• 1 Wine is a mocker, Strong drink is a brawler, And whoever is led astray by it is not wise.
  • 2 The wrath of a king is like the roaring of a lion; Whoever provokes him to anger sins against his own life.
  • 3 It is honorable for a man to stop striving, Since any fool can start a quarrel.
  • 4 The lazy man will not plow because of winter; He will beg during harvest and have nothing.
  • 5 Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water, But a man of understanding will draw it out.
  • 6 Most men will proclaim each his own goodness, But who can find a faithful man?
  • 7 The righteous man walks in his integrity; His children are blessed after him.
  • 8 A king who sits on the throne of judgment Scatters all evil with his eyes.
  • 9 Who can say, “I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin”?
  • 10 Diverse weights and diverse measures, They are both alike, an abomination to the Lord.
  • 11 Even a child is known by his deeds, Whether what he does is pure and right.
  • 12 The hearing ear and the seeing eye, The Lord has made them both.
  • 13 Do not love sleep, lest you come to poverty; Open your eyes, and you will be satisfied with bread.
  • 14 “It is good for nothing,” cries the buyer; But when he has gone his way, then he boasts.
  • 15 There is gold and a multitude of rubies, But the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.
  • 16 Take the garment of one who is surety for a stranger, And hold it as a pledge when it is for a seductress.
  • 17 Bread gained by deceit is sweet to a man, But afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel.
  • 18 Plans are established by counsel; By wise counsel wage war.
  • 19 He who goes about as a talebearer reveals secrets; Therefore do not associate with one who flatters with his lips.
  • 20 Whoever curses his father or his mother, His lamp will be put out in deep darkness.
  • 21 An inheritance gained hastily at the beginning Will not be blessed at the end.
  • 22 Do not say, “I will recompense evil”; Wait for the Lord, and He will save you.
  • 23 Diverse weights are an abomination to the Lord, And dishonest scales are not good.
  • 24 A man’s steps are of the Lord; How then can a man understand his own way?
  • 25 It is a snare for a man to devote rashly something as holy, And afterward to reconsider his vows.
  • 26 A wise king sifts out the wicked, And brings the threshing wheel over them.
  • 27 The spirit of a man is the lamp of the Lord, Searching all the inner depths of his heart.
  • 28 Mercy and truth preserve the king, And by lovingkindness he upholds his throne.
  • 29 The glory of young men is their strength, And the splendor of old men is their gray head.
  • 30 Blows that hurt cleanse away evil, As do stripes the inner depths of the heart.