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favour 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 A prudent man sees danger and takes cover,
but the simple keep going and suffer for it.
4 Humility and the fear of the Lord
are rewarded with wealth, honour, and life.
5 Thorns and snares lie on the path of the crooked,
be he who guards his soul stays far from them.
6 Train up a child in the way he should go,
and when he is old he will not depart from it.
7 The rich rule over the poor,
and the borrower is servant to the lender.
8 He who sows iniquity will reap calamity,
and the rod of his fury will be destroyed.
9 A generous man will be blessed,
for he shares his food with the poor.
10 Drive out the mocker, and out goes conflict,
and quarrelling and insults cease.
11 He who loves a pure heart and gracious lips
will have the king as his friend.
12 The eyes of the Lord keep watch over knowledge,
but He overthrows the words of the faithless.
13 The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside!
I will be killed in the street!”
14 The mouth of a forbidden woman is a deep pit;
the man with whom the Lord is angry will fall into it.
15 Folly is bound up in the heart of a child,
but the rod of correction will drive it far from him.
16 He who oppresses the poor to enrich himself,
and he who gives gifts to the rich—both will surely come to poverty.
17 Incline your ear and listen to the words of the wise;
apply your heart to learning my knowledge,
18 for it is pleasing if you keep them within you,
and all of them are kept ready on your lips.
19 I am instructing you today—yes, even you—
so your trust may be in the Lord.
20 Have I not written thirty sayings
of counsel and of knowledge for you,
21 teaching you true and reliable words,
so you will be able to give sound answers to those who sent you?
22 Do not rob a poor man because he is poor,
and do not crush the oppressed at the gate,
23 for the Lord will take up their case
and He will plunder those who plunder them.
24 Do not make friends with an angry man,
and do not associate with a hot-tempered man,
25 or you may learn his ways
and entangle yourself in a snare.
26 Do not be one of those people who enter into pledges,
who put up surety to cover debts.
27 If you have no means to pay,
even your bed will be taken from under you.
28 Do not remove an ancient boundary stone
that you forefathers set up.
29 Do you see a man skilled in his work?
He will stand before kings; he will not serve obscure men.