¹A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches,

and favor rather than silver and gold.

²The rich and the poor have this in common:

the Lord is the Maker of them all.

³A prudent man foresees the evil and hides himself,[#Pr 14:16]

but the simple pass on and are punished.

⁴By humility and the fear of the Lord

are riches and honor and life.

⁵Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse;[#Pr 15:19]

he who guards his soul will be far from them.

⁶Train up a child in the way he should go,[#Eph 6:4; 2Ti 3:15]

and when he is old he will not depart from it.

⁷The rich rules over the poor,[#Pr 18:23; Jas 2:6]

and the borrower is the slave of the lender.

⁸He who sows injustice will reap iniquity,[#Job 4:8]

and the rod of his wrath will disappear.

⁹He who has a generous eye will be blessed,

for he gives of his bread to the poor.

¹⁰Cast out the scoffer, and contention will leave;[#Ge 21:9–10]

indeed, strife and shame will cease.

¹¹He who loves a pure heart and speaks gracefully,[#Mt 5:8; #Pr 16:13]

the king will be his friend.

¹²The eyes of the Lord preserve knowledge,

and He overthrows the words of the unfaithful.

¹³The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside!

I will be killed in the streets!”

¹⁴The mouth of an immoral woman is a deep pit;[#Pr 23:27]

he who is under the wrath of the Lord will fall into it.

¹⁵Folly is bound up in the heart of a child,

but the rod of correction will drive it far from him.

¹⁶He who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth,

and he who gives to the rich, will surely come to poverty.

Thirty Sayings of the Wise

¹⁷Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise,

and apply your heart to my teaching,

¹⁸for it is a pleasant thing if you keep them within you,[#Pr 2:10]

and if all of them are ready on your lips.

¹⁹So that your trust may be in the Lord ,[#Pr 3:5]

I have instructed you today, even you.

²⁰Have I not written for you thirty sayings[#Pr 8:6]

of counsel and knowledge,

²¹to make you know the certainty of the sayings of truth,[#Lk 1:3–4]

that you might answer sayings of truth to those who sent you?

²²Exploit not the poor, because he is poor,[#Ex 23:6; Zec 7:10]

and oppress not the afflicted at the gate,

²³for the Lord will plead their cause,

and plunder the soul of those who plunder them.

²⁴Make no friendship with a man of anger,

and with a man of fury do not associate,

²⁵lest you learn his ways

and ensnare your soul.

²⁶Be not one of those who shakes hands in a pledge,

or of those who are collateral for loans.

²⁷If you have nothing with which to pay,

why should he take away your bed from under you?

²⁸Remove not the ancient landmark[#Dt 19:14; Pr 23:10]

that your fathers have set.

²⁹Do you see a man who excels in his work?

He will stand before kings;

he will not stand before obscure men.