Verse 1. Through poverty many have sinned: and he that seeketh to be enriched, turneth away his eye.
Verse 2. As a stake sticketh fast in the midst of the joining of stones, so also in the midst of selling and buying, sin shall stick fast.
Verse 3. Sin shall be destroyed with the sinner.
Verse 4. Unless thou hold thyself diligently in the fear of the Lord, thy house shall quickly be overthrown.
Verse 5. As when one sifteth with a sieve, the dust will remain: so will the perplexity of a man in his thoughts.
Verse 6. The furnace trieth the potter's vessels, and the trial of affliction just men.
Verse 7. As the dressing of a tree sheweth the fruit thereof, so a word out of the thought of the heart of man.
Verse 8. Praise not a man before he speaketh, for this is the trial of men.
Verse 9. If thou followest justice, thou shalt obtain her: and shalt put her on as a long robe of honour, and thou shalt dwell with her: and she shall protect thee for ever, and in the day of acknowledgment thou shalt find a strong foundation.
Verse 10. Birds resort unto their like: so truth will return to them that practise her.
Verse 11. The lion always lieth in wait for prey: so do sins for them that work iniquities.
Verse 12. A holy man continueth in wisdom as the sun: but a fool is changed as the moon.
Verse 13. In the midst of the unwise keep in the word till its time: but be continually among men that think.
Verse 14. The discourse of sinners is hateful, and their laughter is at the pleasures of sin.
Verse 15. The speech that sweareth much shall make the hair of the head stand upright: and its irreverence shall make one stop his ears.
Verse 16. In the quarrels of the proud is the shedding of blood: and their cursing is a grievous hearing.
Verse 17. He that discloseth the secret of a friend loseth his credit, and shall never find a friend to his mind.
Verse 18. Love thy neighbour, and be joined to him with fidelity.
Verse 19. But if thou discover his secrets, follow no more after him.
Verse 20. For as a man that destroyeth his friend, so also is he that destroyeth the friendship of his neighbour.
Verse 21. And as one that letteth a bird go out of his hand, so hast thou let thy neighbour go, and thou shalt not get him again.
Verse 22. Follow after him no more, for he is gone afar off, he is fled, as a roe escaped out of the snare: because his soul is wounded.
Verse 23. Thou canst no more bind him up. And of a curse there is reconciliation:
Verse 24. But to disclose the secrets of a friend, leaveth no hope to an unhappy soul.
Verse 25. He that winketh with the eye forgeth wicked things, and no man will cast him off:
Verse 26. In the sight of thy eyes he will sweeten his mouth, and will admire thy words: but at the last he will writhe his mouth, and on thy words he will lay a stumblingblock.
Verse 27. I have hated many things, but not like him, and the Lord will hate him.
Verse 28. If one cast a stone on high, it will fall upon his own head: and the deceitful stroke will wound the deceitful.
Verse 29. He that diggeth a pit, shall fall into it: and he that setteth a stone for his neighbour, shall stumble upon it: and he that layeth a snare for another, shall perish in it.
Verse 30. A mischievous counsel shall be rolled back upon the author, and he shall not know from whence it cometh to him.
Verse 31. Mockery and reproach are of the proud, and vengeance as a lion shall lie in wait for him.
Verse 32. They shall perish in a snare that are delighted with the fall of the just: and sorrow shall consume them before they die.
Verse 33. Anger and fury are both of them abominable, and the sinful man shall be subject to them.