² The terror of a king is like a lion’s growl.
Whoever provokes him endangers his life.

³ It is honor for one to resolve a dispute,
yet every fool quarrels.

⁴ A slacker will not plow in season,
so at harvest he looks but finds nothing.

⁵ The intent of a man’s heart is deep water,
but a man of insight draws it out.

⁸ A king sitting on the throne to judge
separates out all evil with his eyes.

⁹ Who can say: “I have kept my heart pure;
I am cleansed from my sin”?^[b]

¹⁰ Unequal weights and measures—^[c]
both are an abomination to Adonai.

¹¹ Even a child is known by his actions,
whether his conduct is pure and upright.

¹² Ears that hear and eyes that see—
Adonai has made them both.

¹³ Do not love sleep, lest you become poor.
Open your eyes, and you will be satisfied with food.

¹⁶ Take a man’s garment, who puts up security for a stranger,
and hold it in pledge, as security for a foreign woman.

¹⁷ Bread gained by fraud is sweet to a man,
but later his mouth is filled with gravel.

¹⁸ Plans are made by counsel,
so wage war with guidance.

¹⁹ A talebearer goes about, revealing secrets,
so do not associate with a babbler.

²⁰ Whoever curses his father or his mother,^[d]
his lamp will be snuffed out in utter darkness.

²¹ An estate acquired quickly in the beginning
will not be blessed in the end.

²² Do not say, “I will pay back evil!”
Wait for Adonai, so He may deliver You.

²³ Unbalanced weights are detestable to Adonai,
and dishonest scales are wicked.

²⁴ A man’s steps are directed by Adonai.
How then can anyone understand his own way?

²⁵ It is a trap for one to say rashly, “It is holy!”
and only afterward to consider his vows.

²⁶ A wise king winnows out the wicked.
He turns a threshing wheel over them.
²⁷ The spirit of man is the lamp of Adonai,
searching all his inmost being.

²⁸ Lovingkindness and truth preserve the king,
but his throne is upheld by lovingkindness.

²⁹ The glory of young men is their strength,
and the splendor of old men is gray hair.

³⁰ Blows that wound scour away evil,
and beatings purge the innermost being.