and your heart was full of deceit.
2
1 My son, if you come to serve the Lord,
prepare your soul for temptation.
2 Set your heart aright, constantly endure,
and don’t make haste in time of calamity.
3 Cling to him, and don’t depart,
that you may be increased at your latter end.
4 Accept whatever is brought upon you,
and be patient when you suffer humiliation.
5 For gold is tried in the fire,
and acceptable men in the furnace of humiliation.
6 Put your trust in him, and he will help you.
Make your ways straight, and set your hope on him.
7 All you who fear the Lord, wait for his mercy.
Don’t turn aside, lest you fall.
8 All you who fear the Lord, put your trust in him,
and your reward will not fail.
9 All you who fear the Lord, hope for good things,
and for eternal gladness and mercy.
10 Look at the generations of old, and see:
Who ever put his trust in the Lord, and was ashamed?
Or who remained in his fear, and was forsaken?
Or who called upon him, and he neglected him?
11 For the Lord is full of compassion and mercy.
He forgives sins and saves in time of affliction.
12 Woe to fearful hearts, to faint hands,
and to the sinner who goes two ways!
13 Woe to the faint heart! For it doesn’t believe.
Therefore it won’t be defended.
14 Woe to you who have lost your patience!
And what will you all do when the Lord visits you?
15 Those who fear the Lord will not disobey his words.
Those who love him will keep his ways.
16 Those who fear the Lord will seek his good pleasure.
Those who love him will be filled with the law.
17 Those who fear the Lord will prepare their hearts,
and will humble their souls in his sight.
18 We will fall into the hands of the Lord,
and not into the hands of men;
for as his majesty is,
so also is his mercy.
3
1 Hear me, your father, O my children,
and do what you hear, that you all may be safe.
2 For the Lord honours the father over the children,
and has confirmed the judgement of the mother over her sons.
3 He who honours his father will make atonement for sins.
4 He who gives glory to his mother is as one who lays up treasure.
5 Whoever honours his father will have joy in his own children.
He will be heard in the day of his prayer.
6 He who gives glory to his father will have length of days.
He who listens to the Lord will bring rest to his mother,
7 † and will serve under his parents, as to masters.
8 Honour your father in deed and word,
that a blessing may come upon you from him.
9 For the blessing of the father establishes the houses of children,
but the curse of the mother roots out the foundations.
10 Don’t glorify yourself in the dishonour of your father,
for your father’s dishonour is no glory to you.
11 For the glory of a man is from the honour of his father,
and a mother in dishonour is a reproach to her children.
12 My son, help your father in his old age,
and don’t grieve him as long as he lives.
13 If he fails in understanding, have patience with him.
Don’t dishonour him in your full strength.
14 For the kindness to your father will not be forgotten.
Instead of sins it will be added to build you up.
15 In the day of your affliction it will be remembered for you,
as fair weather upon ice,
so your sins will also melt away.
16 He who forsakes his father is as a blasphemer.
He who provokes his mother is cursed by the Lord.
17 My son, go on with your business in humility;
so you will be loved by an acceptable man.
18 The greater you are, humble yourself the more,
and you will find favour before the Lord. 19 ‡
20 For the power of the Lord is great,
and he is glorified by those who are lowly.
21 Don’t seek things that are too hard for you,
and don’t search out things that are above your strength.
22 Think about the things that have been commanded you,
for you have no need of the things that are secret.
23 Don’t be overly busy in tasks that are beyond you,
for more things are shown to you than men can understand.
24 For the conceit of many has led them astray.
Evil opinion has caused their judgement to slip.
25 §There is no light without eyes.
There is no wisdom without knowledge.
26 A stubborn heart will do badly at the end.
He who loves danger will perish in it.
27 A stubborn heart will be burdened with troubles.
The sinner will heap sin upon sins.
28 The calamity of the proud has no healing,
for a weed of wickedness has taken root in him.
29 The heart of the prudent will understand a proverb.
A wise man desires the ear of a listener.
30 Water will quench a flaming fire;
almsgiving will make atonement for sins.
31 He who repays good turns is mindful of that which comes afterward.
In the time of his falling he will find a support.
4
1 My son, don’t deprive the poor of his living.
Don’t make the needy eyes wait long.
2 Don’t make a hungry soul sorrowful,
or provoke a man in his distress.
3 Don’t add more trouble to a heart that is provoked.
Don’t put off giving to him who is in need.
4 Don’t reject a suppliant in his affliction.
Don’t turn your face away from a poor man.
5 Don’t turn your eye away from one who asks.
Give no occasion to a man to curse you.
6 For if he curses you in the bitterness of his soul,
he who made him will hear his supplication.
7 Endear yourself to the assembly.
Bow your head to a great man.
8 Incline your ear to a poor man.
Answer him with peaceful words in humility.
9 Deliver him who is wronged from the hand of him who wrongs him;
Don’t be hesitant in giving judgement.
10 Be as a father to the fatherless,
and like a husband to their mother.
So you will be as a son of the Most High,
and he will love you more than your mother does.
11 Wisdom exalts her sons,
and takes hold of those who seek her.
12 He who loves her loves life.
Those who seek her early will be filled with gladness.
13 He who holds her fast will inherit glory.
Where† he enters, the Lord will bless.
14 Those who serve her minister to the Holy One.
The Lord loves those who love her.
15 He who listens to her will judge the nations.
He who heeds her will dwell securely.
16 If he trusts her, he will inherit her,
and his generations will possess her.
17 For at the first she will walk with him in crooked ways,
and will bring fear and dread upon him,
and torment him with her discipline,
until she may trust his soul, and try him by her judgements.
18 Then she will return him again to the straight way,
and will gladden him, and reveal to him her secrets.
19 If he goes astray, she will forsake him,
and hand him over to his fall.
20 Watch for the opportunity, and beware of evil.
Don’t be ashamed of your soul.
21 For there is a shame that brings sin,
and there is a shame that is glory and grace.
22 Don’t show partiality, discrediting your soul.
Don’t revere any man to your falling.
23 Don’t refrain from speaking when it is for safety.
‡Don’t hide your wisdom for the sake of seeming fair.
24 For wisdom will be known by speech,
and instruction by the word of the tongue.
25 Don’t speak against the truth
and be shamed for your ignorance.
26 Don’t be ashamed to confess your sins.
Don’t fight the river’s current.
27 Don’t lay yourself down for a fool to tread upon.
Don’t be partial to one who is mighty.
28 Strive for the truth to death,
and the Lord God will fight for you.
29 Don’t be hasty with your tongue,
or slack and negligent in your deeds.
30 Don’t be like a lion in your house,
or suspicious of your servants.
31 Don’t let your hand be stretched out to receive,
and closed when you should repay.
5
1 Don’t set your heart upon your goods.
Don’t say, “They are sufficient for me.”
2 Don’t follow your own mind and your strength
to walk in the desires of your heart.
3 Don’t say, “Who will have dominion over me?”
for the Lord will surely take vengeance on you.
4 Don’t say, “I sinned, and what happened to me?”
for the Lord is patient.
5 Don’t be so confident of atonement
that you add sin upon sins.
6 Don’t say, “His compassion is great.
He will be pacified for the multitude of my sins,”
for mercy and wrath are with him,
and his indignation will rest on sinners.
7 Don’t wait to turn to the Lord.
Don’t put off from day to day;
for suddenly the wrath of the Lord will come on you,
and you will perish in the time of vengeance.
8 Don’t set your heart upon unrighteous gains,
for you will profit nothing in the day of calamity.
9 Don’t winnow with every wind.
Don’t walk in every path.
This is what the sinner who has a double tongue does.
10 Be steadfast in your understanding.
Let your speech be consistent.
11 Be swift to hear
and answer with patience.
12 If you have understanding, answer your neighbour;
but if not, put your hand over your mouth.
13 Glory and dishonour is in talk.
A man’s tongue may be his downfall.
14 Don’t be called a whisperer.
Don’t lie in wait with your tongue;
for shame is on the thief,
and an evil condemnation is on him who has a double tongue.
15 Don’t be ignorant in a great or small matter.
6
1 Don’t become an enemy instead of a friend;
for an evil name will inherit shame and reproach.
So it is with the sinner who has a double tongue.
2 Don’t exalt yourself in the counsel of your soul,
that your soul not be torn in pieces like a bull.
3 You will eat up your
