Proverbs 22

Proverbs 21 Proverbs 23

Proverbs 22 New International Version (NIV)

22 A good name is more desirable than great riches;
to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.

²Rich and poor have this in common:
The Lord is the Maker of them all.

³The prudent see danger and take refuge,
but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.

⁴Humility is the fear of the Lord;
its wages are riches and honor and life.

⁵In the paths of the wicked are snares and pitfalls,
but those who would preserve their life stay far from them.

⁶Start children off on the way they should go,
and even when they are old they will not turn from it.

⁷The rich rule over the poor,
and the borrower is slave to the lender.

⁸Whoever sows injustice reaps calamity,
and the rod they wield in fury will be broken.

⁹The generous will themselves be blessed,
for they share their food with the poor.

¹⁰Drive out the mocker, and out goes strife;
quarrels and insults are ended.

¹¹One who loves a pure heart and who speaks with grace
will have the king for a friend.

¹²The eyes of the Lord keep watch over knowledge,
but he frustrates the words of the unfaithful.

¹³The sluggard says, “There’s a lion outside!
I’ll be killed in the public square!”

¹⁴The mouth of an adulterous woman is a deep pit;
a man who is under the Lord’s wrath falls into it.

¹⁵Folly is bound up in the heart of a child,
but the rod of discipline will drive it far away.

¹⁶One who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth
and one who gives gifts to the rich—both come to poverty.

Thirty Sayings of the Wise

Saying 1

¹⁷Pay attention and turn your ear to the sayings of the wise;
    apply your heart to what I teach,
¹⁸for it is pleasing when you keep them in your heart
    and have all of them ready on your lips.
¹⁹So that your trust may be in the Lord,
    I teach you today, even you.
²⁰Have I not written thirty sayings for you,
    sayings of counsel and knowledge,
²¹teaching you to be honest and to speak the truth,
    so that you bring back truthful reports
    to those you serve?

Saying 2

²²Do not exploit the poor because they are poor
and do not crush the needy in court,
²³for the Lord will take up their case
and will exact life for life.

Saying 3

²⁴Do not make friends with a hot-tempered person,
do not associate with one easily angered,
²⁵or you may learn their ways
and get yourself ensnared.

Saying 4

²⁶Do not be one who shakes hands in pledge
or puts up security for debts;
²⁷if you lack the means to pay,
your very bed will be snatched from under you.

Saying 5

²⁸Do not move an ancient boundary stone
set up by your ancestors.

Saying 6

²⁹Do you see someone skilled in their work?
They will serve before kings;
they will not serve before officials of low rank.

New International Version (NIV)

Proverbs 22 King James Version (KJV)

22 A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold.

²The rich and poor meet together: the Lord is the maker of them all.

³A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.

⁴By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, and honour, and life.

⁵Thorns and snares are in the way of the froward: he that doth keep his soul shall be far from them.

⁶Train up a child in the way he should go: 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 iniquity shall reap vanity: and the rod of his anger shall fail.

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

¹⁰Cast out the scorner, and contention shall go out; yea, strife and reproach shall cease.

¹¹He that loveth pureness of heart, for the grace of his lips the king shall be his friend.

¹²The eyes of the Lord preserve knowledge, and he overthroweth the words of the transgressor.

¹³The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets.

¹⁴The mouth of strange women is a deep pit: he that is abhorred of the Lord shall fall therein.

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

¹⁶He that oppresseth the poor to increase his riches, and he that giveth to the rich, shall surely come to want.

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

¹⁸For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee; they shall withal be fitted in thy lips.

¹⁹That thy trust may be in the Lord, I have made 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 answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee?

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

²³For the Lord will plead their cause, and spoil the soul of those that spoiled them.

²⁴Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go:

²⁵Lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul.

²⁶Be not thou one of them that strike hands, or 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.

²⁹Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.

King James Version (KJV)

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