1 Or, sequel Or, future Heb. latter end.

Let not thine heart envy sinners:

17

But be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long:

For surely there is a 'reward;

And thy hope shall not be cut off.
Hear thou, my son, and be wise,
And guide thine heart in the way.
Be not among winebibbers;
Among gluttonous eaters of flesh:

18

19

20

For the drunkard and the glutton shall come 21
to poverty:

And drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.
Hearken unto thy father that begat thee,

And despise not thy mother when she is old.
Buy the truth, and sell it not;

Yea, wisdom, and instruction, and understand-
ing.

22

23

The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: 24 And he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him.

Let thy father and thy mother be glad,

2 Another reading is, observe.

25

And let her that bare thee rejoice.

My son, give me thine heart,

26

And let thine eyes 'delight in my ways.
For a whore is a deep ditch;

27

28

And a strange woman is a narrow pit.

3 Or, as for a Yea, she lieth in wait as a robber,

prey

4 Heb. Oh!

5 Heb. Alas!

6

And increaseth the treacherous among men.

Who hath "woe? who hath 'sorrow? who hath 29 contentions?

Who hath complaining? who hath wounds

without cause?

• Or, darkness Who hath redness of eyes?

They that tarry long at the wine;

7 Or, try

They that go to 'seek out mixed wine.

8 Or, moveth itself aright

Look not thou upon the wine when it is red,
When it giveth its colour in the cup,

When it goeth down smoothly:

30

31

32 At the last it biteth like a serpent,

And stingeth like 'an adder.

33 Thine eyes shall behold 'strange things, And thine heart shall utter froward things.

34 Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea,

Or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.

35 They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not hurt ;

They have beaten me, and I felt it not:

When shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.

24 Be not thou envious against evil men,
Neither desire to be with them :

2 For their heart studieth oppression,
And their lips talk of mischief.

3 Through wisdom is an house builded;
And by understanding it is established:

4 And by knowledge are the chambers filled
With all precious and pleasant riches.

5

A wise man is strong;

Yea, a man of knowledge 'increaseth might.

1 Or, a basilisk

2 Or, strange

women

3 Heb. is in
strength.
4 Heb.

6 For by wise guidance thou shalt make thy war: strengtheneth
And in the multitude of counsellors there is might.
"safety.

7 Wisdom is too high for a fool :

He openeth not his mouth in the gate.

8 He that deviseth to do evil,

Men shall call him a mischievous person.

9 The thought of 'the foolish is sin:

And the scorner is an abomination to men.

10 If thou faint in the day of adversity,
Thy strength is small.

II Deliver them that are carried away unto death,
And those that are 'ready to be slain see that

thou hold back.

8

5 Or, victory

6 Heb. foolishness.

7

Heb. tottering to the

slaughter.
8 Or, forbear

thou not to
deliver

12 If thou sayest, Behold, we knew not 'this: Doth not he that weigheth the hearts consider Or, this man

9

it ?

1 See ch. xxiii.

2

18.

Or, as a

wicked man

3 Or, pasture 4 Or, fold

And he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it?

And shall not he render to every man according to his work?

My son, eat thou honey, for it is good;

And the honeycomb, which is sweet to thy

taste:

13

So shalt thou know wisdom to be unto thy 14 soul:

If thou hast found it, then shall there be a

1

reward,

And thy hope shall not be cut off.

Lay not wait, 2O wicked man, against the 'habit- 15 ation of the righteous;

Spoil not his 'resting place :

For a righteous man falleth seven times, and 16
riseth up again :

But the wicked are overthrown by calamity.
Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth,

And let not thine heart be glad when he is
overthrown:

Lest the LORD see it, and it displease him,
And he turn away his wrath from him.
Fret not thyself because of evil-doers;
Neither be thou envious at the wicked:

For there will be no 'reward to the evil man;
The lamp of the wicked shall be put out.
My son, fear thou the LORD and the king:
And meddle not with them that are given to
change:

For their calamity shall rise suddenly ;

5 Or, of their And who knoweth the destruction of them both?

years

These also are sayings of the wise.

To have respect of persons in judgement is not good.

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

He that saith unto the wicked, Thou art
righteous;

Peoples shall curse him, nations shall abhor
him :

25 But to them that rebuke him shall be delight,
And a good blessing shall come upon them.
26 He 'kisseth the lips

That giveth a right answer.

27 Prepare thy work without,

And make it ready for thee in the field;

And afterwards build thine house.

28 Be not a witness against thy neighbour without

cause;

And deceive not with thy lips.

29 Say not, I will do so to him as he hath done to

me;

I will render to the man according to his work. 30 I went by the field of the slothful,

And by the vineyard of the man void of under-
standing;

31 And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns,

The face thereof was covered with nettles,
And the stone wall thereof was broken down.

32 Then I beheld, and considered well:
I saw, and received instruction.

33 'Yet a little sleep, a little slumber,

A little folding of the hands to sleep: 34 So shall thy poverty come as a robber; And thy want as an armed man.

25 I

These also are proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied out.

2 It is the glory of God to conceal a thing:

But the glory of kings is to search out a matter. 3 The heaven for height, and the earth for depth, And the heart of kings is unsearchable.

1 Or, kisseth with the lips

2 Heb. And wouldest thou

deceive with thy lips?

3 Or, wild vetches

4 See ch. vi. IO, II.

1 Heb. Glorify not thyself.

2 Or, Lest it be

said in the

end thereof,

What wilt

And there cometh forth a vessel for the finer :
Take away the wicked from before the king,
And his throne shall be established in right-

eousness.

5

1Put not thyself forward in the presence of the 6 king,

And stand not in the place of great men :

For better is it that it be said unto thee, Come 7 up hither;

Than that thou shouldest be put lower in the presence of the prince,

Whom thine eyes have seen.

Go not forth hastily to strive,

2 Lest thou know not what to do in the end thereof,

When thy neighbour hath put thee to shame.

thou do? when Debate thy cause with thy neighbour himself,

&c.

3 Or, But

3

And disclose not the secret of another:

Lest he that heareth it revile thee,

8

9

ΙΟ

And thine infamy turn not away.

A word 'fitly spoken

Is like apples of gold in 'baskets of silver.

II

As an earring of gold, and an ornament of 12 fine gold,

So is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear.
As the cold of snow in the time of harvest,

13

So is a faithful messenger to them that send him;

For he refresheth the soul of his masters.

14

So is he that boasteth himself of his gifts falsely.

15

As clouds and wind without rain,

By long forbearing is a 'ruler persuaded,
And a soft tongue breaketh the bone.

Hast thou found honey? eat so much as is 16
sufficient for thee;

Lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it.

Let thy foot be seldom in thy neighbour's house; 17
Lest he be 'weary of thee, and hate thee.