¹Wise judges will instruct their people,

and an intelligent person’s rule

will be orderly.

²As the people’s judges are,

so will their officials be,

and as the ruler of a city is,

so also are all of its inhabitants.

³An uneducated king will ruin his people,

and a city is founded

on the intelligence of its rulers.

⁴Authority over the earth

belongs to the Lord,

and he will identify the person

who is right for the time.

⁵A people’s success belongs to the Lord,

and he will give glory

to the legal expert.

On pride

⁶Don’t become angry with your neighbor over every wrong,

and don’t do anything that offers

a flagrant insult.

⁷Arrogance is hateful to God and people,

and injustice is wrong to both.

⁸Sovereignty passes from

nation to nation

because of injustice, pride, and money.

⁹How can dust and ashes be arrogant?

Even when they are alive,

human bodies are decaying.

¹⁰A long illness mocks a doctor;

¹¹When people are dead,

¹²Human arrogance begins when people rebel against the Lord,

and their hearts rebel

against the one who made them.

¹³The beginning of arrogance is sin,

For this reason

the Lord brings calamities upon them,

¹⁴The Lord destroyed the thrones of rulers,

and he raised up the gentle

in their place.

¹⁵The Lord plucked up the roots of nations,

and he planted the humble

in their place.

¹⁶The Lord ruined the lands of the nations,

and he leveled them

to their very foundations.

¹⁷He removed some people

and destroyed them,

and he erased their memory

from the earth.

¹⁸Humans were not created to be arrogant,

nor were those born of women

made to indulge in anger.

Honor and humility

¹⁹What offspring are honorable?

Human offspring.

What offspring are honorable?

Those who fear the Lord.

What offspring are dishonorable?

Human offspring.

What offspring are dishonorable?

Those who violate

the commandments.

²⁰Among brothers and sisters,

their leader is honored,

and those who fear the Lord

are honored in his sight.

²²The rich, the heroes, and the poor—

their pride is the fear of the Lord.

²³It’s not right to dishonor

someone who is intelligent but poor,

and it’s not proper to give glory

to a sinful person.

²⁴The official, the judge, and the ruler

will be glorified,

but none of them are greater

than the one who fears the Lord.

²⁵Free people will serve the wise person

who has been enslaved,

and a knowledgeable person

won’t complain.

²⁶Don’t show off your wisdom

when you do your work,

and don’t magnify yourself

when you have difficulties.

²⁷Those who work and have what they need

in abundance are better

than those who walk around

glorifying themselves but lack bread.

²⁸My child, hold yourself in honor

with gentleness,

and give yourself honor as you deserve it.

²⁹Who will justify those

who sin against themselves?

And who will honor those

who bring dishonor to their own lives?

³⁰Poor people will be honored

because of their knowledge,

and rich people will be honored

because of their wealth.

³¹Whoever is honored in poverty,

how much more will he or she

be honored in wealth?

And whoever is disreputable in wealth,

how much more will he or she

be disreputable in poverty?