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Listen to this chapter • 3:40

[1] A good name is more desirable than great riches; favor is better than silver and gold.

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

[3] The prudent see danger and take cover, but the simple keep going and suffer the consequences.

[4] The rewards of humility and the fear of the LORD are wealth and honor and life.

[5] Thorns and snares lie on the path of the perverse; he who guards his soul stays far from them.

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

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

[8] He who sows injustice will reap disaster, and the rod of his fury will be destroyed.

[9] A generous man will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor.

[10] Drive out the mocker, and conflict will depart; even quarreling and insults will cease.

[11] He who loves a pure heart and gracious lips will have the king for a friend.

[12] The LORD’s eyes keep watch over knowledge, but He frustrates the words of the faithless.

[13] The slacker says, “There is a lion outside! I will be slain in the streets!”

[14] The mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit; he who is under the wrath of the LORD will fall into it.

[15] Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him.

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

[17] Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise— apply your mind to my knowledge—

[18] for it is pleasing when you keep them within you and they are constantly on your lips.

[19] So that your trust may be in the LORD, I instruct you today—yes, you.

[20] Have I not written for you thirty sayings about counsel and knowledge,

[21] to show you true and reliable words, that you may soundly answer those who sent you?

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

[23] for the LORD will take up their case and will plunder those who rob them.

[24] Do not make friends with an angry man, and do not associate with a hot-tempered man,

[25] or you may learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare.

[26] Do not be one who gives pledges, who puts up security for debts.

[27] If you have nothing with which to pay, why should your bed be taken from under you?

[28] Do not move an ancient boundary stone which your fathers have placed.

[29] Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will be stationed in the presence of kings; he will not stand before obscure men.

Proverbs — Chapters