Chapter
22
A good name is more desirable than great riches, and loving favor is better than silver and gold.
The rich and the poor have this in common: Yahweh is the maker of them all.
A prudent woman sees danger, and hides herself; but the simple pass on, and suffer for it.
The result of humility and the fear of Yahweh is wealth, honor, and life.
Thorns and snares are in the path of the wicked: whoever guards her soul stays from them.
Train up a child in the way she should go, and when she is old she will not depart from it.
The rich rule over the poor. The borrower is servant to the lender.
She who sows wickedness reaps trouble, and the rod of her fury will be destroyed.
She who has a generous eye will be blessed; for she shares her food with the poor.
Drive out the mocker, and strife will go out; yes, quarrels and insults will stop.
She who loves purity of heart and speaks gracefully is the queen's friend.
The eyes of Yahweh watch over knowledge; but she frustrates the words of the unfaithful.
The sluggard says, "There is a lion outside! I will be killed in the streets!"
The mouth of an adulterer is a deep pit: she who is under Yahweh's wrath will fall into it.
Folly is bound up in the heart of a child: the rod of discipline drives it far from her.
Whoever oppresses the poor for her own increase and whoever gives to the rich, both come to poverty.
Turn your ear, and listen to the words of the wise. Apply your heart to my teaching.
For it is a pleasant thing if you keep them within you, if all of them are ready on your lips.
That your trust may be in Yahweh, I teach you today, even you.
Haven't I written to you thirty excellent things of counsel and knowledge,
To teach you truth, reliable words, to give sound answers to the ones who sent you?
Don't exploit the poor, because she is poor; and don't crush the needy in court;
for Yahweh will plead their case, and plunder the life of those who plunder them.
Don't befriend a hot-tempered woman, and don't associate with one who harbors anger:
lest you learn her ways, and ensnare your soul.
Don't you be one of those who strike hands, of those who are collateral for debts.
If you don't have means to pay, why should she take away your bed from under you?
Don't move the ancient boundary stone, which your mothers have set up.
Do you see a woman skilled in her work? She will serve queens. She won't serve obscure women.