Proverbs 22

Proverbs 22 New King James Version

 

The Value of a Good Name

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

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

³ A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself,
But the simple pass on and are punished.

⁴ By humility and the fear of the Lord
Are riches and honor and life.

⁵ Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse;
He who guards his soul will be far from them.

⁶ Train up a child in the way he should go,
^[a]And when he is old he will not depart from it.

⁷ The rich rules over the poor,
And the borrower is servant to the lender.

⁸ He who sows iniquity will reap sorrow,^[b]
And the rod of his anger will fail.

⁹ He who has a ^[c]generous eye will be blessed,
For he gives of his bread to the poor.

¹⁰ Cast out the scoffer, and contention will leave;
Yes, strife and reproach will cease.

¹¹ He who loves purity of heart
And has grace on his lips,
The king will be his friend.

¹² The eyes of the Lord preserve knowledge,
But He overthrows the words of the faithless.

¹³ The lazy man says, “There is a lion outside!
I shall be slain in the streets!”

¹⁴ The mouth of an immoral woman is a deep pit;
He who is abhorred by the Lord will fall there.

¹⁵ Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child;
The rod of correction will drive it far from him.

¹⁶ He who oppresses the poor to increase his riches,
And he who gives to the rich, will surely come to poverty.

Sayings of the Wise

¹⁷ Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise,
And apply your heart to my knowledge;
¹⁸ For it is a pleasant thing if you keep them within you;
Let them all be fixed upon your lips,
¹⁹ So that your trust may be in the Lord;
I have instructed you today, even you.
²⁰ Have I not written to you excellent things
Of counsels and knowledge,
²¹ That I may make you know the certainty of the words of truth,
That you may answer words of truth
To those who ^[d]send to you?

²² Do not rob the poor because he is poor,
Nor oppress the afflicted at the gate;
²³ For the Lord will plead their cause,
And plunder the soul of those who plunder them.

²⁴ Make no friendship with an angry man,
And with a furious man do not go,
²⁵ Lest you learn his ways
And set a snare for your soul.

²⁶ Do not be one of those who ^[e]shakes hands in a pledge,
One of those who is ^[f]surety for debts;
²⁷ If you have nothing with which to pay,
Why should he take away your bed from under you?

²⁸ Do not remove the ancient ^[g]landmark
Which your fathers have set.

²⁹ Do you see a man who ^[h]excels in his work?
He will stand before kings;
He will not stand before ^[i]unknown men.