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.