Chapter 22

1 A good name is more desirable than great riches;

to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.

2 Rich and poor have this in common:

The Lord is the Maker of them all.

3 The prudent see danger and take refuge,

but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.

4 Humility is the fear of the Lord;

its wages are riches and honor and life.

5 In the paths of the wicked are snares and pitfalls,

but those who would preserve their life stay far from them.

6 Start children off on the way they should go,

and even when they are old they will not turn from it.

7 The rich rule over the poor,

and the borrower is slave to the lender.

8 Whoever sows injustice reaps calamity,

and the rod they wield in fury will be broken.

9 The generous will themselves be blessed,

for they share their food with the poor.

10 Drive out the mocker, and out goes strife;

quarrels and insults are ended.

11 One who loves a pure heart and who speaks with grace

will have the king for a friend.

12 The eyes of the Lord keep watch over knowledge,

but he frustrates the words of the unfaithful.

13 The sluggard says, “There’s a lion outside!

I’ll be killed in the public square!”

14 The mouth of an adulterous woman is a deep pit;

a man who is under the Lord’s wrath falls into it.

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

but the rod of discipline will drive it far away.

16 One who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth

and one who gives gifts to the rich—both come to poverty.

Thirty Sayings of the Wise

Saying 1

17 Pay attention and turn your ear to the sayings of the wise;

apply your heart to what I teach,

18 for it is pleasing when you keep them in your heart

and have all of them ready on your lips.

19 So that your trust may be in the Lord,

I teach you today, even you.

20 Have I not written thirty sayings for you,

sayings of counsel and knowledge,

21 teaching you to be honest and to speak the truth,

so that you bring back truthful reports

to those you serve?

Saying 2

22 Do not exploit the poor because they are poor

and do not crush the needy in court,

23 for the Lord will take up their case

and will exact life for life.

Saying 3

24 Do not make friends with a hot-tempered person,

do not associate with one easily angered,

25 or you may learn their ways

and get yourself ensnared.

Saying 4

26 Do not be one who shakes hands in pledge

or puts up security for debts;

27 if you lack the means to pay,

your very bed will be snatched from under you.

Saying 5

28 Do not move an ancient boundary stone

set up by your ancestors.

Saying 6

29 Do you see someone skilled in their work?

They will serve before kings;

they will not serve before officials of low rank.

Chapter 23

Saying 7

1 When you sit to dine with a ruler,

note well what is before you,

2 and put a knife to your throat

if you are given to gluttony.

3 Do not crave his delicacies,

for that food is deceptive.

Saying 8

4 Do not wear yourself out to get rich;

do not trust your own cleverness.

5 Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone,

for they will surely sprout wings

and fly off to the sky like an eagle.

Saying 9

6 Do not eat the food of a begrudging host,

do not crave his delicacies;

7 for he is the kind of person

who is always thinking about the cost.

“Eat and drink,” he says to you,

but his heart is not with you.

8 You will vomit up the little you have eaten

and will have wasted your compliments.

Saying 10

9 Do not speak to fools,

for they will scorn your prudent words.

Saying 11

10 Do not move an ancient boundary stone

or encroach on the fields of the fatherless,

11 for their Defender is strong;

he will take up their case against you.

Saying 12

12 Apply your heart to instruction

and your ears to words of knowledge.

Saying 13

13 Do not withhold discipline from a child;

if you punish them with the rod, they will not die.

14 Punish them with the rod

and save them from death.

Saying 14

15 My son, if your heart is wise,

then my heart will be glad indeed;

16 my inmost being will rejoice

when your lips speak what is right.

Saying 15

17 Do not let your heart envy sinners,

but always be zealous for the fear of the Lord.

18 There is surely a future hope for you,

and your hope will not be cut off.

Saying 16

19 Listen, my son, and be wise,

and set your heart on the right path:

20 Do not join those who drink too much wine

or gorge themselves on meat,

21 for drunkards and gluttons become poor,

and drowsiness clothes them in rags.

Saying 17

22 Listen to your father, who gave you life,

and do not despise your mother when she is old.

23 Buy the truth and do not sell it—

wisdom, instruction and insight as well.

24 The father of a righteous child has great joy;

a man who fathers a wise son rejoices in him.

25 May your father and mother rejoice;

may she who gave you birth be joyful!

Saying 18

26 My son, give me your heart

and let your eyes delight in my ways,

27 for an adulterous woman is a deep pit,

and a wayward wife is a narrow well.

28 Like a bandit she lies in wait

and multiplies the unfaithful among men.

Saying 19

29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow?

Who has strife? Who has complaints?

Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?

30 Those who linger over wine,

who go to sample bowls of mixed wine.

31 Do not gaze at wine when it is red,

when it sparkles in the cup,

when it goes down smoothly!

32 In the end it bites like a snake

and poisons like a viper.

33 Your eyes will see strange sights,

and your mind will imagine confusing things.

34 You will be like one sleeping on the high seas,

lying on top of the rigging.

35 “They hit me,” you will say, “but I’m not hurt!

They beat me, but I don’t feel it!

When will I wake up

so I can find another drink?”

Chapter 24

Saying 20

1 Do not envy the wicked,

do not desire their company;

2 for their hearts plot violence,

and their lips talk about making trouble.

Saying 21

3 By wisdom a house is built,

and through understanding it is established;

4 through knowledge its rooms are filled

with rare and beautiful treasures.

Saying 22

5 The wise prevail through great power,

and those who have knowledge muster their strength.

6 Surely you need guidance to wage war,

and victory is won through many advisers.

Saying 23

7 Wisdom is too high for fools;

in the assembly at the gate they must not open their mouths.

Saying 24

8 Whoever plots evil

will be known as a schemer.

9 The schemes of folly are sin,

and people detest a mocker.

Saying 25

10 If you falter in a time of trouble,

how small is your strength!

11 Rescue those being led away to death;

hold back those staggering toward slaughter.

12 If you say, “But we knew nothing about this,”

does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?

Does not he who guards your life know it?

Will he not repay everyone according to what they have done?

Saying 26

13 Eat honey, my son, for it is good;

honey from the comb is sweet to your taste.

14 Know also that wisdom is like honey for you:

If you find it, there is a future hope for you,

and your hope will not be cut off.

Saying 27

15 Do not lurk like a thief near the house of the righteous,

do not plunder their dwelling place;

16 for though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again,

but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes.

Saying 28

17 Do not gloat when your enemy falls;

when they stumble, do not let your heart rejoice,

18 or the Lord will see and disapprove

and turn his wrath away from them.

Saying 29

19 Do not fret because of evildoers

or be envious of the wicked,

20 for the evildoer has no future hope,

and the lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out.

Saying 30

21 Fear the Lord and the king, my son,

and do not join with rebellious officials,

22 for those two will send sudden destruction on them,

and who knows what calamities they can bring?

Further Sayings of the Wise

23 These also are sayings of the wise:

To show partiality in judging is not good:

24 Whoever says to the guilty, “You are innocent,”

will be cursed by peoples and denounced by nations.

25 But it will go well with those who convict the guilty,

and rich blessing will come on them.

26 An honest answer

is like a kiss on the lips.

27 Put your outdoor work in order

and get your fields ready;

after that, build your house.

28 Do not testify against your neighbor without cause—

would you use your lips to mislead?

29 Do not say, “I’ll do to them as they have done to me;

I’ll pay them back for what they did.”

30 I went past the field of a sluggard,

past the vineyard of someone who has no sense;

31 thorns had come up everywhere,

the ground was covered with weeds,

and the stone wall was in ruins.

32 I applied my heart to what I observed

and learned a lesson from what I saw:

33 A little sleep, a little slumber,

a little folding of the hands to rest—

34 and poverty will come on you like a thief

and scarcity like an armed man.

Chapter 14

The Weak and the Strong

1 Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. 2 One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. 3 The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. 4 Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.

5 One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. 6 Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7 For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. 8 If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. 9 For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.

10 You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. 11 It is written:

“ ‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,

‘every knee will bow before me;

every tongue will acknowledge God.’ ”

12 So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.

13 Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. 14 I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean. 15 If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died. 16 Therefore do not let what you know is good be spoken of as evil. 

17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, 18 because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval.

19 Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. 20 Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. 21 It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall.

22 So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves. 23 But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.