1A name is to be chosen over great wealth, and favor is better than silver and gold.
2The rich and the poor meet together; Yahweh is the maker of them all.
3The shrewd one sees evil and hides himself, but the simple pass on and are punished.
4The reward of humility is the fear of Yahweh — riches and honor and life.
5Thorns and snares are in the way of the crooked; whoever guards his life keeps far from them.
6Train up a youth according to his way, and even when he grows old he will not turn from it.
7The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is a slave to the lender.
8Whoever sows injustice will reap trouble, and the rod of his fury will fail.
9The one good of eye — he will be blessed, for he gives of his bread to the poor.
10Drive out the scoffer, and strife will go out; contention and dishonor will cease.
11One who loves purity of heart — grace on his lips — the king is his friend.
12The eyes of Yahweh guard knowledge, but he overthrows the words of the treacherous.
13The sluggard says, ‘There is a lion outside! I will be murdered in the midst of the streets!’
14The mouth of foreign women is a deep pit; the one cursed by Yahweh will fall into it.
15Folly is bound up in the heart of a youth; the rod of discipline will drive it far from him.
16One who oppresses the poor to increase his own — and one who gives to the rich — come only to want.
17Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise, and set your heart to my knowledge.
18For it is pleasant if you keep them within your belly; let them be fixed together upon your lips.
19That your trust may be in Yahweh, I have made it known to you today, even to you.
20Have I not written for you thirty sayings, with counsels and knowledge,
21to make known to you truth, reliable words, so that you may return true words to those who send you?
22Do not rob the poor because he is poor, and do not crush the afflicted in the gate,
23for Yahweh will contend their case and will rob of life those who rob them.
24Do not befriend a man given to anger, and do not associate with a man of wrath,
25lest you learn his ways and take a snare for your life.
26Do not be among those who strike hands, among those who give pledges for debts.
27If you have nothing with which to pay, why should he take your bed from under you?
28Do not move back the ancient boundary that your fathers made.
29Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men.
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