Proverbs 22:1-19 ▼

1 A good name is more desirable than great wealth. Respect is better than silver or gold.

2 The rich and the poor have this in common: the LORD is the maker of them all.

3 Sensible people foresee trouble and hide [from it], but gullible people go ahead and suffer [the consequence].

4 On the heels of humility (the fear of the LORD) are riches and honor and life.

5 A devious person has thorns and traps ahead of him. Whoever guards himself will stay far away from them.

6 Train a child in the way he should go, and even when he is old he will not turn away from it.

7 A rich person rules poor people, and a borrower is a slave to a lender.

8 Whoever plants injustice will harvest trouble, and this weapon of his own fury will be destroyed.

9 Whoever is generous will be blessed because he has shared his food with the poor.

10 Drive out a mocker, and conflict will leave. Quarreling and abuse will stop.

11 Whoever loves a pure heart and whoever speaks graciously has a king as his friend.

12 The LORD's eyes watch over knowledge, but he overturns the words of a treacherous person.

13 A lazy person says, |There's a lion outside! I'll be murdered in the streets!|

14 The mouth of an adulterous woman is a deep pit. The one who is cursed by the LORD will fall into it.

15 Foolishness is firmly attached to a child's heart. Spanking will remove it far from him.

16 Oppressing the poor for profit [or] giving to the rich certainly leads to poverty.

17 Open your ears, and hear the words of wise people, and set your mind on the knowledge I give you.

18 It is pleasant if you keep them in mind [so that] they will be on the tip of your tongue,

19 so that your trust may be in the LORD. Today I have made them known to you, especially to you.