Proverbs 21

¹Streams of water are the heart of a king in the hand of Yahweh;[#Or “mind”]

²Every way of a man is upright in his own eyes,

³Doing righteousness and justice is more acceptable

⁴Haughtiness of the eyes and pride of heart,

⁵The plans of the diligent only lead to abundance,

⁶He who makes treasure by a lying tongue

⁷The violence of the wicked will sweep them away,

⁸Crooked is the way of a man and a foreigner,

⁹Better to dwell on the corner of a roof

¹⁰The soul of the wicked desires evil;[#Or “soul, life, throat”]

¹¹With the punishment of a scoffer, the simple will become wise,

¹²The righteous observes the house of the wicked;

¹³He who closes his ear from the cry of the poor,

¹⁴A gift in secret will avert anger,[#Hebrew “the secret”; #Literally “nostril”]

¹⁵It is a joy to the righteous to do justice,

¹⁶Whoever wanders from the way of understanding,

¹⁷A man of want is he who loves pleasure;

¹⁸A ransom for the righteous is the wicked,

¹⁹Better to live in a land of wilderness

²⁰Precious treasure and oil are in the house of the wise,

²¹He who pursues righteousness and kindness

²²To a city of warriors, the wise ascends,

²³He who guards his mouth and his tongue,

²⁴The proud, haughty one: “scoffer” is his name;

²⁵The craving of a lazy person will kill him,

²⁶All day he craves a craving,[#Literally “All the day”]

²⁷The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination;

²⁸A false witness will perish,

²⁹A wicked man is strong in his countenance,[#Literally “his face”]

³⁰There is no wisdom, nor understanding,

³¹A horse is prepared for the day of battle,