THE BOOK OF PROVERBS
King James Version
1 ¶ The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of
Israel;
2
To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of
understanding;
3
To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and
judgment, and equity;
4
To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge
and discretion.
5
A wise man will hear, and will increase learning;
and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:
6
To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words
of the wise, and their dark sayings.
7 ¶ The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge:
but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
8
My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake
not the law of thy mother:
9
For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and
chains about thy neck.
10 ¶ My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.
11
If they say, Come with us, let us
lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:
12
Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as
those that go down into the pit:
13
We shall find all precious substance,
we shall fill our houses with spoil:
14
Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse:
15
My son, walk not thou in the way with them;
refrain thy foot from their path:
16
For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.
17
Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.
18
And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily
for their own lives.
19
So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which
taketh away the life of the owners thereof.
20 ¶ Wisdom crieth without; she
uttereth her voice in the streets:
21
She crieth in the chief place of
concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth
her words, saying,
22
How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the
scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?
23
Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit
unto you, I will make known my words unto you.
24
Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched
out my hand, and no man regarded;
25
But ye have set at nought all my counsel,
and would none of my reproof:
26
I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your
fear cometh;
27
When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction
cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.
28
Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they
shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:
29
For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear
of the LORD:
30
They would none of my counsel: they despised all my
reproof.
31
Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way,
and be filled with their own devices.
32
For the turning away of the simple shall
slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.
33
But whoso hearkeneth unto me
shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.
1 ¶ My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and
hide my commandments with thee;
2
So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply
thine heart to understanding;
3
Yea, if thou criest after
knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for
understanding;
4
If thou seekest her as silver,
and searchest for her as for hid treasures;
5
Then shalt thou understand the fear of the
LORD, and find the knowledge of God.
6
For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh
knowledge and understanding.
7
He layeth up sound wisdom for
the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly.
8
He keepeth the paths of
judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints.
9
Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment,
and equity; yea, every good path.
10 ¶ When wisdom entereth into
thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul;
11
Discretion shall preserve thee,
understanding shall keep thee:
12
To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man
that speaketh froward
things;
13
Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of
darkness;
14
Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the
frowardness of the wicked;
15
Whose ways are crooked, and they froward
in their paths:
16
To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the
stranger which flattereth with her words;
17
Which forsaketh the guide of her
youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God.
18
For her house inclineth unto
death, and her paths unto the dead.
19
None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold
of the paths of life.
20
That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the
paths of the righteous.
21
For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect
shall remain in it.
22
But the wicked shall be cut off from the
earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.
1 ¶ My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep
my commandments:
2
For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they
add to thee.
3
Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind
them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:
4
So shalt thou find favour and
good understanding in the sight of God and man.
5
Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto
thine own understanding.
6
In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he
shall direct thy paths.
7 ¶ Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and
depart from evil.
8
It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.
9
Honour the LORD with thy
substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine
increase:
10
So shall thy barns be filled with plenty,
and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.
11
My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be
weary of his correction:
12
For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth;
even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.
13 ¶ Happy is the man that findeth
wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.
14
For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise
of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold.
15
She is more precious than rubies: and all
the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her.
16
Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour.
17
Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are
peace.
18
She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and
happy is every one that retaineth her.
19
The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by
understanding hath he established the heavens.
20
By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds
drop down the dew.
21 ¶ My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep
sound wisdom and discretion:
22
So shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy
neck.
23
Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall
not stumble.
24
When thou liest down, thou shalt
not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet.
25
Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of
the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh.
26
For the LORD shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy
foot from being taken.
27 ¶ Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when
it is in the power of thine hand to do it.
28
Say not unto thy neighbour, Go,
and come again, and to morrow I will
give; when thou hast it by thee.
29
Devise not evil against thy neighbour,
seeing he dwelleth securely by thee.
30
Strive not with a man without cause, if he have done thee no harm.
31
Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways.
32
For the froward is abomination
to the LORD: but his secret is with the righteous.
33
The curse of the LORD is in the house of the wicked: but
he blesseth the habitation of the just.
34
Surely he scorneth the scorners:
but he giveth grace unto the lowly.
35
The wise shall inherit glory: but shame
shall be the promotion of fools.
1 ¶ Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and
attend to know understanding.
2
For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law.
3
For I was my father's son, tender and only beloved in the
sight of my mother.
4
He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and
live.
5
Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither
decline from the words of my mouth.
6
Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her,
and she shall keep thee.
7
Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.
8
Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring
thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her.
9
She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown
of glory shall she deliver to thee.
10
Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of
thy life shall be many.
11
I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee
in right paths.
12
When thou goest, thy steps shall
not be straitened; and when thou runnest,
thou shalt not stumble.
13
Take fast hold of instruction; let her not
go: keep her; for she is thy life.
14 ¶ Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in
the way of evil men.
15
Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.
16
For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and
their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall.
17
For they eat the bread of wickedness, and
drink the wine of violence.
18
But the path of the just is as the shining light, that
shineth more and more unto the perfect day.
19
The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at
what they stumble.
20 ¶ My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto
my sayings.
21
Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep
them in the midst of thine heart.
22
For they are life unto those that find them, and health to
all their flesh.
23
Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the
issues of life.
24
Put away from thee a froward
mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.
25
Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look
straight before thee.
26
Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy
ways be established.
27
Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy
foot from evil.
1 ¶ My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to
my understanding:
2
That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may
keep knowledge.
3
For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:
4
But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword.
5
Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.
6
Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are
moveable, that thou canst not know them.
7
Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from
the words of my mouth.
8
Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of
her house:
9
Lest thou give thine honour unto
others, and thy years unto the cruel:
10
Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth;
and thy labours be in the house of a stranger;
11
And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body
are consumed,
12
And say, How have I hated
instruction, and my heart despised reproof;
13
And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined
mine ear to them that instructed me!
14
I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation
and assembly.
15 ¶ Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running
waters out of thine own well.
16
Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of
waters in the streets.
17
Let them be only thine own, and not strangers' with thee.
18
Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of
thy youth.
19
Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her
breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.
20
And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange
woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?
21
For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and
he pondereth all his goings.
22
His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he
shall be holden with the cords of his sins.
23
He shall die without instruction; and in
the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.
1 ¶ My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, if thou
hast stricken thy hand with a stranger,
2
Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth,
thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.
3
Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself, when thou art
come into the hand of thy friend; go, humble thyself, and make sure thy friend.
4
Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine
eyelids.
5
Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of
the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.
6 ¶ Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and
be wise:
7
Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler,
8
Provideth her meat in the
summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.
9
How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when
wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?
10
Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of
the hands to sleep:
11
So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth,
and thy want as an armed man.
12 ¶ A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth.
13
He winketh with his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, he teacheth
with his fingers;
14
Frowardness is in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually; he soweth
discord.
15
Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall
he be broken without remedy.
16
These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an
abomination unto him:
17
A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent
blood,
18
An heart that deviseth wicked
imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,
19
A false witness that speaketh
lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.
20 ¶ My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake
not the law of thy mother:
21
Bind them continually upon thine heart,
and tie them about thy neck.
22
When thou goest, it shall lead
thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and
when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.
23
For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and
reproofs of instruction are the way of life:
24
To keep thee from the evil woman, from
the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.
25
Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her
take thee with her eyelids.
26
For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a
piece of bread: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life.
27
Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be
burned?
28
Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?
29
So he that goeth in to his neighbour's wife; whosoever toucheth
her shall not be innocent.
30
Men do not despise a thief, if he steal
to satisfy his soul when he is hungry;
31
But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold; he shall
give all the substance of his house.
32
But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth
his own soul.
33
A wound and dishonour shall he
get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away.
34
For jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore
he will not spare in the day of vengeance.
35
He will not regard any ransom; neither will he rest content, though thou givest
many gifts.
1 ¶ My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments
with thee.
2
Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of
thine eye.
3
Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of
thine heart.
4
Say unto wisdom, Thou art my
sister; and call understanding thy kinswoman:
5
That they may keep thee from the strange
woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her
words.
6 ¶ For at the window of my house I looked through my
casement,
7
And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the
youths, a young man void of understanding,
8
Passing through the street near her corner;
and he went the way to her house,
9
In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark
night:
10
And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart.
11
(She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her
house:
12
Now is she without, now in the streets, and
lieth in wait at every corner.)
13
So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent
face said unto him,
14
I have peace offerings with me; this day have I payed my vows.
15
Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek
thy face, and I have found thee.
16
I have decked my bed with coverings of
tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt.
17
I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
18
Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let
us solace ourselves with loves.
19
For the goodman is not at home, he is gone
a long journey:
20
He hath taken a bag of money with him, and will come home
at the day appointed.
21
With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with
the flattering of her lips she forced him.
22
He goeth after her straightway,
as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or
as a fool to the correction of the stocks;
23
Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth
not that it is for his life.
24 ¶ Hearken unto me now therefore, O ye children, and
attend to the words of my mouth.
25
Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in
her paths.
26
For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men
have been slain by her.
27
Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers
of death.
1 ¶ Doth not wisdom cry? and understanding put forth her
voice?
2
She standeth in the top of high
places, by the way in the places of the paths.
3
She crieth at the gates, at the
entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors.
4
Unto you, O men, I call; and my voice is to the sons of
man.
5
O ye simple, understand wisdom: and, ye
fools, be ye of an understanding heart.
6
Hear; for I will speak of excellent things; and the
opening of my lips shall be right things.
7
For my mouth shall speak truth; and wickedness is an
abomination to my lips.
8
All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is
nothing froward or perverse in them.
9
They are all plain to him that understandeth,
and right to them that find knowledge.
10
Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge
rather than choice gold.
11
For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that
may be desired are not to be compared to it.
12 ¶ I wisdom dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge
of witty inventions.
13
The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and
arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth,
do I hate.
14
Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom: I am understanding; I
have strength.
15
By me kings reign, and princes decree justice.
16
By me princes rule, and nobles,
even all the judges of the earth.
17
I love them that love me; and those that seek me early
shall find me.
18
Riches and honour are with me;
yea, durable riches and righteousness.
19
My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold; and my
revenue than choice silver.
20
I lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the
paths of judgment:
21
That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance;
and I will fill their treasures.
22 ¶ The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way,
before his works of old.
23
I was set up from everlasting, from the
beginning, or ever the earth was.
24
When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there
were no fountains abounding with water.
25
Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth:
26
While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields,
nor the highest part of the dust of the world.
27
When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a
compass upon the face of the depth:
28
When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened
the fountains of the deep:
29
When he gave to the sea his decree, that
the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations
of the earth:
30
Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was
daily his delight, rejoicing always before him;
31
Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my
delights were with the sons of men.
32 ¶ Now therefore hearken unto me, O ye children: for
blessed are they that keep my ways.
33
Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not.
34
Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my
gates, waiting at the posts of my doors.
35
For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour
of the LORD.
36
But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love
death.