Proverbs 22

¹A good name is better than fine perfume, and one’s day of death is better than his day of birth.

²⁰Nevertheless, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

⁴⁷The king’s servants have also gone to congratulate our lord King David, saying, ‘May your God make the name of Solomon more famous than your own name, and may He make his throne greater than your throne.’ And the king has bowed in worship on his bed,

¹⁵Did not He who made me in the womb also make them? Did not the same One form us in the womb?

⁷The Lord sends poverty and wealth; He humbles and He exalts.

³¹Whoever oppresses the poor taunts their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors Him.

¹³The poor man and the oppressor have this in common: The Lord gives light to the eyes of both.

¹⁹who is not partial to princes and does not favor rich over poor? For they are all the work of His hands.

²Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in.

³If you lavish attention on the man in fine clothes and say, “Here is a seat of honor,” but say to the poor man, “You must stand” or “Sit at my feet,”

¹²The prudent see danger and take cover, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.

¹⁶A wise man fears and turns from evil, but a fool is careless and reckless.

¹A man who remains stiff-necked after much reproof will suddenly be shattered beyond recovery.

²For you are fully aware that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.

³While people are saying, “Peace and security,” destruction will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

⁷By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in godly fear built an ark to save his family. By faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

⁷I saw among the simple, I noticed among the youths, a young man lacking judgment,

¹⁰Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.

³³But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.

⁹Fear the Lord, you His saints, for those who fear Him lack nothing.

¹⁰Young lions go lacking and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

²¹He who pursues righteousness and loving devotion finds life, righteousness, and honor.

¹Hallelujah! Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in His commandments.

²His descendants will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.

¹⁵For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and humble in spirit, to restore the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the contrite.

¹⁷The highway of the upright leads away from evil; he who guards his way protects his life.

²⁰But you, beloved, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit,

²¹keep yourselves in the love of God as you await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you eternal life.

¹⁸We know that anyone born of God does not keep on sinning; the One who was born of God protects him, and the evil one cannot touch him.

¹⁹The way of the slacker is like a hedge of thorns, but the path of the upright is a highway.

²⁶to the pure You show Yourself pure, but to the crooked You show Yourself shrewd.

²⁷For You save an afflicted people, but You humble those with haughty eyes.

¹⁶He who keeps a commandment preserves his soul, but he who is careless in his ways will die.

⁴Fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath; instead, bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

⁷And you shall teach them diligently to your children and speak of them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

¹⁵From infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

¹⁹For I have chosen him, so that he will command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, in order that the Lord may bring upon Abraham what He has promised.”

⁹Only be on your guard and diligently watch yourselves, so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen, and so that they do not slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and grandchildren.

³that we have heard and known and our fathers have relayed to us.

⁴We will not hide them from their children but will declare to the next generation the praises of the Lord and His might and the wonders He has performed.

¹Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant, my husband, is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord. And now his creditor is coming to take my two children as his slaves!”

²⁵Since the man was unable to pay, the master ordered that he be sold to pay his debt, along with his wife and children and everything he owned.

¹⁶Oppressing the poor to enrich oneself or giving gifts to the rich will surely lead to poverty.

²³The poor man pleads for mercy, but the rich man answers harshly.

³¹Whoever oppresses the poor taunts their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors Him.

⁶But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you and drag you into court?

⁷Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return.

⁸The one who sows to please his flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; but the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

⁸As I have observed, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble reap the same.

³¹For Assyria will be shattered at the voice of the Lord; He will strike them with His scepter.

³For the scepter of the wicked will not rest upon the land allotted to the righteous, so that the righteous will not put forth their hands to injustice.

¹³You have plowed wickedness and reaped injustice; you have eaten the fruit of lies. Because you have trusted in your own way and in the multitude of your mighty men,

³The proud speech of a fool brings a rod to his back, but the lips of the wise protect them.

¹⁷Kindness to the poor is a loan to the Lord, and He will repay the lender.

¹⁰For God is not unjust. He will not forget your work and the love you have shown for His name as you have ministered to the saints and continue to do so.

¹⁸Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, and to be generous and ready to share,

¹⁹treasuring up for themselves a firm foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

³⁵In everything, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus Himself: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

⁹Show hospitality to one another without complaining.

¹⁶And do not neglect to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

⁵hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the Day of the Lord.

⁶Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven works through the whole batch of dough?

²⁰Without wood, a fire goes out; without gossip, a conflict ceases.

²¹Like charcoal for embers and wood for fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.

¹³God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked man from among you.”

⁵Whoever slanders his neighbor in secret, I will put to silence; the one with haughty eyes and a proud heart, I will not endure.

²⁸Even one of the sons of Jehoiada son of Eliashib the high priest had become a son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite. Therefore I drove him away from me.

⁹But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking her son,

¹⁰and she said to Abraham, “Expel the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac!”

⁸Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

¹³Righteous lips are a king’s delight, and he who speaks honestly is beloved.

⁶My eyes favor the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me; he who walks in the way of integrity shall minister to me.

³⁵A king delights in a wise servant, but his anger falls on the shameful.

²You are the most handsome of men; grace has anointed your lips; therefore God has blessed you forever.

²⁰When he reached the den, he cried out in a voice of anguish, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?”

²¹Then Daniel replied, “O king, may you live forever!

⁸Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth. They are depraved in mind and disqualified from the faith.

⁹But they will not advance much further. For just like Jannes and Jambres, their folly will be plain to everyone.

⁹For the eyes of the Lord roam to and fro over all the earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are fully devoted to Him. You have acted foolishly in this matter. From now on, therefore, you will be at war.”

⁸But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith.

⁹Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked directly at Elymas

⁸And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will slay with the breath of His mouth and annihilate by the majesty of His arrival.

¹²He thwarts the schemes of the crafty, so that their hands find no success.

¹³He catches the wise in their craftiness, and sweeps away the plans of the cunning.

²³Immediately, because Herod did not give glory to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.

²⁴But the word of God continued to spread and multiply.

¹³The slacker says, “A lion is in the road! A fierce lion roams the public square!”

¹⁴As a door turns on its hinges, so the slacker turns on his bed.

³²So they gave the Israelites a bad report about the land that they had spied out: “The land we explored devours its inhabitants, and all the people we saw there are great in stature.

³³We even saw the Nephilim there—the descendants of Anak that come from the Nephilim! We seemed like grasshoppers in our own sight, and we must have seemed the same to them!”

¹⁹The way of the slacker is like a hedge of thorns, but the path of the upright is a highway.

²⁶And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a net, and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is ensnared.

²⁷For a prostitute is a deep pit, and an adulteress is a narrow well.

²⁴to keep you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.

²⁵Do not lust in your heart for her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes.

²⁶Did not King Solomon of Israel sin in matters like this? There was not a king like him among many nations, and he was loved by his God, who made him king over all Israel—yet foreign women drew him into sin.

⁵that they may keep you from the adulteress, from the stranger with seductive words.

⁶For at the window of my house I looked through the lattice.

²⁰Then she called out, “Samson, the Philistines are here!” When Samson awoke from his sleep, he thought, “I will escape as I did before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him.

²¹Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, where he was bound with bronze shackles and forced to grind grain in the prison.

²⁴He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him diligently.

¹⁵A rod of correction imparts wisdom, but a child left to himself disgraces his mother.

¹⁸Discipline your son, for in that there is hope; do not be party to his death.

¹³Do not withhold discipline from a child; although you strike him with a rod, he will not die.

¹⁴Strike him with a rod, and you will deliver his soul from Sheol.

¹⁰Our fathers disciplined us for a short time as they thought best, but God disciplines us for our good, so that we may share in His holiness.

¹¹No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields a harvest of righteousness and peace to those who have been trained by it.

¹⁷Discipline your son, and he will give you rest; he will bring delight to your soul.

²²Do not rob a poor man because he is poor, and do not crush the afflicted at the gate,

²³for the Lord will take up their case and will plunder those who rob them.

¹³For judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

⁵“For the cause of the oppressed and for the groaning of the needy, I will now arise,” says the Lord. “I will bring safety to him who yearns.”

¹Come now, you who are rich, weep and wail over the misery to come upon you.

²Your riches have rotted and moths have eaten your clothes.

¹²Then Jesus said to the man who had invited Him, “When you host a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or brothers or relatives or rich neighbors. Otherwise, they may invite you in return, and you will be repaid.

¹³But when you host a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind,

³A destitute leader who oppresses the poor is like a driving rain that leaves no food.

¹²Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge.

¹²So teach us to number our days, that we may present a heart of wisdom.

²⁵I directed my mind to understand, to explore, to search out wisdom and explanations, and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the folly of madness.

¹My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments;

²if you incline your ear to wisdom and direct your heart to understanding,

³if you truly call out to insight and lift your voice to understanding,

⁵While Peter was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him!”

¹⁶Your words were found, and I ate them. Your words became my joy and my heart’s delight. For I bear Your name, O Lord God of Hosts.

¹⁰For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will delight your soul.

⁶Listen, for I speak of noble things, and the opening of my lips will reveal right.

¹⁰³How sweet are Your words to my taste—sweeter than honey in my mouth!

⁷The lips of the wise spread knowledge, but not so the hearts of fools.

²¹The lips of the righteous feed many, but fools die for lack of judgment.

⁸Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts before Him. God is our refuge. Selah

²Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. For the Lord God is my strength and my song, and He also has become my salvation.”

⁵Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;

⁴Trust in the Lord forever, because God the Lord is the Rock eternal.

²¹Through Him you believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and glorified Him; and so your faith and hope are in God.

⁷But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him.

¹⁹We also have the word of the prophets as confirmed beyond doubt. And you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

²⁰Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture comes from one’s own interpretation.

⁶Listen, for I speak of noble things, and the opening of my lips will reveal right.

¹⁵From infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

¹⁶All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instruction, for conviction, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

⁶The words of the Lord are flawless, like silver refined in a furnace, like gold purified sevenfold.

¹²Though I wrote for them the great things of My law, they regarded them as something strange.

³Therefore, having carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus,

⁴so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.

¹⁵But in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give a defense to everyone who asks you the reason for the hope that is in you. But respond with gentleness and respect,

¹³I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.

³¹But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.

¹⁰Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. And do not plot evil in your hearts against one another.’

⁵“Then I will draw near to you for judgment. And I will be a swift witness against sorcerers and adulterers and perjurers, against oppressors of the widowed and fatherless, and against those who defraud laborers of their wages and deny justice to the foreigner but do not fear Me,” says the Lord of Hosts.

⁶You shall not deny justice to the poor in their lawsuits.

¹⁶Oppressing the poor to enrich oneself or giving gifts to the rich will surely lead to poverty.

²¹if I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless because I saw that I had support in the gate,

¹⁶If I have denied the desires of the poor or allowed the widow’s eyes to fail,

¹²I know that the Lord upholds justice for the poor and defends the cause of the needy.

⁵“For the cause of the oppressed and for the groaning of the needy, I will now arise,” says the Lord. “I will bring safety to him who yearns.”

³⁶Therefore this is what the Lord says: “Behold, I will plead your case and take vengeance on your behalf; I will dry up her sea and make her springs run dry.

¹¹for their Redeemer is strong; He will take up their case against you.

³⁹On hearing that Nabal was dead, David said, “Blessed be the Lord, who has upheld my cause against the reproach of Nabal and has restrained His servant from evil. For the Lord has brought the wickedness of Nabal down upon his own head.” Then David sent word to Abigail, asking her to become his wife.

¹⁰All my bones will exclaim, “Who is like You, O Lord, who delivers the afflicted from the aggressor, the poor and needy from the robber?”

²²An angry man stirs up dissension, and a hot-tempered man abounds in transgression.

¹⁴Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership can righteousness have with wickedness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness?

¹⁵What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?

²⁴Mocker is the name of the proud and arrogant man—of him who acts with excessive pride.

³³Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good character.”

³⁵but they mingled with the nations and adopted their customs.

²⁰He who walks with the wise will become wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.

¹⁵He who puts up security for a stranger will surely suffer, but the one who hates indebtedness is secure.

¹⁸A man lacking judgment strikes hands in pledge and puts up security for his neighbor.

¹My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, if you have struck hands in pledge with a stranger,

²if you have been trapped by the words of your lips, ensnared by the words of your mouth,

¹³Take the garment of him who posts security for a stranger; get collateral if it is for a foreigner.

¹⁶Take the garment of the one who posts security for a stranger; get collateral if it is for a foreigner.

¹Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant, my husband, is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord. And now his creditor is coming to take my two children as his slaves!”

²⁶If you take your neighbor’s cloak as collateral, return it to him by sunset,

²⁷because his cloak is the only covering he has for his body. What else will he sleep in? And if he cries out to Me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.

¹⁴You must not move your neighbor’s boundary marker, which was set up by your ancestors to mark the inheritance you shall receive in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess.

¹⁷‘Cursed is he who moves his neighbor’s boundary stone.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’

¹⁰Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless,

²Men move boundary stones; they pasture stolen flocks.

²⁸Now Jeroboam was a mighty man of valor. So when Solomon noticed that the young man was industrious, he put him in charge of the whole labor force of the house of Joseph.

²¹His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master!’

²⁴The hand of the diligent will rule, but laziness ends in forced labor.

⁴Idle hands make one poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.

²³His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master!’

¹⁰Whatever you find to do with your hands, do it with all your might, for in Sheol, where you are going, there is no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.