Proverbs 8

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Practical Warnings

My son, if you have put up esecurity for your neighbor,

have egiven your pledge for a stranger,

if you are fsnared in the words of your mouth,

caught in the words of your mouth,

then do this, my son, and save yourself,

for you have come into the hand of your neighbor:

go, hasten,1 and gplead urgently with your neighbor.

hGive your eyes no sleep

and your eyelids no slumber;

save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,2

ilike a bird from the hand of the fowler.

jGo to kthe ant, O lsluggard;

consider her ways, and mbe wise.

nWithout having any chief,

oofficer, or ruler,

she prepares her bread pin summer

and qgathers her food in harvest.

rHow long will you lie there, lO sluggard?

When will you arise from your sleep?

10  sA little sleep, a little slumber,

ta little sfolding of the hands to rest,

11  uand poverty will come upon you like a robber,

and want like an armed man.

12  vA worthless person, a wicked man,

goes about with wcrooked speech,

13  xwinks with his eyes, signals3 with his feet,

points with his finger,

14  with yperverted heart zdevises evil,

continually asowing discord;

15  therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly;

bin a moment he will be broken cbeyond healing.

16  There are dsix things that the Lord hates,

dseven that are an abomination to him:

17  ehaughty eyes, fa lying tongue,

and ghands that shed innocent blood,

18  ha heart that devises wicked plans,

ifeet that make haste to run to evil,

19  ja false witness who kbreathes out lies,

and one who asows discord among brothers.

Warnings Against Adultery

20  lMy son, keep your father’s commandment,

land forsake not your mother’s teaching.

21  mBind them on your heart always;

ntie them around your neck.

22  oWhen you walk, they4 will lead you;

owhen you lie down, they will pwatch over you;

and when you awake, they will talk with you.

23  For the commandment is qa lamp and the teaching a light,

and the rreproofs of discipline are the way of life,

24  to preserve you from the evil woman,5

from the smooth tongue of sthe adulteress.6

25  tDo not desire her beauty in your heart,

and do not let her capture you with her ueyelashes;

26  for vthe price of a prostitute is only wa loaf of bread,7

but a married woman8 xhunts down a precious life.

27  Can a man carry yfire next to his zchest

and his clothes not be burned?

28  Or can one awalk on hot coals

and his feet not be scorched?

29  So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife;

none who touches her bwill go unpunished.

30  People do not despise a thief if he steals

to csatisfy his appetite when he is hungry,

31  but dif he is caught, he will pay esevenfold;

he will give all the goods of his house.

32  He who commits adultery lacks sense;

he who does it destroys himself.

33  He will get wounds and dishonor,

and his disgrace will not be wiped away.

34  For fjealousy makes a man furious,

and he will not spare when ghe takes revenge.

35  He will accept no compensation;

he will refuse though you multiply gifts.

Warning Against the Adulteress

hMy son, keep my words

and htreasure up my commandments with you;

ikeep my commandments and live;

keep my teaching as jthe apple of your eye;

kbind them on your fingers;

kwrite them on the tablet of your heart.

Say to wisdom, You are my sister,

and call insight your intimate friend,

to keep you from lthe forbidden1 woman,

from lthe adulteress2 with her smooth words.

For at mthe window of my house

I have looked out through my lattice,

and I have seen among nthe simple,

I have perceived among the youths,

a young man olacking sense,

passing along the street pnear her corner,

taking the road to her house

in qthe twilight, in the evening,

at rthe time of night and darkness.

10  And behold, the woman meets him,

sdressed as a prostitute, wily of heart.3

11  She is tloud and uwayward;

vher feet do not stay at home;

12  now in the street, now in the market,

and wat every corner she xlies in wait.

13  She seizes him and kisses him,

and with ybold face she says to him,

14  I had to zoffer sacrifices,4

and today I have apaid my vows;

15  so now I have come out to meet you,

to seek you eagerly, and I have found you.

16  I have spread my couch with bcoverings,

colored linens from cEgyptian linen;

17  I have perfumed my bed with dmyrrh,

aloes, and ecinnamon.

18  Come, let us take our fill of love till morning;

let us delight ourselves with love.

19  For fmy husband is not at home;

he has gone on a long journey;

20  he took a bag of money with him;

at full moon he will come home.

21  With much seductive speech she persuades him;

with gher smooth talk she compels him.

22  All at once he follows her,

as an ox goes to the slaughter,

or as a stag is caught fast5

23  till an arrow pierces its liver;

as ha bird rushes into a snare;

he does not know that it will cost him his life.

24  And inow, O sons, listen to me,

and be attentive to the words of my mouth.

25  Let not your heart turn aside to her ways;

do not stray into her paths,

26  for many a victim has she laid low,

and all her slain are ja mighty throng.

27  Her house is kthe way to Sheol,

going down to the chambers of death.

The Blessings of Wisdom

Does not lwisdom call?

Does not munderstanding raise her voice?

On nthe heights beside the way,

at the crossroads she takes her stand;

beside othe gates in front of pthe town,

at the entrance of the portals she cries aloud:

To you, O qmen, I call,

and my cry is to qthe children of man.

O rsimple ones, learn sprudence;

O tfools, learn sense.

Hear, for I will speak unoble things,

and from my lips will come vwhat is right,

for my wmouth will utter truth;

wickedness is an abomination to my lips.

All the words of my mouth are righteous;

there is nothing xtwisted or crooked in them.

They are all ystraight to him who understands,

and right to those who find knowledge.

10  zTake my instruction instead of silver,

and knowledge rather than choice gold,

11  afor wisdom is better than jewels,

and ball that you may desire cannot compare with her.

12  I, wisdom, dwell with prudence,

and I find knowledge and cdiscretion.

13  dThe fear of the Lord is ehatred of evil.

fPride and arrogance and the way of evil

and gperverted speech I hate.

14  I have hcounsel and isound wisdom;

I have insight; jI have strength.

15  By me kkings reign,

and rulers decree what is just;

16  by me princes rule,

and nobles, all who govern justly.1

17  lI love those who love me,

and mthose who seek me diligently find me.

18  nRiches and honor are with me,

oenduring wealth and orighteousness.

19  My fruit is pbetter than qgold, even fine gold,

and my yield than rchoice silver.

20  I walk in the way of righteousness,

in the paths of justice,

21  granting an inheritance to those who love me,

and filling their treasuries.

22  sThe Lord tpossessed2 me at the beginning of his work,3

the first of his acts uof old.

23  Ages ago I was vset up,

at the first, wbefore the beginning of the earth.

24  When there were no xdepths I was ybrought forth,

when there were no springs abounding with water.

25  Before the mountains zhad been shaped,

abefore the hills, I was brought forth,

26  before he had made the earth with its fields,

or the first of the dust of the world.

27  When he bestablished the heavens, I was there;

when he drew ca circle on the face of the deep,

28  when he dmade firm the skies above,

when he established4 the fountains of the deep,

29  when he eassigned to the sea its flimit,

so that the waters might not transgress his command,

when he marked out gthe foundations of the earth,

30  then hI was beside him, like a master workman,

and I was daily his5 idelight,

rejoicing before him always,

31  jrejoicing in his kinhabited world

and delighting in the children of man.

32  And now, lO sons, listen to me:

mblessed are those who keep my ways.

33  nHear instruction and be wise,

and do not neglect it.

34  oBlessed is the one who listens to me,

watching daily at my gates,

waiting beside my doors.

35  For pwhoever finds me qfinds life

and robtains favor from the Lord,

36  but he who fails to find me sinjures himself;

all who thate me ulove death.

The Way of Wisdom

vWisdom has built her house;

she has hewn her wseven xpillars.

She has yslaughtered her beasts; she has zmixed her wine;

she has also aset her table.

She has bsent out her young women to ccall

from dthe highest places in the town,

eWhoever is simple, let him turn in here!

fTo him who lacks sense she says,

Come, geat of my bread

and hdrink of zthe wine I have mixed.

Leave iyour simple ways,1 and jlive,

kand walk in the way of insight.

Whoever corrects a scoffer gets himself abuse,

and he who reproves a wicked man incurs injury.

lDo not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you;

mreprove a wise man, and he will love you.

Give instruction2 to a wise man, and he will be nstill wiser;

teach a righteous man, and he will oincrease in learning.

10  pThe fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,

and qthe knowledge of the Holy One is insight.

11  For by me ryour days will be multiplied,

and years will be added to your life.

12  sIf you are wise, you are wise for yourself;

if you scoff, you alone will bear it.

The Way of Folly

13  tThe woman Folly is uloud;

she is seductive3 and vknows nothing.

14  She sits at the door of her house;

she takes a seat on wthe highest places of the town,

15  calling to those who pass by,

who are xgoing straight on their way,

16  yWhoever is simple, let him turn in here!

And to him who lacks sense she says,

17  zStolen water is sweet,

and abread eaten in secret is pleasant.

18  But he does not know bthat the dead4 are there,

that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.

The Proverbs of Solomon

10 cThe proverbs of Solomon.

dA wise son makes a glad father,

ebut a foolish son is a sorrow to his mother.

fTreasures gained by wickedness do not profit,

gbut righteousness delivers from death.

hThe Lord does not let the righteous go hungry,

ibut he thwarts the craving of the wicked.

A slack hand jcauses poverty,

kbut the hand of the diligent makes rich.

He who lgathers in summer is a prudent son,

but he who sleeps in harvest is ma son who brings shame.

Blessings are on the head of the righteous,

but nthe mouth of the wicked conceals violence.1

oThe memory of the righteous is a blessing,

but pthe name of the wicked will rot.

qThe wise of heart will receive commandments,

but a babbling fool will come to ruin.

rWhoever walks in integrity walks securely,

but he who makes his ways crooked swill be found out.

10  Whoever twinks the eye causes trouble,

and a babbling fool will come to ruin.

11  uThe mouth of the righteous is va fountain of life,

but the mouth of the wicked nconceals violence.

12  Hatred stirs up strife,

but wlove covers all offenses.

13  On the lips of him who has understanding, wisdom is found,

but xa rod is for the back of him who ylacks sense.

14  The wise zlay up knowledge,

but athe mouth of a fool brings ruin near.

15  bA rich man’s wealth is his strong city;

the poverty of the poor is their ruin.

16  The wage of the righteous leads cto life,

the gain of the wicked to sin.

17  Whoever heeds instruction is on dthe path to life,

but he who rejects reproof leads others astray.

18  The one who conceals hatred has lying lips,

and whoever utters slander is a fool.

19  eWhen words are many, transgression is not lacking,

fbut whoever restrains his lips is prudent.

20  The tongue of the righteous is gchoice silver;

the heart of the wicked is of little worth.

21  The lips of the righteous feed many,

but fools die for hlack of sense.

22  iThe blessing of the Lord makes rich,

and he adds no sorrow with it.2

23  Doing wrong is jlike a joke to a fool,

but kwisdom is pleasure to a man of understanding.

24  lWhat the wicked dreads mwill come upon him,

but nthe desire of the righteous will be granted.

25  When othe tempest passes, the wicked is no more,

but pthe righteous is established forever.

26  Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes,

so is the sluggard to those who send him.

27  qThe fear of the Lord prolongs life,

rbut the years of the wicked will be short.

28  sThe hope of the righteous brings joy,

tbut the expectation of the wicked will perish.

29  uThe way of the Lord is a stronghold to the blameless,

but destruction to evildoers.

30  vThe righteous will never be removed,

but wthe wicked will not dwell in the land.

31  xThe mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom,

but the perverse tongue will be cut off.

32  The lips of the righteous yknow what is acceptable,

but the mouth of the wicked, zwhat is perverse.