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22. Proverbs of Solomon

¹ A good name is more desirable than great riches;
to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

¹⁶ One 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

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

Saying 2

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

Saying 3

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

Saying 4

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

Saying 5

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

Saying 6

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

6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Here is, 1. A great duty enjoined, particularly to those that are the parents and instructors of children, in order to the propagating of wisdom, that it may not die with them: Train up children in that age of vanity, to keep them from the sins and snares of it, in that learning age, to prepare them for what they are designed for. Catechise them; initiate them; keep them under discipline. Train them as soldiers, who are taught to handle their arms, keep rank, and observe the word of command. Train them up, not in the way they would go (the bias of their corrupt hearts would draw them aside), but in the way they should go, the way in which, if you love them, you would have them go. Train up a child according as he is capable (as some take it), with a gentle hand, as nurses feed children, little and often, Deut. vi. 7. 2. A good reason for it, taken from the great advantage of this care and pains with children: When they grow up, when they grow old, it is to be hoped, they will not depart from it. Good impressions made upon them then will abide upon them all their days. Ordinarily the vessel retains the savour with which it was first seasoned. Many indeed have departed from the good way in which they were trained up; Solomon himself did so. But early training may be a means of their recovering themselves, as it is supposed Solomon did. At least the parents will have the comfort of having done their duty and used the means.