Chapter 19
1: Better the poor living an honest life than the adept at double-talk who is a fool.
2: Where knowledge is wanting, zeal is not good; whoever goes too quickly stumbles.
3: Folly leads conduct astray, yet it is against Yahweh that the heart rages.
4: Wealth multiplies friends, but the one friend the poor has is taken away.
5: The false witness will not go unpunished; no one who utters lies will go free.
6: The nobleman has many to court his favour, to a giver of gifts, everyone is friend.
7: The poor man's brothers hate him, every one; his friends -- how much the more do these desert him! He goes in search of words, but there are none to be had.
8: Whoever acquires sense wins profit from it, whoever treasures understanding finds happiness.
9: The false witness will not go unpunished, whoever utters lies will be destroyed.
10: It is not fitting for a fool to live in luxury, still less for a slave to govern princes.
11: Good sense makes for self-control, and for pride in overlooking an offence.
12: Like the roaring of a lion, the anger of a king, but like dew on the grass his favour.
13: A foolish child is a disaster for the father, the bickerings of a wife are like an ever-dripping gutter.
14: From fathers comes inheritance of house and wealth, from Yahweh a wife who is discreet.
15: Idleness lulls to sleep, the feckless soul will go hungry.
16: Keeping the commandment is self-preservation, but whoever despises these ways will die.
17: Whoever is kind to the poor is lending to Yahweh who will repay him the kindness done.
18: While there is hope for him, chastise your child, but do not get so angry as to kill him.
19: The violent lays himself open to a penalty; spare him, and you aggravate his crime.
20: Listen to advice, accept correction, to be the wiser in the time to come.
21: Many are the plans in the human heart, but the purpose of Yahweh -- that stands firm.
22: Faithful love is what people look for in a person; they prefer the poor to a liar.
23: The fear of Yahweh leads to life, it brings food and shelter, without fear of evil.
24: Into the dish the idler dips his hand, but bring it back to his mouth he cannot.
25: Strike a cynic, and simpletons will be more wary; reprove the intelligent and he will understand your meaning.
26: He who ill-treats his father and drives out his mother is a child both worthless and depraved.
27: Give up listening to instruction, my child, if you mean to stray from words of knowledge.
28: A perjured witness holds the law in scorn; the mouth of the wicked feasts on evil-doing.
29: Punishments were made for mockers, and beating for the backs of fools.
1: Wine is reckless, liquor rowdy; unwise is anyone whom it seduces.
2: Like the roaring of a lion is the fury of a king; whoever provokes him sins against himself.
3: It is praiseworthy to stop short of a law-suit; only a fool flies into a rage.
4: In autumn the idler does not plough, at harvest time he looks -- nothing there!
5: The resources of the human heart are like deep waters: an understanding person has only to draw on them.
6: Many describe themselves as people of faithful love, but who can find someone really to be trusted?
7: The upright whose ways are blameless -- blessed the children who come after!
8: A king enthroned on the judgement seat with one look scatters all that is evil.
9: Who can say, 'I have cleansed my heart, I am purified of my sin'?
10: One weight here, another there; here one measure, there another: both alike are abhorrent to Yahweh.
11: A young man's character appears in what he does, if his behaviour is pure and straight.
12: Ear that hears, eye that sees, Yahweh has made both of these.
13: Do not love sleep or you will know poverty; keep your eyes open and have your fill of food.
14: 'No good, no good!' says the buyer, but he goes off congratulating himself.
15: There are gold and jewels of every type, but a priceless ornament is speech informed by knowledge.
16: Take the man's clothes! He has gone surety for a stranger. Take a pledge from him to the profit of persons unknown!
17: Bread is sweet when it is got by fraud, but later the mouth is full of grit.
18: Plans are matured by consultation; take wise advice when waging war.
19: The bearer of gossip lets out secrets; do not mingle with chatterers.
20: Whoever curses father or mother will have his lamp put out in the deepest darkness.
21: Property quickly come by at first will not be blessed in the end.
22: Do not say, 'I shall repay evil'; put your hope in Yahweh and he will keep you safe.
23: One weight here, another there: this is abhorrent to Yahweh, false scales are not good.
24: Yahweh guides the steps of the powerful: but who can comprehend human ways?
25: Anyone is trapped who cries 'Dedicated!' and begins to reflect only after the vow.
26: A wise king winnows the wicked and makes the wheel pass over them.
27: The human spirit is the lamp of Yahweh -- searching the deepest self.
28: Faithful love and loyalty mount guard over the king, his throne is founded on saving justice.
29: The pride of the young is their strength, the ornament of the old, grey hairs.
30: Wounding strokes are good medicine for evil, blows have an effect on the inmost self.
2: Where knowledge is wanting, zeal is not good; whoever goes too quickly stumbles.
3: Folly leads conduct astray, yet it is against Yahweh that the heart rages.
4: Wealth multiplies friends, but the one friend the poor has is taken away.
5: The false witness will not go unpunished; no one who utters lies will go free.
6: The nobleman has many to court his favour, to a giver of gifts, everyone is friend.
7: The poor man's brothers hate him, every one; his friends -- how much the more do these desert him! He goes in search of words, but there are none to be had.
8: Whoever acquires sense wins profit from it, whoever treasures understanding finds happiness.
9: The false witness will not go unpunished, whoever utters lies will be destroyed.
10: It is not fitting for a fool to live in luxury, still less for a slave to govern princes.
11: Good sense makes for self-control, and for pride in overlooking an offence.
12: Like the roaring of a lion, the anger of a king, but like dew on the grass his favour.
13: A foolish child is a disaster for the father, the bickerings of a wife are like an ever-dripping gutter.
14: From fathers comes inheritance of house and wealth, from Yahweh a wife who is discreet.
15: Idleness lulls to sleep, the feckless soul will go hungry.
16: Keeping the commandment is self-preservation, but whoever despises these ways will die.
17: Whoever is kind to the poor is lending to Yahweh who will repay him the kindness done.
18: While there is hope for him, chastise your child, but do not get so angry as to kill him.
19: The violent lays himself open to a penalty; spare him, and you aggravate his crime.
20: Listen to advice, accept correction, to be the wiser in the time to come.
21: Many are the plans in the human heart, but the purpose of Yahweh -- that stands firm.
22: Faithful love is what people look for in a person; they prefer the poor to a liar.
23: The fear of Yahweh leads to life, it brings food and shelter, without fear of evil.
24: Into the dish the idler dips his hand, but bring it back to his mouth he cannot.
25: Strike a cynic, and simpletons will be more wary; reprove the intelligent and he will understand your meaning.
26: He who ill-treats his father and drives out his mother is a child both worthless and depraved.
27: Give up listening to instruction, my child, if you mean to stray from words of knowledge.
28: A perjured witness holds the law in scorn; the mouth of the wicked feasts on evil-doing.
29: Punishments were made for mockers, and beating for the backs of fools.
Chapter 20
2: Like the roaring of a lion is the fury of a king; whoever provokes him sins against himself.
3: It is praiseworthy to stop short of a law-suit; only a fool flies into a rage.
4: In autumn the idler does not plough, at harvest time he looks -- nothing there!
5: The resources of the human heart are like deep waters: an understanding person has only to draw on them.
6: Many describe themselves as people of faithful love, but who can find someone really to be trusted?
7: The upright whose ways are blameless -- blessed the children who come after!
8: A king enthroned on the judgement seat with one look scatters all that is evil.
9: Who can say, 'I have cleansed my heart, I am purified of my sin'?
10: One weight here, another there; here one measure, there another: both alike are abhorrent to Yahweh.
11: A young man's character appears in what he does, if his behaviour is pure and straight.
12: Ear that hears, eye that sees, Yahweh has made both of these.
13: Do not love sleep or you will know poverty; keep your eyes open and have your fill of food.
14: 'No good, no good!' says the buyer, but he goes off congratulating himself.
15: There are gold and jewels of every type, but a priceless ornament is speech informed by knowledge.
16: Take the man's clothes! He has gone surety for a stranger. Take a pledge from him to the profit of persons unknown!
17: Bread is sweet when it is got by fraud, but later the mouth is full of grit.
18: Plans are matured by consultation; take wise advice when waging war.
19: The bearer of gossip lets out secrets; do not mingle with chatterers.
20: Whoever curses father or mother will have his lamp put out in the deepest darkness.
21: Property quickly come by at first will not be blessed in the end.
22: Do not say, 'I shall repay evil'; put your hope in Yahweh and he will keep you safe.
23: One weight here, another there: this is abhorrent to Yahweh, false scales are not good.
24: Yahweh guides the steps of the powerful: but who can comprehend human ways?
25: Anyone is trapped who cries 'Dedicated!' and begins to reflect only after the vow.
26: A wise king winnows the wicked and makes the wheel pass over them.
27: The human spirit is the lamp of Yahweh -- searching the deepest self.
28: Faithful love and loyalty mount guard over the king, his throne is founded on saving justice.
29: The pride of the young is their strength, the ornament of the old, grey hairs.
30: Wounding strokes are good medicine for evil, blows have an effect on the inmost self.
Chapter 21
1: Like flowing water is a king's heart in Yahweh's hand; he directs it wherever he pleases.
2: All actions are straight in the doer's own eyes, but it is Yahweh who weighs hearts.
3: To do what is upright and just is more pleasing to Yahweh than sacrifice.
4: Haughty eye, proud heart, lamp of the wicked, nothing but sin.
5: The hardworking is thoughtful, and all is gain; too much haste, and all that comes of it is want.
6: To make a fortune with the help of a lying tongue: such is the idle fantasy of those who look for death.
7: The violence of the wicked proves their ruin, for they refuse to do what is right.
8: The way of the felon is devious, the conduct of the innocent straight.
9: Better the corner of a roof to live on than a house shared with a quarrelsome woman.
10: The soul of the wicked is intent on evil, to such a person no neighbour can ever do right.
11: When a cynic is punished, simpletons grow wiser, but someone of understanding acquires knowledge by instruction.
12: The Upright One watches the house of the wicked; he hurls the wicked to destruction.
13: Whoever refuses to listen to the cry of the weak, will in turn plead and not be heard.
14: Anger is mollified by a covert gift, raging fury by a present under cover of the cloak.
15: Doing what is right fills the upright with joy, but evil-doers with terror.
16: Whoever strays far from the way of prudence will rest in the assembly of shadows.
17: Pleasure-lovers stay poor, no one will grow rich who loves wine and good living.
18: The wicked is a ransom for the upright; and the law-breaker for the honest.
19: Better to live in a desert land than with a quarrelsome and irritable woman.
20: The wise has valuables and oil at home, but a fool soon runs through both.
21: Whoever pursues uprightness and faithful love will find life, uprightness and honour.
22: A sage can scale a garrisoned city and shatter the rampart on which it relied.
23: Watch kept over mouth and tongue keeps the watcher safe from disaster.
24: Insolent, haughty -- the name is 'Cynic'; overweening pride marks such behaviour.
25: The idler's desires are the death of him, since his hands will do no work.
26: All day long the godless is racked by desire, the upright gives without ever refusing.
27: The sacrifice of the wicked is abhorrent, above all if it is offered for bad motives.
28: The false witness will perish, but no one who knows how to listen will ever be silenced.
29: The wicked man's strength shows on his face, but the honest it is whose steps are firm.
30: No wisdom, no understanding, no advice is worth anything before Yahweh.
31: Fit out the cavalry for the day of battle, but the victory is Yahweh's.
2: All actions are straight in the doer's own eyes, but it is Yahweh who weighs hearts.
3: To do what is upright and just is more pleasing to Yahweh than sacrifice.
4: Haughty eye, proud heart, lamp of the wicked, nothing but sin.
5: The hardworking is thoughtful, and all is gain; too much haste, and all that comes of it is want.
6: To make a fortune with the help of a lying tongue: such is the idle fantasy of those who look for death.
7: The violence of the wicked proves their ruin, for they refuse to do what is right.
8: The way of the felon is devious, the conduct of the innocent straight.
9: Better the corner of a roof to live on than a house shared with a quarrelsome woman.
10: The soul of the wicked is intent on evil, to such a person no neighbour can ever do right.
11: When a cynic is punished, simpletons grow wiser, but someone of understanding acquires knowledge by instruction.
12: The Upright One watches the house of the wicked; he hurls the wicked to destruction.
13: Whoever refuses to listen to the cry of the weak, will in turn plead and not be heard.
14: Anger is mollified by a covert gift, raging fury by a present under cover of the cloak.
15: Doing what is right fills the upright with joy, but evil-doers with terror.
16: Whoever strays far from the way of prudence will rest in the assembly of shadows.
17: Pleasure-lovers stay poor, no one will grow rich who loves wine and good living.
18: The wicked is a ransom for the upright; and the law-breaker for the honest.
19: Better to live in a desert land than with a quarrelsome and irritable woman.
20: The wise has valuables and oil at home, but a fool soon runs through both.
21: Whoever pursues uprightness and faithful love will find life, uprightness and honour.
22: A sage can scale a garrisoned city and shatter the rampart on which it relied.
23: Watch kept over mouth and tongue keeps the watcher safe from disaster.
24: Insolent, haughty -- the name is 'Cynic'; overweening pride marks such behaviour.
25: The idler's desires are the death of him, since his hands will do no work.
26: All day long the godless is racked by desire, the upright gives without ever refusing.
27: The sacrifice of the wicked is abhorrent, above all if it is offered for bad motives.
28: The false witness will perish, but no one who knows how to listen will ever be silenced.
29: The wicked man's strength shows on his face, but the honest it is whose steps are firm.
30: No wisdom, no understanding, no advice is worth anything before Yahweh.
31: Fit out the cavalry for the day of battle, but the victory is Yahweh's.
Chapter 22
1: Fame is preferable to great wealth, favour, to silver and gold.
2: Rich and poor rub shoulders, Yahweh has made them both.
3: The discreet sees danger and takes shelter, simpletons go ahead and pay the penalty.
4: The reward of humility is the fear of Yahweh, and riches, honour and life.
5: Thorns and snares line the path of the wilful, whoever values life will stay at a distance.
6: Give a lad a training suitable to his character and, even when old, he will not go back on it.
7: The rich lords it over the poor, the borrower is the lender's slave.
8: Whoever sows injustice reaps disaster, and the rod of such anger will disappear.
9: A kindly eye will earn a blessing, such a person shares out food with the poor.
10: Expel the mocker and strife goes too, law-suits and dislike die down.
11: Whoever loves the pure of heart and is gracious of speech has the king for a friend.
12: Yahweh's eyes protect knowledge, but he confounds deceitful speeches.
13: 'There is a lion outside,' says the idler, 'I shall be killed in the street!'
14: The mouth of an adulterous woman is a deep pit, into it falls the man whom Yahweh rebukes.
15: Folly is anchored in the heart of a youth, the whip of instruction will rid him of it.
16: Harsh treatment enriches the poor, but a gift impoverishes the rich.
17: Give ear, listen to the sayings of the sages, and apply your heart to what I know,
18: for it will be a delight to keep them deep within you to have them all ready on your lips.
19: So that your trust may be in Yahweh, it is you whom I wish to instruct today.
20: Have I not written for you thirty chapters of advice and knowledge,
21: to make you know the certainty of true sayings, so that you can return with sound answers to those who sent you?
22: Do not despoil the weak, for he is weak, and do not oppress the poor at the gate,
23: for Yahweh takes up their cause, and extorts the life of their extortioners.
24: Do not make friends with one who gives way to anger, make no one quick-tempered a companion of yours,
25: for fear you learn such behaviour and in it find a snare for yourself.
26: Do not be one of those who go guarantor, who go surety for debts:
27: if you have no means of paying your bed will be taken from under you.
28: Do not displace the ancient boundary-stone set by your ancestors.
29: You see someone alert at his business? His aim will be to serve kings; not for him the service of the obscure.
1: If you take your seat at a great man's table, take careful note of what you have before you;
2: if you have a big appetite put a knife to your throat.
3: Do not hanker for his delicacies, for they are deceptive food.
4: Do not wear yourself out in quest of wealth, stop applying your mind to this.
5: Fix your gaze on it, and it is there no longer, for it is able to sprout wings like an eagle that flies off to the sky.
6: Do not eat the food of anyone whose eye is jealous, do not hanker for his delicacies.
7: For what he is really thinking about is himself: 'Eat and drink,' he tells you, but his heart is not with you.
8: You will spit out whatever you have eaten and find your compliments wasted.
9: Do not waste words on a fool, who will not appreciate the shrewdness of your remarks.
10: Do not displace the ancient boundary-stone, or encroach on orphans' lands,
11: for they have a powerful avenger, and he will take up their cause against you.
12: Apply your heart to discipline, and your ears to instructive sayings.
13: Do not be chary of correcting a child, a stroke of the cane is not likely to be fatal.
14: Give him a stroke of the cane, you will save his soul from Sheol.
15: My child, if your heart is wise, then my own heart is glad,
16: and my inmost self rejoices when from your lips come honest words.
17: Do not let your heart be envious of sinners but remain steady every day in the fear of Yahweh;
18: for there is a future, and your hope will not come to nothing.
19: Listen, my child, and be wise, and guide your heart in the way.
20: Do not be one of those forever tippling wine nor one of those who gorge themselves with meat;
21: for the drunkard and glutton impoverish themselves, and sleepiness is clothed in rags.
22: Listen to your father from whom you are sprung, do not despise your mother in her old age.
23: Purchase truth -- never sell it-wisdom, discipline, and discernment.
24: The father of the upright will rejoice indeed, he who fathers a wise child will have joy of it.
25: Your father and mother will be happy, and she who bore you joyful.
26: My child, pay attention to me, let your eyes take pleasure in my way:
27: a prostitute is a deep pit, a narrow well, the woman who belongs to another.
28: Yes, like a brigand, she lies in wait, increasing the number of law-breakers.
29: For whom is pity, for whom contempt, for whom is strife, for whom complaint, for whom blows struck at random, for whom the clouded eye?
30: For those who linger over wine too long, ever on the look-out for the blended liquors.
31: Do not gaze at wine, how red it is, how it sparkles in the cup! How smoothly it slips down the throat!
32: In the end its bite is like a serpent's, its sting as sharp as an adder's.
33: Your eyes will see peculiar things, you will talk nonsense from your heart.
34: You will be like someone sleeping in mid-ocean, like one asleep at the mast-head.
35: 'Struck me, have they? But I'm not hurt. Beaten me? I don't feel anything. When shall I wake up? . . I'll ask for more of it!'
2: Rich and poor rub shoulders, Yahweh has made them both.
3: The discreet sees danger and takes shelter, simpletons go ahead and pay the penalty.
4: The reward of humility is the fear of Yahweh, and riches, honour and life.
5: Thorns and snares line the path of the wilful, whoever values life will stay at a distance.
6: Give a lad a training suitable to his character and, even when old, he will not go back on it.
7: The rich lords it over the poor, the borrower is the lender's slave.
8: Whoever sows injustice reaps disaster, and the rod of such anger will disappear.
9: A kindly eye will earn a blessing, such a person shares out food with the poor.
10: Expel the mocker and strife goes too, law-suits and dislike die down.
11: Whoever loves the pure of heart and is gracious of speech has the king for a friend.
12: Yahweh's eyes protect knowledge, but he confounds deceitful speeches.
13: 'There is a lion outside,' says the idler, 'I shall be killed in the street!'
14: The mouth of an adulterous woman is a deep pit, into it falls the man whom Yahweh rebukes.
15: Folly is anchored in the heart of a youth, the whip of instruction will rid him of it.
16: Harsh treatment enriches the poor, but a gift impoverishes the rich.
17: Give ear, listen to the sayings of the sages, and apply your heart to what I know,
18: for it will be a delight to keep them deep within you to have them all ready on your lips.
19: So that your trust may be in Yahweh, it is you whom I wish to instruct today.
20: Have I not written for you thirty chapters of advice and knowledge,
21: to make you know the certainty of true sayings, so that you can return with sound answers to those who sent you?
22: Do not despoil the weak, for he is weak, and do not oppress the poor at the gate,
23: for Yahweh takes up their cause, and extorts the life of their extortioners.
24: Do not make friends with one who gives way to anger, make no one quick-tempered a companion of yours,
25: for fear you learn such behaviour and in it find a snare for yourself.
26: Do not be one of those who go guarantor, who go surety for debts:
27: if you have no means of paying your bed will be taken from under you.
28: Do not displace the ancient boundary-stone set by your ancestors.
29: You see someone alert at his business? His aim will be to serve kings; not for him the service of the obscure.
Chapter 23
2: if you have a big appetite put a knife to your throat.
3: Do not hanker for his delicacies, for they are deceptive food.
4: Do not wear yourself out in quest of wealth, stop applying your mind to this.
5: Fix your gaze on it, and it is there no longer, for it is able to sprout wings like an eagle that flies off to the sky.
6: Do not eat the food of anyone whose eye is jealous, do not hanker for his delicacies.
7: For what he is really thinking about is himself: 'Eat and drink,' he tells you, but his heart is not with you.
8: You will spit out whatever you have eaten and find your compliments wasted.
9: Do not waste words on a fool, who will not appreciate the shrewdness of your remarks.
10: Do not displace the ancient boundary-stone, or encroach on orphans' lands,
11: for they have a powerful avenger, and he will take up their cause against you.
12: Apply your heart to discipline, and your ears to instructive sayings.
13: Do not be chary of correcting a child, a stroke of the cane is not likely to be fatal.
14: Give him a stroke of the cane, you will save his soul from Sheol.
15: My child, if your heart is wise, then my own heart is glad,
16: and my inmost self rejoices when from your lips come honest words.
17: Do not let your heart be envious of sinners but remain steady every day in the fear of Yahweh;
18: for there is a future, and your hope will not come to nothing.
19: Listen, my child, and be wise, and guide your heart in the way.
20: Do not be one of those forever tippling wine nor one of those who gorge themselves with meat;
21: for the drunkard and glutton impoverish themselves, and sleepiness is clothed in rags.
22: Listen to your father from whom you are sprung, do not despise your mother in her old age.
23: Purchase truth -- never sell it-wisdom, discipline, and discernment.
24: The father of the upright will rejoice indeed, he who fathers a wise child will have joy of it.
25: Your father and mother will be happy, and she who bore you joyful.
26: My child, pay attention to me, let your eyes take pleasure in my way:
27: a prostitute is a deep pit, a narrow well, the woman who belongs to another.
28: Yes, like a brigand, she lies in wait, increasing the number of law-breakers.
29: For whom is pity, for whom contempt, for whom is strife, for whom complaint, for whom blows struck at random, for whom the clouded eye?
30: For those who linger over wine too long, ever on the look-out for the blended liquors.
31: Do not gaze at wine, how red it is, how it sparkles in the cup! How smoothly it slips down the throat!
32: In the end its bite is like a serpent's, its sting as sharp as an adder's.
33: Your eyes will see peculiar things, you will talk nonsense from your heart.
34: You will be like someone sleeping in mid-ocean, like one asleep at the mast-head.
35: 'Struck me, have they? But I'm not hurt. Beaten me? I don't feel anything. When shall I wake up? . . I'll ask for more of it!'
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