22 A good name is more desirable than great wealth.
Respect is better than silver or gold.
2 The rich and the poor have this in common:
Yahweh is the maker of them all.
3 Sensible people foresee trouble and hide from it,
but gullible people go ahead and suffer the consequence.
4 On the heels of humility (the fear of Yahweh)
are riches and honor and life.
5 A devious person has thorns and traps ahead of him.
Whoever guards himself will stay far away from them.
6 Train a child in the way he should go,
and even when he is old he will not turn away from it.
7 A rich person rules poor people,
and a borrower is a slave to a lender.
8 Whoever plants injustice will harvest trouble,
and this weapon of his own fury will be destroyed.
9 Whoever is generous will be blessed
because he has shared his food with the poor.
10 Drive out a mocker, and conflict will leave.
Quarreling and abuse will stop.
11 Whoever loves a pure heart and whoever speaks graciously
has a king as his friend.
12 Yahweh’s eyes watch over knowledge,
but he overturns the words of a treacherous person.
13 A lazy person says,
“There’s a lion outside!
I’ll be murdered in the streets!”
14 The mouth of an adulterous woman is a deep pit.
The one who is cursed by Yahweh will fall into it.
15 Foolishness is firmly attached to a child’s heart.
Spanking will remove it far from him.
16 Oppressing the poor for profit
or giving to the rich
certainly leads to poverty.
Listen to My Advice
17 Open your ears, and hear the words of wise people,
and set your mind on the knowledge I give you.
18 It is pleasant if you keep them in mind
so that they will be on the tip of your tongue,
19 so that your trust may be in Yahweh.
Today I have made them known to you, especially to you.
20 Didn’t I write to you previously with advice and knowledge
21 in order to teach you the words of truth
so that you can give an accurate report to those who send you?
Living with Your Neighbor
22 Do not rob the poor because they are poor
or trample on the rights of an oppressed person at the city gate,
23 because Yahweh will plead their case
and will take the lives of those who rob them.
24 Do not be a friend of one who has a bad temper,
and never keep company with a hothead,
25 or you will learn his ways
and set a trap for yourself.
26 Do not be found among those who make deals with a handshake,
among those who guarantee other people’s loans.
27 If you have no money to pay back a loan,
why should your bed be repossessed?
28 Do not move an ancient boundary marker
that your ancestors set in place.
29 Do you see a person who is efficient in his work?
He will serve kings.
He will not serve unknown people.