A Good Name More Desirable than Riches

1A [good] name is rather to be chosen than great riches; loving favour rather than silver and gold.

2The rich and poor meet together; Jehovah is the maker of them all.

3A prudent [man] seeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished.

4The reward of humility [and] the fear of Jehovah is riches, and honour, and life.

5Thorns [and] snares are in the way of the perverse: he that keepeth his soul holdeth himself far from them.

6Train up the child according to the tenor of his way, and when he is old he will not depart from it.

7The rich ruleth over the poor; and the borrower is servant to the lender.

8He that soweth unrighteousness shall reap iniquity, and the rod of his wrath shall have an end.

9He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed, for he giveth of his bread to the poor.

10Cast out the scorner, and contention will depart, and strife and ignominy shall cease.

11He that loveth pureness of heart, upon whose lips is grace, the king is his friend.

12The eyes of Jehovah preserve knowledge; but he overthroweth the words of the unfaithful.

13The sluggard saith, There is a lion without, I shall be killed in the streets!

14The mouth of strange women is a deep ditch: he with whom Jehovah is displeased shall fall therein.

15Folly is bound in the heart of a child; the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.

16He that oppresseth the poor, it is to enrich him; he that giveth to the rich, [bringeth] only to want.

17Incline thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thy heart unto my knowledge.

18For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee: they shall be together fitted on thy lips.

19That thy confidence may be in Jehovah, I have made [them] known to thee this day, even to thee.

20Have not I written to thee excellent things, in counsels and knowledge,

21that I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth; that thou mightest carry back words of truth to them that send thee?

22Rob not the poor, because he is poor, neither oppress the afflicted in the gate;

23for Jehovah will plead their cause, and despoil the soul of those that despoil them.

24Make no friendship with an angry man, and go not with a furious man;

25lest thou learn his paths, and get a snare to thy soul.

26Be not of them that strike hands, of them that are sureties for debts:

27if thou hast nothing to pay, why should he take away thy bed from under thee?

28Remove not the ancient landmark which thy fathers have set.

29Hast thou seen a man diligent in his work? He shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before the mean.