him water to drink.
22You will be heaping live coals on his head,
And the LORD will reward you.
23A north wind produces rain,
And whispered words, a glowering face.
24Dwelling in the corner of a roof is better
Than a contentious woman in b-a spacious house.-b
25Like cold water to a parched throat
Is good news from a distant land.
26Like a muddied spring, a ruined fountain,
Is a righteous man fallen before a wicked one.
27It is not good to eat much honey,
b-Nor is it honorable to search for honor.-b
28Like an open city without walls
Is a man whose temper is uncurbed.
26 Like snow in summer and rain at harvesttime,
So honor is not fitting for a dullard.
2As a sparrow must flit and a swallow fly,
So a gratuitous curse must backfire.a
3A whip for a horse and a bridle for a donkey,
And a rod for the back of dullards.
4Do not answer a dullard in accord with his folly,
Else you will become like him.
5Answer a dullard in accord with his folly,
Else he will think himself wise.
6He who sends a message by a dullard
Will wear out legs and b-must put up with-b lawlessness.
7As legs hang limp on a cripple,
So is a proverb in the mouth of dullards.
8Like a pebble in a sling,
So is paying honor to a dullard.
9As a thorn comes to the hand of a drunkard,
So a proverb to the mouth of a dullard.
10c-A master can produce anything,-c
But he who hires a dullard is as one who hires transients.c
11As a dog returns to his vomit,
So a dullard repeats his folly.
12If you see a man who thinks himself wise,
There is more hope for a dullard than for him.
13A lazy man says,
“There’s a cub on the road, a lion in the squares.”
14The door turns on its hinge,
And the lazy man on his bed.
15The lazy man buries his hand in the bowl;
He will not even bring it to his mouth.
16The lazy man thinks himself wiser
Than seven men who give good advice.
17A passerby who gets embroiled in someone else’s quarrel
Is like one who seizes a dog by its ears.
18Like a madmanc scattering deadly firebrands, arrows,
19Is one who cheats his fellow and says, “I was only joking.”
20For lack of wood a fire goes out,
And without a querulous man contention is stilled.
21Charcoal for embers and wood for a fire
And a contentious man for kindling strife.
22The words of a querulous man are bruising;c
They penetrate one’s inmost parts.
23Base silver laid over earthenware
Are ardent lips with an evil mind.
24An enemy dissembles with his speech,
Inwardly he harbors deceit.
25Though he be fair-spoken do not trust him,
For seven abominations are in his mind.
26His hatred may be concealed by dissimulation,
But his evil will be exposed to public view.
27He who digs a pit will fall in it,
And whoever rolls a stone, it will roll back on him.
28A lying tongue hates c-those crushed by it;-c
Smooth speech throws one down.
27 Do not boast of tomorrow,
For you do not know what the day will bring.
2Let the mouth of another praise you, not yours,
The lips of a stranger, not your own.
3A stone has weight, sand is heavy,
But a fool’s vexation outweighs them both.
4There is the cruelty of fury, the overflowing of anger,
But who can withstand jealousy?
5Open reproof is better than concealed love.
6Wounds by a loved one are