unfoldingWord® Translation Questions
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| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, the king of Israel: | {These are} the wise sayings said by Solomon. {He was} David’s son and Israel’s king. |
Solomon, the king of Israel, was the author of these proverbs.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| To know wisdom and instruction, to understand sayings of understanding; | {These wise sayings are} for knowing what is wise and instructive. {They are} for understanding insightful things that people say. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| to receive instruction of insight, righteousness and justice and integrity; | {These wise sayings are} for instructing someone about what is insightful, righteous, just, and honest. |
These proverbs teach people about what is insightful, righteous, just, and honest.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| to give to naive ones prudence, to a young man knowledge and discretion | {They are} for making naive people prudent, and {for making} young people knowledgeable and discreet. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| (may a wise one hear and increase learning, and an understanding one acquire guidance), | (Let wise people listen {to these wise sayings} and learn more. Indeed, {let these sayings} guide understanding people so that they know what to do.) |
Wise people can increase their learning, and understanding people can acquire guidance by listening to these proverbs.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| to understand a proverb and a parable, the words of the wise ones and their riddles. | {These wise sayings are} for understanding wise sayings and parables. {Indeed, they are for understanding} what wise people say and the riddles they tell. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The fear of Yahweh {is} the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. | In order to become knowledgeable, a person must begin by deeply respecting Yahweh. {But} foolish people detest what is wise or instructive. |
The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of knowledge.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Hear, my son, the instruction of your father and do not forsake the law of your mother, | My child, listen carefully to what I, your father, am teaching you. Indeed, obey the rules that your mother has commanded. |
A son should listen to instruction from his father and mother.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| for they {are} a garland of grace for your head and pendants for your neck. | {Obey your parents’ teaching} because then {people will admire and respect you;} it will be as if those teachings were an attractive wreath on your head, or beautiful necklaces around your neck. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent. | My child, if sinful people tempt you {to sin with them}, refuse {to do so}. |
A son should refuse to follow those who try to entice him to sin.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| If they say, “Come with us! Let us lie in wait for blood. Let us hide to ambush the innocent one without cause. | Those sinful people may say, “Join us! We will hide and wait in order to kill someone {who walks by}. Indeed, we will hide ourselves in order to suddenly attack an innocent person for no good reason. |
Those who are sinning plan to fill their houses with what they steal from others.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Let us swallow them, the living ones, like Sheol, and the whole ones like those going down to a pit. | We will kill living people completely, as if we were their grave. {Yes, we will kill} healthy people, as if they could not escape dying. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| We will find all precious wealth. We will fill our houses {with} spoil. | We will discover many valuable treasures! We will fill our houses with what we steal! |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| You must cause your lot to fall in our midst; one purse will be for all of us.” | Join our gang! We will share all the loot between us.” |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| My son, do not walk on the road with them; restrain your foot from their path, | My child, do not associate with those sinful people! Prevent yourself from doing the things that they do! |
Those who are sinning hurry to do wicked things.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| for their feet run to evil, and they hurry to pour out blood. | {Avoid those sinners} because they are eager to do wicked things. They even rush to murder people. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Surely in vain {is} the net spread out in the eyes of any owner of wing, | It is useless {for a hunter} to put out a net {to trap a bird} while the bird is watching {because the bird will avoid the net}. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| but they lie in wait for their blood; they hide in ambush for their lives. | However, {these sinful people are more foolish than birds.} They hide in wait, but they kill themselves. Indeed, they hide so that they can suddenly attack, but they themselves die. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| So {are} the paths of all who unjustly gain unjust gain; it takes the life of its owner. | That is what happens to anyone who gains wealth in an unjust manner. What they gained unjustly will kill them. |
Unjust gain will kill those who gain unjustly.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Wisdom calls out outside; she gives her voice in the open areas. | Imagine that everything that is wise is a woman who calls out {to everyone} in public. Imagine that this woman shouts {to people} in crowded places. |
Wisdom calls out in open areas where busy streets intersect and at the entrance of the city gates.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| At the head of the tumultuous places she calls out; at the opening of the gates in the city, she says her sayings, | Imagine that she calls out {to people} at the place where busy streets intersect. Imagine that she speaks her {wise} words at the {crowded} entrance of the city gates. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| “Until when will naive ones love naiveté and mockers delight {in} mockery for themselves and stupid ones hate knowledge? | She says, “You naive people have loved being naive for too long! You people who ridicule {others} have enjoyed ridiculing {others} to benefit yourselves for too long! You foolish people have hated what you should know for too long! |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Turn to my rebuke. Behold, I shall allow my spirit to gush forth to you, I shall cause you to know my words. | Turn around {and listen} to me when I correct you! Listen! I will tell you all that I am thinking. Indeed, I will help you to understand what I have to say to you. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Because I have called and you have refused, I have stretched out my hand, and there was no one listening attentively, | I called out {to you}, but you refused {to listen}. Indeed, I invited you to come to me, but no one paid any attention {to me}. |
Those who lacked wisdom ignored what Wisdom said and refused to listen when Wisdom called out to them.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| and you have ignored all my counsel, and my rebuke you did not accept, | You ignored everything that I advised you to do. Indeed, you rejected what I said to correct you. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| I too shall laugh at your calamity, I shall mock when your dread comes, | Therefore, as for me, I will laugh at you when disastrous things happen to you. Indeed, I will ridicule you when you are terrified. |
Wisdom will laugh when calamity comes on those who lack wisdom.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| when your dread comes like a stormand your calamity happens like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you. | {Yes,} when you are terrified as if a violent storm has arrived, {when} disastrous things happen to you violently, {and} when you become distressed and anguished{, I will ridicule you}! |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Then they will call out to me, but I will not answer. They will diligently seek me, but they will not find me, | At that time, those foolish people will cry out to me {to help them}, but I will not reply {to them}. Indeed, they will desperately look for me, but they will not be able to find me. |
Wisdom will not answer when those who lack wisdom call upon her.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| for the reason that they hate knowledge and the fear of Yahweh they did not choose, | {Those foolish people will not find me} because they refuse to learn. Also, they have decided not to respect Yahweh. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| they did not want my counsel, and they despised my every rebuke. | Those foolish people rejected what I advised them to do. Indeed, they detested everything I said to correct them. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| And they will eat from the fruit of their way, and from their plans they will be satisfied. | Those foolish people will suffer rightly for what they have done. Indeed, they will suffer fully for what they have planned. |
Those who lack wisdom will suffer rightly for their plans and for what they have done.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| For the turning away of the naive ones will slay them and {false} security will lead stupid ones to ruin. | Ultimately, naive people will die because they refuse {to be wise}. Indeed, being complacent will destroy foolish people. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| But the one who listens to me will dwell securely and will be at ease from the dread of evil.” | By contrast, people who listen attentively to what I say will live safely. They will not fear that something evil might happen to them.” |
Those who listen to Wisdom will live safely and not dread evil.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| My son, if you receive my sayings, and my commandments you store up with you, | My child, accept what I say. Consider what I command {you} to be precious. |
The father wants his son to consider his commandments to be precious.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| to cause your ear to be attentive to wisdom, you incline your heart to understanding— | {Do this by} listening carefully to what is wise, {and by} thinking seriously about what you should understand. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| indeed, if for insight you call out, for understanding you lift up your voice, | Yes, cry out {to God} for {him to show you} what you should perceive. Call loudly {to God} for {him to teach you} what you should understand! |
The son should seek insight and understanding as silver, and search for it as a hidden treasure.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| if you seek it as silver, and as hidden treasures you search for it, | Try to learn what is wise as eagerly as you would try to find silver. Indeed, look for it as you would look for a treasure that someone has hidden. |
The son will find the knowledge of God.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| then you will understand the fear of Yahweh, and the knowledge of God you will find. | {If you do those things,} then you will understand how to reverently fear Yahweh. {If you do those things,} then you will be able to know God. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| For Yahweh gives wisdom; from his mouth {are} knowledge and understanding. | {This is} because Yahweh provides people with what is wise. He tells them what they should know and understand. |
Yahweh is a shield for those who walking with integrity.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| And he stores upfor the upright ones sound wisdom; a shield for those walking {with} integrity, | He gives what is truly wise to upright people. He protects people who behave honestly. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| to guard the paths of justice, and the way of his faithful ones he will preserve. | {He does these things} in order to guard those people who live justly. Indeed, he keeps safe those people who are faithful to him. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Then you will understand righteousness and justice and integrity—every good track, | {If you listen to me,} then you will understand what is righteous, just, and honest— all the best ways to behave. |
The son will understand righteousness, justice, and integrity.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| for wisdom will enter into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. | {This is because} you will truly know what is wise, and knowing {what is wise} will please you. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Discretion will watch over you; understanding will guard you, | Being able to choose wisely will make you safe. Indeed, being able to understand {what is happening around you} will make you secure. |
Discretion and understanding will rescue the son from the way of evil and from people who speak perversely.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| to rescue you from the way of evil, from a man speaking perversions, | {Being wise like this} will keep you from doing wicked things, {and you will stay away} from people who speak perversely. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| the ones who forsake the paths of straightness to walk in the ways of darkness, | Those people refuse to behave righteously in order to behave wickedly. |
Those who walk in the ways of darkness forsake the paths of straightness, they refuse to behave righteously.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| the ones who are glad to do evil, they rejoice in perverse things of evil, | They gladly do what is wrong. They enjoy doing things that are perverse and evil. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| whose paths {are} crooked and going astray in their tracks; | They behave deceptively. Indeed, they act deviously. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| to rescue you from a strange woman, from a foreign woman who makes her sayings smooth, | {Being discreet and insightful} will protect you {also} from adulterous women. {Being discreet and insightful will save you} from immoral women who speak {to you} seductively. |
The strange woman forsakes the companion of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| the one who forsakes the companion of her youth, and the covenant of her God, she has forgotten. | Those women left the husbands they married when they were young. They even forgot what they had promised to God {when they married}. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| For her house sinks down to death and her tracks, to the spirits of dead ones. | {Being discreet and insightful will rescue you} because {going to} such a woman’s house will cause you to die. Indeed, going with her is the same as going to the place where the spirits of dead people are. |
The immoral woman’s tracks lead down to death.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| All those who enter her will not return, and they will not reach the paths of life. | No man who acts adulterously with her will live again. He will no longer be able to live in a way that results in life with God. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| So you shall walk in the way of the good ones and the paths of the righteous ones you shall keep. | Therefore, behave like a good person. Indeed, conduct yourself like a righteous person. |
The son should walk, or behave like a righteous person.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| For the upright will dwell {in} the land, and the blameless will remain in it, | This is important because {only} people who live uprightly will live in our land, Indeed, it is the people who do not act wickedly who will stay in this land for a long time. |
People who live uprightly will stay in this land for a long time.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| but wicked ones will be cut off from the land, and treacherous ones will be torn away from it. | By contrast, Yahweh will remove people who act wickedly from our land. Be sure of this: Yahweh will completely remove people who act treacherously from this land! |
Those who are wicked will be removed from the land.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| My son, do not forget my law, and my commandments let your heart guard. | My child, remember the rules I have taught you! Always be mindful to obey what I have commanded you! |
The father’s commands and teachings will add years of life and peace to his son.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| For length of days and years of life and peace, they will add to you. | {Do this} because {obeying} what I have commanded you will help you live for a long time with many fulfilling and peaceful years. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Do not let covenant faithfulness and trustworthiness leave you; tie them on your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart, | Always be faithful and trustworthy. Let everyone see {how faithful and trustworthy you are, as if} they were a necklace you are wearing. Remember to be faithful and trustworthy at all times. |
Covenant faithfulness and trustworthiness must be written on the tablet of one’s heart.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| and find favor and good insight in the eyes of God and man! | As a result of doing so, both God and people will approve of you and consider you an insightful person. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Trust in Yahweh with all your heart and on your understanding do not lean. | Trust Yahweh completely, and do not rely on what you understand. |
The son must not lean on (rely on) his own understanding.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| In all your ways acknowledge him, and he himself will straighten your paths. | Let Yahweh lead you whenever you do anything. As a result {of doing so}, he will show you what you should do. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Do not be wise in your eyes; fear Yahweh and turn away from evil. | Do not think that you know what is best. Instead, revere Yahweh and refuse to do what is evil. |
The son must not see himself as wise.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| It will be healing for your navel and refreshment for your bones. | Doing so will make your body healthy. Indeed, {doing so} will strengthen you from the inside. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Honor Yahweh from your wealth and from the first of all your produce, | Revere Yahweh {by giving to him} some of your riches, and {by giving to him} some of the first {crops} from everything that you harvest. |
The son must honor Yahweh with his wealth.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| and your storehouses will be filled with abundance, and with new wine, your wine vats will burst open. | {Doing so} will result in your places for storing crops becoming completely full {of crops}. Even your containers for wine will overflow with fresh wine. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The correction of Yahweh, my son, do not reject, and do not abhor his rebuke. | My child, do not refuse to listen when Yahweh corrects you. Do not be resentful even when he rebukes you. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| For whom Yahweh loves, he disciplines, and like a father, a son in whom he delights. | {Do not respond in that way} because Yahweh {only} reproves the people whom he loves, just as a father reproves the children whom he cherishes. |
Yahweh disciplines those whom he loves.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Happy {is} a man who finds wisdom and a man who obtains understanding. | People who become wise are happy. Indeed, the people who understand {Yahweh’s world are the ones who} are truly happy. |
Being wise benefits people more than silver could benefit them. Indeed, being wise is worth more to people than having gold.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| For better {is} its profit than the profit of silver, and than gold, its produce. | {This is} because being wise benefits people more than silver {could benefit them}. Indeed, being wise is worth more to people than having gold. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| She is more precious than coral pearls, and all your desired things do not compare with her. | Being wise is more valuable than precious jewels. There is nothing that you could desire that is worth as much as being wise. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Length of days {is} in her right hand; in her left hand {are} riches and honor. | Being wise will help you live for a long time. Being wise will help you become wealthy and honorable. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Her ways {are} ways of pleasantness, and all her paths {are} peace. | Being wise will allow you to live pleasantly. Indeed, in every way being wise will allow you to live peacefully. |
All the paths of wisdom are peace.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| She {is} a tree of life to the ones who take hold of her, and those who grasp her {are} happy. | What is wise is {like} a tree {with fruit} that sustains the people who possess it, People who are consistently wise live happily. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Yahweh by wisdom founded the earth; he established the heavens by understanding. | Yahweh made the world through being wise. Through being skillful, he made the sky and everything in it. |
Yahweh made the world through being wise.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| By his knowledge, the depths broke open and the clouds dripped dew. | Through knowing all things, Yahweh made water burst forth from deep {below the earth} and he made water fall from the clouds {above}. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| My son, do not let them depart from your eyes; guard prudence and discretion, | My child, always remember to do what is prudent and brings a good outcome. Always be mindful to do those things. |
Prudence and discretion will be life to the son’s soul.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| and they will be life for your soul and grace for your neck. | Doing so will give you a satisfying life and people will honor and respect you. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Then you will walk your way to security and your foot will not stumble. | Doing what is prudent and good will {also} cause you to live safely. They will keep you from making any serious mistakes. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| If you lie down, you will not be in dread. You will lie down, and your sleep will be pleasant. | When you lie down {to sleep}, you will not fear anything. You will lie down {to sleep} and sleep peacefully. |
When he lies down, he will not fear anything, and he will sleep peacefully.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Do not be afraid of sudden dread and of the devastation of the wicked when it comes. | Do not worry about something terrible suddenly happening {to you}, or about {what will happen} when God destroys wicked people. |
The son should not be afraid of sudden dread or devastation.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| For Yahweh will be your confidence, and he will keep your foot from capture. | {Do not worry} because Yahweh will make you confident. He will not allow people to harm you. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Do not withhold good from its owners, when it is in the power of your hand to act. | Do not refrain from giving what is good to people who deserve it when you are able to do so. |
The son should not withhold what is good from people who deserve it.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Do not say to your neighbor, “Go and return, and tomorrow I will give {it},” and it is with you. | When you are with a friend {who needs something}, and you have it with you, do not tell that person, “Go away and come back tomorrow. I will give it to you then.” |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Do not plot evil against your neighbor, and he is dwelling securely with you. | Do not plan to harm people that you interact with, because they live near you and they trust you. |
The son should not make a plan to harm his neighbor.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Do not contend with a man without cause if he has not done you evil. | Do not argue needlessly with someone who has not harmed you. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Do not be envious of a man of violence, and do not choose any of his ways. | Do not envy violent people. Do not imitate anything they do. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| For an abomination to Yahweh {is} he who goes astray, but with the upright ones {is} his secret counsel. | {Do not do so} because Yahweh detests {such} people who act wickedly, but he converses like a friend with people who act uprightly. |
Yahweh detests people who act wickedly.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The curse of Yahweh {is} on the house of a wicked {one}, but he blesses the abode of the righteous. | Yahweh causes bad things to happen to the families of wicked people, but he causes good things to happen to the families of righteous people. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Though to the mockers he himself mocks, yet to the humble ones he gives favor. | When people ridicule {others}, it is Yahweh who ridicules them, but he kindly helps those who are humble. |
Yahweh himself mocks the mockers.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Wise ones will inherit honor, but stupid ones lift up dishonor. | People will honor wise people, but people will shame foolish people. |
The wise inherit honor.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Hear, sons, the instruction of a father, and listen attentively in order to know understanding. | Children, listen carefully to what I, your father, am teaching you. Pay attention in order to learn what you should understand. |
The sons should not forget their father’s instruction.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| For I give good teaching to you; do not forsake my law. | {Do this} because what I am teaching you is good. {So} remember the rules that I am teaching you. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| When I was a son of my father, the tender and only one to the face of my mother, | When I was just a boy with my father, {and} my mother’s delicate, only son. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| then he taught me and said to me, “Let your heart grasp my words; keep my commandments and live! | During that time, my father taught me. He told me, “Remember what I have told you! Do what I have commanded you, so that you will keep on living! |
The father told the son he would live by keeping the father’s commands.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Acquire wisdom, acquire understanding; do not forget and do not veer from the sayings of my mouth. | Learn what is wise and what you should understand! Always remember and keep doing the things that I have said to you! |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Do not forsake her, and she will preserve you; love her, and she will guard you. | Keep doing what is wise, because doing so will keep you safe. Love doing what is wise, because being wise will protect you from harm. |
Wisdom will watch over him and keep him safe.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Wisdom {is} first. Acquire wisdom! And with all your acquisition acquire understanding! | Being wise is the most important thing. {So} become wise! {Even if} it costs you everything that you own, become a person who understands {God’s world}! |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Cherish her, and she will raise you up; she will honor you when you embrace her. | Prize what is wise, so that you will become great. People will honor you when you value what is wise. |
Wisdom will honor him, as if putting a crown of splendor on his head.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| She will give for your head a garland of grace; {with} a crown of splendor she will cover you.” | Being wise will make you {respectable,} as though you had an attractive wreath on your head. Indeed, being wise will make you {honorable,} as though you were wearing a magnificent crown.” |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Hear, my son, and receive my sayings, and they will multiply for you the years of life. | My child, listen attentively and accept what I say. Doing so will increase the number of years that you live. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| In the way of wisdom I taught you; I caused you to tread in the tracks of uprightness. | I instructed you in how to act wisely. I directed you in how to live in the right way. |
The father taught the son in the way of wisdom and directed him in how to live in the right way.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| In your walking, your step will not be restricted; and if you run, you will not stumble. | {If you follow my teaching,} nothing will hinder you {from succeeding}. Indeed, if you attempt great things, you will do well. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Grasp on to instruction, do not let go; guard it, for it {is} your life. | Consistently remember the things I have instructed you; keep remembering them! Always be mindful of them, because they will keep you alive. |
The son must consistently remember the things his father has instructed him, for it is his life.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| On the path of wicked ones do not go, and do not advance on the way of evil ones. | Do not do what wicked people do. Indeed, do not behave in the way that evil people behave. |
The son must avoid the path of the wicked ones.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Avoid it, do not pass through it; veer from it and pass on! | Shun doing what is evil. Do not even consider doing it! Refuse to act wickedly and do something else. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| For they do not sleep if they do not do evil and their sleep is robbed if they do not cause stumbling. | {Do not act wickedly} because {it is as if} evil people cannot even sleep unless they have done something evil {on that day}; {it is as if} they cannot rest unless they hurt someone. |
The wicked feel that they must do evil before they can sleep.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| For they eat the bread of wickedness and the wine of violent {acts}, they drink. | {Do not act wickedly} because evil people do wicked things as if they were eating food; they violently hurt others as if they were drinking wine. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| But the path of the righteous ones {is} like the light of brightness, going and shining until the day {is} established. | As for righteous people, they will live {wisely and safely} as people do who walk in the sunshine; {they will live more and more wisely and safely,} just as the sun shines brighter and brighter until the brightest time of day. |
The path of the righteous is like the light of the sun that grows brighter until the brightest time of day.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The way of the wicked {is} like the darkness; they do not know on what they stumble. | {But} the way that wicked people live is {dangerous,} like people {who walk} in total darkness. {Like people walking in darkness do not know} what they trip over, wicked people do not know {what hurts them}. |
The way of the wicked is like the darkness.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| My son, listen attentively to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. | My child, pay attention to what I am saying to you! Listen carefully to what I say! |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart. | Keep thinking about what I say! Fully commit yourself to remembering such things! |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| For they {are} life to those who find them and healing to all of his flesh. | {Do this} because those who live according to my words will have good lives, and their whole bodies will be healthy. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Guard your heart more than all {that} is protected, for from it {are} the sources of life. | More than anything else, be extremely careful about what you think and desire, because those things will control how you live. |
The son must guard his heart extremely carefully, for from it are the sources of life.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Remove from you perversity of mouth, and the deviousness of lips put far away from you. | Do not say anything that deceives people. Indeed, never say anything that misleads people. |
The son must put away speech that deceives or misleads people.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Cause your eyes to gaze to the front, and cause your eyelids to be straight in front of you. | {Focus on doing what is right, like} someone who is always looking straight ahead. Indeed, {act like} someone who is looking straight in front of himself. |
The son must focus his gaze on doing what is right.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Make levelthe track of your foot and all your ways will be firm. | Plan carefully to do things in the right way. As a result {of doing so}, you will succeed in everything that you do. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Do not veer right or left; cause your foot to turn away from evil. | Do not do anything other than what is right. Prevent yourself from doing what is evil. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| My son, listen attentively to my wisdom; incline your ear to my understanding | My son, pay attention to the wise things that I tell you! Listen carefully to what I say you should understand! |
If he listens carefully to what he should understand, the son will learn to be able to choose wisely what to do, and to know the right things to say.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| in order to keep discretion, and your lips may guard knowledge. | {Do this} so that you will be able to choose wisely {what to do}, and {so that} you will know the {right} things to say. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| For the lips of a strange woman drip fresh honey and smoother than oil {is} her palate, | {Do this} because what adulterous women say seems delightful like the taste of honey. Yes, their words are more soothing than how olive oil feels on your skin. |
After being with such a woman you will be miserable, as if you had eaten a bitter plant.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| but her aftermath {is} bitter as wormwood, sharp as a sword of mouths. | However, after being with such a woman you will be miserable, as if you had eaten a bitter plant. {You will suffer} like a person whom someone has cut with a sharp, double-edged sword. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Her feet are going down {to} death; her steps take hold of Sheol, | {Being with} such a woman will cause both of you to die. Indeed, what she does {with you} will cause you to become a dead person. |
Her feet are going down to death.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| lest she observe the path of life; she does not know her tracks {are} unstable. | She does not want to do what will cause her to live well. She does not realize that she {lives precariously like someone who} is walking on a broken path. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| And now, sons, listen to me; and do not turn away from the sayings of my mouth. | So now, children, pay attention to what I say! Always remember what I have spoken to you! |
The sons are to keep far away from any adulterous woman and not even go near her house.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Keep your way far from her, and do not come near to the opening of her house, | Stay far away from any adulterous woman! Do not even go near the door of the place where such a woman dwells! |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| lest you give to others your splendor and your years to a cruel one, | If you go to such a woman, you will be giving the best efforts of your youth to others, and a merciless person will take away {everything that you would gain in} the best time of your life. |
If he goes to such a woman, the son will give away the best efforts of his youth.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| lest strangers be satisfied with your strength, and your toils in the house of a foreigner, | If you go to such a woman, people you do not know will satisfy themselves with {what you produced} when you were strong, and an outsider will fill his house with what you labored to gain. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| and you groan at your end, when your flesh and your body are finished. | Then you will groan when you are about to die and have worn out your whole body. |
If the son becomes involved with an adulterous woman, he will groan when he is about to die.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| And you will say, “How I hated correction, and my heart despised rebuke! | Then you will say, “I hated it extremely when people corrected me! Indeed, I scorned people when they rebuked me! |
If he becomes involved with an adulterous woman, he will say that he hated correction and despised rebuke.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| And I did not listen to the voice of my teachers, and to my instructors I did not incline my ear. | I did not obey the people who taught me. Indeed, I did not listen carefully to the people who instructed me. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| I am as a little in all evil in the midst of the assembly and the congregation.” | My people are close to considering me as someone who has wasted his life.” |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Drink water from your cistern and flowing waters from the midst of your well. | {So be like} someone who only drinks water from his own well; have sex with your wife only. |
The sons should only drink water from their own well, which means to have sex with his wife only.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Should your springs overflow outside, channels of water in the open areas? | {Do not be like} someone who lets his water run out into the streets; never have sex with other women! |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Let them be for you, for you alone, and not for strangers with you. | Only have sex with your own wife! Do not have sex with other women! |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| May your fountain be blessed, and be glad because of the wife of your youth! | {As a result,} may Yahweh bless your marriage {with children}; enjoy {sexually} the woman whom you married when you were young! |
He should be exhilarated by how the wife of his youth loves him.
The father tells the son to enjoy sexually the woman whom he married when he was young.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A doe of loves and a mountain goat of grace, may her breasts drench you on every occasion; may you continually stagger in her love. | {She is as beautiful as} a loving deer and a graceful mountain goat. Let her breasts satisfy you always. Constantly be exhilarated by how she loves you. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| And why would you stagger, my son, with a strange woman, or embrace the bosom of a foreign woman? | My son, you should never be exhilarated by an adulterous woman! You should never passionately caress an immoral woman! |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| For in front of the eyes of Yahweh {are} the ways of a man, and all of his paths he observes. | {Never do that} because Yahweh fully knows what people do. Indeed, he knows everything that people do. |
Yahweh knows everything that people do.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| His iniquities capture him, the wicked one, and by the cords of his sin he is grasped. | The wicked things that wicked people do are {like} traps that catch them; the sinful things that they do are {like} ropes by which others can grab them. |
The wicked things that the wicked one does will capture him and his sin will be like cords that grasp him.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| He will die because there is no correction, and in the abundance of his folly he staggers. | Those wicked people will die because they did not discipline themselves. They will do what kills them because they are extremely foolish. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| My son, if you pledge for your neighbor, you clasp your palms for a stranger, | My child, if you guarantee to pay a loan for someone you meet, {that is, if} you agree to pay a loan for someone you do not know, |
The son could regret what he says if he guarantees a loan for a stranger.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| you are ensnared by the sayings of your mouth, you are caught by the sayings of your mouth, | {if in this way} you have said things that you regret {because} it would be very difficult for you {to fulfill} what you promised, |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| then do this, my son, and rescue yourself: Since you have come into the palm of your neighbor, go, humble yourself, and press your neighbor. | then, my child, do this in order to save yourself {from having to pay back this loan}: humbly go to that person and beg him {to cancel what you have promised}, because he now controls you. |
To save himself the son must humbly go to that person and beg him to cancel what the son has promised.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Do not give sleep to your eyes and slumber to your eyelids. | Do not wait until tomorrow; {go immediately!} do not allow yourself to rest {until you go and talk to him}. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Rescue yourself like a gazelle from a hand and like a bird from the hand of the trapper. | Save yourself {immediately}, as if you were a deer fleeing from a hunter or a bird fleeing from a trapper. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Go to the ant, lazy one! See its ways and be wise, | You lazy person, learn {something} from {watching} ants! Consider what ants do so that you can be wise. |
A lazy person should consider the ant, see its ways, and learn to be wise.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| which, without a commander, officer, or ruler for it, | Absolutely no one tells ants what to do. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| prepares its bread in the summer; it gathers its food in the harvest. | {Nevertheless,} they work hard all during the summer, gathering and storing food {to eat during the winter}. |
In the summer, the ant gathers and stores food to eat during the winter.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Until when, lazy one, will you lie down? When will you rise from your sleep? | {But} you lazy person, stop sleeping! Wake up! |
He will become poor and needy just as surely as if a thief has robbed him.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to lie down”— | {If you say to yourself,} “Let me sleep just a little more! Let me lay my hands {across my chest} in order to rest comfortably for a little while longer!” |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| and your poverty will come like one who walks and your need like a man of shield. | Then {the result of being so lazy will be that} you will become poor and needy just as surely as if a thief has robbed you. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A man of worthlessness, a man of iniquity, {is} one who walks {with} perversity of mouth, | {I will describe for you what} worthless, sinful people {do. They} constantly deceive people by what they say. |
Worthless, sinful people are people who constantly deceive other people by what they say.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| one who winks with his eye, one who rubs with his foot, one who points with his fingers. | They make gestures, such as winking their eyes, signaling with their feet, and pointing their fingers {to communicate their evil plans to their friends}. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Perverse things {are} in his heart, plotting evil on every occasion; he sends forth quarrels. | They are always thinking perversely while planning how to do evil things. They cause people to argue {with each other}. |
He will be suddenly destroyed and unable to recover.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Therefore his calamity will come instantly; suddenly he will be broken and without healing. | Because of this, disastrous things will suddenly happen to those people. Someone will destroy them instantly and they will not be able to recover. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Six {are} they {that} Yahweh hates, and seven {are} abominations to his self: | Yahweh absolutely hates six, no, seven things: |
There are six things that Yahweh hates, seven that are abominations to him.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| uplifted eyes, a tongue of falsehood, and hands pouring out innocent blood, | being proud, speaking falsely, someone murdering a person who has not done anything wrong, |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| a heart devising plans of iniquity, feet hurrying to run to evil, | someone planning ways to act sinfully, someone eagerly looking for ways to act wickedly, |
Yahweh hates the heart of someone planning ways to act sinfully.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| a witness of falsehood breathing out lies, and sending forth quarrels between brothers. | someone who naturally lies when testifying, and someone causing members of the same family to argue. |
Yahweh hates the witness who lies when testifying.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Guard, my son, the commandment of your father and do not forsake the law of your mother. | My child, be mindful to obey what I, your father, have commanded {you}. Indeed, obey the rules that your mother has commanded. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Bind them on your heart continually; tie them around your neck. | Remember what we have taught you as if it were always a part of you. Indeed, {remember these lessons as if} you wore them like a necklace. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| When you walk about, it will guide you; when you lie down, it will preserve you; then you will wake up; it itself will converse with you. | The wise things that we have taught you will help you to know what you should do as you go about each day. They will cause you to be safe when you sleep. When you wake up {in the morning}, they will be what will continue to instruct you. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| For commandment {is} a lamp and law {is} a light, and the rebukes of instruction {are} the way of life, | {This is so} because what I have commanded {you} is {like} a lamp {that shows you your way}. Indeed, the rules {we taught you} are {like} a light {to guide you}. When we rebuke you while instructing you, {we do that} so that you can do what will give you a good life. |
Commandment is likened to a lamp and the law is likened to a light.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| to keep you from a woman of evil, from the smoothness of the tongue of a foreign woman. | {We taught you these lessons} in order to prevent you from {going to} wicked women, {and to prevent you} from {believing} the seductive talk of immoral women. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Do not desire her beauty in your heart and do not let her take you with her eyelashes. | Do not think lustfully about her beautiful body. Do not let her seduce you by the {flirtatious} way she looks at you. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| For the price of a prostitute woman {is} as a loaf of bread, but the wife of a man hunts a precious life. | {Do not do so} because, although having sex with a prostitute may only cost you a cheap meal, {doing so with} an {adulterous} married woman will cause you to die. |
Having sex with the wife of another will cause him to die.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Could a man carry a fire on his chest and his clothes not be burned? | A man cannot hold fire against his chest without burning his clothes! |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| If a man walks on coals then will his feet not be scorched? | No one can walk on burning coals without blistering his feet! |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| So is the one going to the wife of his neighbor: Every one who touches her will not remain blameless. | It is similar with anyone who has sex with another man’s wife. People will certainly punish anyone who does that. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| They do not despise the thief if he steals to satisfy his appetite when he is hungry; | People do not resent someone who steals if he only steals {food} because he is hungry. |
People do not despise someone who steals if he only steals food because he is hungry.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| but if he is found, he must repay sevenfold; all the wealth of his house he must give. | Nevertheless, if people catch thieves, those thieves must pay back seven times {as much as they stole to those from whom they stole}. They may have to give everything that they own {in order to repay what they stole}. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One who commits adultery {with} a woman {is} lacking of heart; destroying his life, he does it. | By contrast, a man who acts adulterously with a woman is not thinking. By doing this, he destroys himself! |
A man who commits adultery with a woman destroys himself.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| He will find a wound and disgrace, and his shame will not be wiped out. | {The woman’s husband} will injure him, people will despise him, and he will always be ashamed. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| For jealousy is the heat of a man, and he will not spare in the day of vengeance. | {This is so} because the jealous husband will become furious. He will act mercilessly when he revenges himself {on the man who acted adulterously with his wife}. |
That jealous husband will not accept any money to stop being furious, no matter how much money you offer him.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| He will not lift up the face of any ransom, and he will not be willing if you increase the bribe. | That jealous husband will not accept any money {to stop being furious}, no matter how much money you offer him. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| My son, keep my sayings and store up my commandments with you. | My son, obey what I have told you. Carefully remember the things that I have commanded you. |
The son must keep his father’s sayings and commandments to live.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Keep my commandments and live, and my law, as the pupil of your eyes. | Do what I have commanded {you}, so that you will live {long and well}. Consider the rules I have taught you to be the most precious things that you possess. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Tie them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart. | Constantly remind yourself of the things that I have commanded you. Memorize them! |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Say to Wisdom, “You {are} my sister,” and call to Understanding, “Kinsman,” | Love what is wise as if it were your sister. Indeed, love what you should understand as if it were a close relative. |
Wisdom and Understanding keep the son from immoral women who speak to him seductively.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| in order to keep you from the strange woman, from the foreign woman who makes her sayings smooth. | {Do this} so that you will be able to stay away from adulterous women, and {stay away} from immoral women who speak {to you} seductively. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| For at the window of my house, through the window lattice, I looked down. | {I was} once {standing} near the window {in my house}, and I looked down {from above the street} through the shutters on the window. |
Solomon noticed a young man who does not think wisely.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| And I saw among the naive ones, I discerned among the sons, a young man lacking of heart | Then I observed {someone} among the naive people. I noticed among the youths a young man who does not think wisely. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| passing through the lane beside her corner, and he steps {in} the way of her house, | He walked down the street near the corner of {the road where} the adulterous woman {dwells}. Then he walked on the path toward her house. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| in the twilight breeze, in the evening of day, in the pupil of the night and darkness. | (It was the time of day when night begins, {and then} it became dark.) |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| And behold, {there is} a woman to meet him, {with} the garment of a prostitute and guarded of heart. | Then I saw that an adulterous woman approached the young man. She was wearing a prostitute’s clothing and intended to deceive {the young man}. |
She was wearing a prostitute’s clothing.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| (She {is} a loud and rebellious one; her feet do not stay in her house. | (That woman spoke loudly and acted rebelliously. She never stayed at home. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| At {one} time in the street, at {another} time in the open areas, and beside every corner she lies in wait.) | She {often} walked around the streets and public places. At the corner of any road she waited {for a man whom she could seduce}.) |
At the corner of any road, she waits for a man whom she can seduce.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| And she grabs him and kisses him; she strengthens her face and says to him, | When {she saw the young man}, she firmly took hold of him and kissed him. She shamelessly told {him}, |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| “The sacrifices of peace offerings {are} with me; today I paid my vows. | “Today {I have meat in my house, because} I sacrificed an animal {in the temple} to promise friendship {with Yahweh}. {In this way} I did what I had vowed to do. |
That day, the woman had sacrificed an animal.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Therefore, I came out to meet you, to diligently seek your face, and I found you. | So I have come out here to meet you. {I have come out} to look everywhere for you, and now I have found you! |
The woman is looking everywhere for the young man.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| I have spread my couch {with} coverings, colored linen of Egypt. | I have covered my bed with expensive Egyptian fabric. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| I have sprinkled my bed {with} myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. | I have put pleasant-smelling perfumes on my bed: myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Come, let us drink fully of lovemaking until the morning; let us delight ourselves with loves! | Come {with me}! Let us satisfy ourselves sexually all night! Let us enjoy ourselves sexually! |
The woman invites the young man to come with her so they can satisfy themselves with lovemaking until the morning.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| For the man is not in his house; he went on a road far away. | {Come with me} because my husband is not at home. He has gone away on a long journey. |
The woman’s husband is away from home on a long journey.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| He took the bag of silver in his hand; on the day of the full moon he will enter his house.” | He filled a bag with money and took it with him. He will not return home until the middle of the month.” |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| She leads him astray with the abundance of her instruction; with the smoothness of her lips she compels him. | {Thus} that adulterous woman persuaded the young man by speaking many persuasive things; by speaking seductively she allured him {into doing what she wanted him to do}. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Following after her suddenly, like an ox to slaughter he goes, and like an ankle chain to the correction of a fool, | He quickly followed her {to her home}. He {unknowingly} went to die like an ox going to the place where its owner will kill it. {He unknowingly went to die} like a foolish person who lets others lead him by a chain to where they will punish him |
The young man follows quickly after the woman, going like an ox to its slaughter.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| until an arrow splits his liver; like a bird rushing into a trap, and he did not know that it {was} for his life. | until {someone kills him by} shooting an arrow into his entrails. {He was as foolish} as a bird flying quickly into a trap. He did not realize that going with the adulterous woman would cause him to die. |
The young man’s actions will cause him to die.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| And now, sons, listen to me, and be attentive to the sayings of my mouth. | So now, children, listen to what I say! Carefully pay attention to what I have spoken to you! |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways; do not wander into her tracks. | Do not desire to be with any adulterous woman. Indeed, never go with one of them! |
He is instructed to not desire her and to never go with her.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| For she has caused many pierced ones to fall, and numerous {are} all her slain ones. | {Do not do so} because they have ruined the lives of many men. It would be difficult to count all of the men that they have caused to die! |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Her house {is} the ways of Sheol, descending to the rooms of death. | {Going to} an adulterous woman’s house is like choosing to become a dead person. Those who enter her bedroom will die as a result. |
Those who enter her bedroom will die as a result.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Does not Wisdom call out, and Understanding give her voice? | Imagine that there is a woman who represents everything that is wise. Surely such a woman calls out {to everyone}. Indeed, imagine that this woman represents everything that people should understand. Surely such a woman shouts {these things to people}. |
Wisdom calls out next to the crowded crossroads where everyone can hear her.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| At the head of the heights beside the road, the house of the paths, she stations herself. | Imagine that this woman stands at the highest place next to the crowded crossroads {where everyone can hear her}. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| At the hand of the gates, at the mouth of the city, the entrance of the openings, she cries out. | Imagine that this woman shouts loudly beside the gates at the entrance to a city. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| “To you, men, I call, and my voice {is} to the sons of man. | {Imagine that she proclaims:} “I am calling out to all of you! I am speaking to all people! |
Wisdom calls to all people.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Understand prudence, naive ones, and stupid ones, understand heart. | You naive people must learn to be prudent. You foolish people must learn how to be discerning. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Listen, for noble things I will speak, and the opening of my lips {will be} upright things. | Listen {to what I say}, because I will tell you some excellent things. I will speak to you about what is right. |
Wisdom speaks of noble things and of what is right.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| For my palate will utter truth, and wickedness {is} an abomination to my lips. | {Listen to what I say} because I speak what is true. I detest speaking what is evil. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| All the words of my mouth {are} in righteousness; there is nothing twisted or crooked in them. | Everything that I say is honest. I do not say anything that is false or that deceives {people}. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| All of them {are} straightforward things for the understanding one and upright things for finders of knowledge. | Everything that I say is plain for people who understand. {Everything that I say} is right to people who have become knowledgeable. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Take my instruction and not silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold. | Choose {to learn} what I instruct you instead of silver. Indeed, {choose to learn} what you should know instead of the finest gold. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| For wisdom {is} better than coral pearls, and all desired things do not compare with her. | {Do this} because being wise is more valuable than having precious jewels. Being wise is more valuable than anything that you can desire. |
Wisdom is more valuable than having precious jewels.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| I, Wisdom, I dwell with Prudence, and knowledge of discretion I find. | I am what is wise. I am a close relative to what is prudent. I enable people to know how to decide things intelligently. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The fear of Yahweh {is} to hate evil. Pride and arrogance and the evil way and the mouth of perverse things I hate. | Everyone who reverently fears Yahweh hates what is evil. I{, what is wise,} hate it when people are proud or arrogant. I hate it when people act wickedly and when people speak perversely. |
Those who fear Yahweh hate evil, pride, arrogance, and perverted speech.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Counsel and sound wisdom {are} mine; I {am} understanding; strength {is} mine. | I advise people well and enable them to be truly wise. I am what people need in order to understand how things truly are. I strengthen people. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| By me kings reign and dignitaries decree righteousness. | I enable kings to rule {well}. {I enable} rulers to make righteous laws. |
Kings and princes who have Wisdom rule well.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| By me, princes rule, and nobles, all judges of righteousness. | I enable princes and nobles to govern {well}. {I enable} every royal official who judges righteously {to do so}. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| I myself love those who love me, and those who diligently seek me will find me. | {I am what is wise, and} I benefit anyone who loves me. Anyone who earnestly tries to become wise will succeed. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Riches and honor {are} with me, lasting wealth and righteousness. | I enable people to become rich and I cause people to honor those people. {I enable people to have} riches that will last and {I enable people to become} righteous. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| My fruit {is} better than gold and than refined gold, and my produce, than choice silver. | What I can give people is more valuable than even the purest gold and the best silver. |
The fruit of Wisdom is better than purest gold and the best silver.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| I walk in the path of righteousness, in the midst of the pathways of justice, | I {always} do what is righteous and just |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| to cause those who love me to inherit substance; and their treasuries, I will fill. | in order to give property to people who love me. I will fill up the places where they store valuable items. |
Wisdom will give an inheritance to those who love her.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Yahweh possessed me {at} the beginning of his way, before his works from then. | Yahweh had me{, what is wise,} when he began to create {everything}. {Indeed, he had me} before he started doing that. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| From eternity I was poured out,from the head, from the ancient times of the earth. | Yahweh established me a very long time ago—at the very beginning, before the world existed. |
Wisdom was established a very long time ago, before the world existed.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| When there were no watery depths, I was brought forth, when there were no springs heavywith water. | Yahweh revealed me before the oceans existed and before there were springs abounding with water. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Before the mountains were sunk, to the face of the hills, I was brought forth, | Yahweh revealed me before he made the mountains {and} before {he made} the hills. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| before he made the earth or the outside places or the head of the loose soil of the world. | {Yahweh revealed me} before he made the land or the fields or the first particles of dirt on the earth. |
Wisdom was there when Yahweh made the earth and heavens.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| When he established the heavens, I {was} there, when he inscribed a circle over the face of the watery deep, | I was there when Yahweh made the sky, {and} when he made the boundary between the sky and the ocean’s surface. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| when he made firm the clouds above, when the springs of the watery deep became strong, | {I was there} when Yahweh made the clouds above {the earth}, {and} when he made the springs flow at the bottom of the ocean. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| when he set up for the sea its statute, so waters do not cross over his mouth, when he inscribed the foundations of the earth. | {I was there} when Yahweh set boundaries for the seas, so that the water {in the seas} would not go past the boundaries that he commanded. {I was there} when Yahweh made the parts supporting the dry land. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Then I was beside him {as} a skilled worker, and I was a delight day {by} day, frolicking before his face at every time. | At that time I was {like} someone who was beside Yahweh, skillfully helping him to create {everything}. I made him happy every day. I was always rejoicing when I was with him. |
Wisdom was beside Yahweh helping him to create everything.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Frolicking in the world of his earth, and my delights {were} with the sons of man. | {I was} rejoicing in the whole world that Yahweh had made. I was also happy with the people {he had made}. |
Wisdom’s delight was the people he made.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| And now, sons, listen to me, and happy {are} they {who} keep my ways. | So now, children, pay attention to what I say! {Do this} because anyone who obeys my teachings will be happy. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Hear instruction, and be wise, and do not neglect {it}. | Listen to what I teach {you}, so that you will become wise. Think about what I teach you! |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Happy {is} the man listening to me, keeping vigil over my doors day {by} day, keeping watch {over} the doorposts of my entrances. | People who listen to me will be happy. People who are as eager to listen to me as if they were waiting {for me} at the door of my house every day and watching for me to come out {will be happy}. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| For a finder of me {is} a finder of life, and he obtains favor from Yahweh. | {This is true} because people who learn to be wise will live {well}, and Yahweh will approve of them. |
One who finds Wisdom also finds life and obtains favor from Yahweh.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| But a misser of me does violence to his life; all haters of me love death.” | But those who refuse to be wise hurt themselves. All those who hate to be wise {act like they are people who} would love to die.” |
One who fails to find Wisdom hurts himself.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn out her seven pillars. | Continue imagining that there is a woman who represents everything that is wise. Imagine that this woman has built her own {spacious} house and made seven pillars {to support its roof}. |
Wisdom has built her own house.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| She has slaughtered her slaughter, she has mixed her wine, also she has arranged her table. | {Imagine that she has prepared a meal for guests.} She has prepared the meat {to eat} and wine {to drink}. She has {fully} prepared her table for a meal. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| She has sent out her young women; she calls out on the tops of the heights of the city. | Imagine that this woman has sent out her maids {to invite her dinner guests}. Then she calls out at the highest place in the city {where everyone can hear her}. |
The invitations Wisdom sends out are directed to those who are not wise.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| “Whoever {is} naive, let him turn aside here,” she says to him lacking of heart. | She tells those who are not wise, “Come into {my house}, all you naive people! |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| “Come, eat my bread, and drink the wine I have mixed. | Come {to me}! Eat the food that I have prepared, and drink the wine that I have prepared. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Forsake naive things and live; and stride on the way of understanding. | Stop acting naively so that you can live {well}. Do what will cause you to learn what you should understand. |
Wisdom says to stop acting naively so that you can live well.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The instructor of a mocker receives disgrace for himself, and the rebuker of a wicked {one}, his injury. | If you {try to} teach someone who ridicules {other people}, that person will ridicule you. If you correct an evil person, that person will hurt you. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Do not rebuke a mocker, lest he hate you; rebuke a wise one, and he will love you. | {So} do not correct a person who ridicules {other people}. If you do so, then that person will hate you. {However,} if you correct a wise person, that person will love you {for doing so}. |
If you rebuke a mocker, that person will hate you.
If you correct a wise person, that person will love you for doing so.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Give to a wise {one}, and he will become more wise; inform a righteous {one}, and he will increase learning. | If you instruct wise people, then they will become even wiser. If you teach righteous people, then they will learn even more. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The beginning of wisdom {is} the fear of Yahweh and knowledge of holy things {is} understanding. | If you want to be wise, you must start by revering Yahweh, and {only} by knowing what is holy will you understand {which teachings are wise and true}. |
The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom.
The knowledge of the holy things is understanding.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Indeed, by me your days will increase, and years of life will be added to you. | Surely being wise will cause you to live for many more years. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| If you are wise, you are wise for yourself, and {if} you mock, you alone will bear {it}.” | Any wise person benefits himself from being wise, just as anyone who ridicules {other people} will personally suffer for doing so.” |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The woman of stupidity {is} loud, naive, and she does not know anything. | Foolish women speak loudly, act naively, and are very ignorant. |
A foolish woman speaks loudly, acts naively, but she does not know anything.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| And she sits at the opening of her house, on a seat {by} the heights of the city, | They sit at the doors of the places where they dwell. {They sit} on seats at the highest place in the city {where everyone can hear them}. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| to call to those who pass over the way, the ones going straight {on} their paths. | {They sit there} in order to call out to the people who are walking past them. {They call out to} those walking down the road, who are only concerned about where they are going. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| “Whoever {is} naive, let him turn aside here!” And she says to him, the lacking of heart, | They tell those who are not wise, “Come into {my house}, all you naive people! |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| “Stolen waters are sweet, and bread of secrecies is pleasant.” | {Come to me, because having sex with someone to whom you are not married is} as sweet as water that you have stolen. Indeed, {it is} as delicious as food that you eat all by yourself.” |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| But he does not know that the spirits of the dead {are} there; in the depths of Sheol {are} her called ones. | But men who go to the houses of such women are not aware that the men who have gone there before have died. {They are not aware} that the guests of such women are now in the deepest parts of the place where dead people are. |
Those in the foolish woman’s house are now in the deepest parts of the place where dead people are.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The proverbs of Solomon: A wise son gladdens a father, but a stupid son {is} the grief of his mother. | {These are more} wise sayings {said} by Solomon: Wise children make their fathers glad, but foolish children make their mothers sad. |
Wise children make their fathers glad.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Treasures of wickedness do not profit, but righteousness delivers from death. | Riches that people acquire by acting wickedly will not benefit them, but people who act righteously prevent themselves from dying {too soon}. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Yahweh does not let the life of the righteous starve, but the desire of the wicked he thrusts away. | Yahweh prevents righteous people from starving, but he prevents wicked people from getting what they want. |
Yahweh prevents wicked people from getting what they want.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A palm of idleness makes poverty, but the hand of the diligent ones makes rich. | People who are lazy become poor, but people who work hard become rich. |
People who are lazy become poor.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One who gathers in the summer {is} a son who has insight, but one who sleeps in the harvest {is} a son who acts shamefully. | Sons who collect crops at the right time are insightful, but sons who sleep during the time to harvest crops are shameful. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Blessings {are} for the head of the righteous, but the mouth of the wicked covers violence. | God blesses righteous people, but what wicked people say {sometimes} prevents others from knowing about the violent acts {that they do}. |
God blesses righteous people.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The memory of the righteous one {is} for a blessing, but the name of the wicked ones will rot. | People will be happy when they remember righteous people, but people will forget wicked people as if they were something that decays {and disappears}. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The one wise of heart receives commands, but the one stupid of lips will be thrown down. | People who think wisely are willing to obey the {good} things that people tell them to do, but people who speak foolishly destroy themselves. |
People who speak foolishly destroy themselves.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One who walks with integrity will walk securely, but one who causes his ways to be crooked will be known. | People who behave honestly will live safely; but God will catch people who behave deceitfully. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One who winks an eye gives pain, and the one foolish of lips will be thrown down. | People who gesture with their eyes {to deceive others} hurt {people}, and people who speak foolishly destroy themselves. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A fountain of life {is} the mouth of the righteous one, but the mouth of the wicked ones covers violence. | What righteous people say is like a spring that enables people to live long and well; but what wicked people say prevents others from knowing about the violent acts {that they do}. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Hatred stirs up quarrels, but love covers over all transgressions. | When people hate others, they argue with each other; but when people love others, they forgive people for the wrong things that they do. |
Love covers over all transgressions.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| On the lips of the discerning one, wisdom is found, but a rod {is} for the back of the one lacking of heart. | Discerning people say what is wise, but someone must punish people who do not think wisely. |
Wisdom is found on the lips of a discerning person.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Wise ones store up knowledge, but the mouth of a fool {is} near ruin. | Wise people continue to learn all that they can, but when foolish people speak, they start to destroy things. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The wealth of the rich one {is} the city of his strength; the ruin of lowly ones {is} their poverty. | What rich people own keeps them safe like a strong wall keeps a city safe, but poor people suffer much because they are poor. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The wage of a righteous {one} {is} to life; the income of a wicked {one} {is} to sin. | God rewards righteous people by allowing them to live {for a long time}, but God recompenses wicked people by punishing them for sinning. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| {On} a path to life {is} one who keeps instruction, but one who forsakes rebuke goes astray. | People who heed what is instructive will live for a long time; but people who do not let others correct them do what will destroy them. |
People who do not let others correct them do what will destroy them.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One who covers hate {has} lips of falsehood, and one who causes an evil report to go forth, he {is} a stupid one. | People who hate {others} but pretend that they do not {hate them} speak falsely. People who slander others are foolish. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| With a multitude of words, transgression does not cease, but one who restrains his lips is insightful. | People who talk a lot sin a lot; but people who refrain from speaking {unnecessarily} are wise. |
People who talk a lot sin a lot.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Choice silver {is} the tongue of the righteous one; the heart of the wicked ones {is} like little. | What righteous people say is {as valuable as} the best silver; {but} what wicked people think is worthless. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The lips of the righteous one shepherd many, but fools die by lack of heart. | What righteous people say benefits many people, but foolish people die because they do not think wisely. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The blessing of Yahweh, it causes riches, and striving does not add {more} with it. | When people become wealthy, {it is because} Yahweh has blessed them, and working harder will not make them to become wealthier. |
It is because Yahweh is blessing them that people become wealthy.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Like laughter for a stupid one {is} doing a wicked plan, but wisdom, for a man of understanding. | Foolish people enjoy doing the wicked things that they planned {to do}, but sensible people enjoy doing what is wise. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The terror of the wicked one, it will come to him, but the desire of the righteous ones will be given. | Wicked people will experience what frightens them; but righteous people will receive what they want. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| When a whirlwind passes over, then there is no {more} wicked, but a righteous one {is} a foundation of eternity. | When something disastrous happens, it destroys wicked people, but righteous people are {like} a foundation that lasts forever. |
When something disastrous happens, it destroys wicked people.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so {is} the lazy one to one who sends him. | Lazy people irritate people who send them {to do something for them}, like vinegar irritates teeth and smoke irritates eyes. |
A lazy person is like smoke in the eyes that irritates those who send him.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The fear of Yahweh will add days, but the years of the wicked ones will be short. | People who revere Yahweh will live for a long time, but wicked people will live for only a short time. |
The years of the wicked ones will be short.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The hope of the righteous ones {is} joy, but the expectation of the wicked ones will perish. | What righteous people hope for will make them joyful, but what wicked people hope for will not happen. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A stronghold for the one with integrity {is} the way of Yahweh, but ruin for doers of iniquity. | Yahweh protects honest people like a fortress because they live the way that he directs people to live, but not living that way destroys people who act sinfully. |
The way of Yahweh protects those with integrity who are honest people.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A righteous one will not falter to eternity, but wicked ones will not dwell {in} the land. | Righteous people will always be secure, but wicked people will never live in our land. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The mouth of the righteous one bears the fruit of wisdom, but the tongue of the perverse ones will be cut off. | Righteous people say what is wise, but Yahweh will stop people from speaking who speak perversely. |
Yahweh will stop people from speaking who speak perversely.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The lips of the righteous one know favor, but the mouth of the wicked ones, perverse things. | Righteous people know good things to say, but wicked people {continually} say things that are not true. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Scales of deceit {are} an abomination to Yahweh but a whole stone {is} his delight. | Yahweh detests {people} using weighing instruments in order to deceive others, but it pleases him when people use correct weights {on their weighing instruments}. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| When presumptuousness comes, then disgrace comes, but with modest ones {is} wisdom. | When people act proudly, they will soon disgrace themselves, but humble people are wise. |
Presumptuousness or acting proudly comes before disgrace.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The integrity of the upright ones will guide them, but the crookedness of the treacherous ones will destroy them. | Upright people know what to do because they are honest, but being deceitful will ruin treacherous people. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Wealth will not profit in the day of rage, but righteousness will deliver from death. | What people own will not help them when Yahweh punishes {wicked people}, but he will not kill those who live righteously. |
Righteousness, not wealth, is valuable when Yahweh punishes wicked people.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The righteousness of a blameless one will make his way straight, but by his wickedness, a wicked one will fall. | Being righteous will cause innocent people to live securely, but being wicked will ruin those who act wickedly. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The righteousness of the upright will deliver them, but by the desire of treacherous {ones} they will be captured. | Being righteous will cause people who act uprightly to escape {harm}, but desiring {bad} things will cause people who act treacherously to trap themselves. |
Desiring bad things will cause people who act treacherously to trap themselves.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| At the death of a wicked man expectation will perish, and the hope of strength perishes. | When wicked people die, what they hoped for never happens; they hoped that being strong would benefit them, but it will not. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A righteous {one} is drawn away from distress, and a wicked {one} enters instead of him. | Yahweh rescues righteous people from becoming distressed; but wicked people will become distressed instead. |
A righteous person will be drawn away from distress.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| With a mouth a godless {one} destroys his neighbor, but with knowledge, the righteous will be delivered. | People who reject God ruin other people by what they say, but what righteous people know will cause them to escape. |
A godless person destroys others by what they say.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| In the good of the righteous a city exults; and when the wicked perish, a shout of joy. | People in a city rejoice when the righteous people {there} prosper, and they shout joyously when wicked people die. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| With the blessing of the upright a city is raised up, but with the mouth of the wicked it is torn down. | A city becomes great when people who act uprightly bless {the people there}, but what people who act wickedly say destroys that city. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One despising his neighbor {is} lacking of heart, but a man of understandings will keep quiet. | People who {openly} detest someone they know are not thinking wisely; but understanding people say nothing. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One going about {with} gossip uncovers a secret, but one faithful of spirit covers a matter. | People who go around gossiping tell {others} what is secret, but trustworthy people will keep a matter private. |
A faithful person will keep a matter private instead of gossiping.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| When there are no directions, a people falls, but salvation {is} in an abundance of counsel. | Not having anyone to guide a group of people will ruin them, but having many people to advise them will keep that group secure. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One will be harmed {with} harm if he pledges for a stranger, but one hating hand clasps {is} secure. | People who guarantee {to pay a debt} for someone they do not know will surely suffer, but people who avoid agreeing {to do such a thing} will be safe. |
A person who guarantees to pay a debt for someone they do not know will surely suffer.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A woman of grace will grasp honor, but the ruthless will grasp riches. | People honor a gracious woman, but cruel men {only} get wealth. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A man of covenant faithfulness repays his soul, but a cruel {one} troubles his flesh. | People who are faithfully kind greatly benefit themselves, but cruel people hurt themselves. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A wicked {one} makes a wage of falsehood, but {one} sowing righteousness, a wage of truth. | People who act wickedly falsely believe that they have gained {something good}, but God truly rewards people who do what is right. |
The wage of a wicked person is falsehood because they falsely believe that they have gained something good.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| True righteousness {is} to life, but one who pursues evil {is} to his death. | People who truly act righteously will live {well}, but people who eagerly do what is evil will die. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| An abomination to Yahweh {is} the crooked of heart, but his delight {is} the blameless of way. | Yahweh detests people who think deceitfully, but people who act blamelessly please him. |
Yahweh delights in those who act blamelessly.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Hand to hand, a wicked {one} will not remain blameless, but the seed of the righteous will safely escape. | It is certain that Yahweh will punish wicked people, and that he will not punish those who belong to the righteous group. |
It is certain that the wicked will be punished and the righteous will be safely escape punishment.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A ring of gold in the nose of a pig {is} a beautiful woman turning away {from} discretion. | {It is as unsuitable for} a beautiful woman to refuse to act discreetly {as it is for} a pig to have a gold ring in its snout. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The desire of the righteous {is} only good; the expectation of the wicked {is} rage. | When righteous people get what they want, it results in only good things, but when wicked people get what they hope for, it results in {Yahweh} being angry. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| There is a scatterer yet being added to more, and {one} withholding more than {what is} right, yet to poverty. | Some people generously share {what they have with others} but they receive even more. Other people keep more {of what they have} than they should keep, but they still become poor. |
Those who generously share with others receive even more.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A life of blessing will be fattened, and the one who drenches, he also will be drenched. | People who generously bless others will prosper; and people who generously give others what the others need will also receive everything that they need. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One withholding grain, people will curse him, but a blessing {is} for the head of the seller. | People curse anyone who {selfishly} hoards grain {instead of selling it}, but they bless people who sell it {when others need it}. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One diligently seeking good seeks favor, but one searching {for} evil, it will come {to} him. | If you sincerely want to do what is right, people will treat you well, but evil things happen to people who try to do what is evil. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One trusting in his riches, he himself will fall, but like a leaf, the righteous will sprout. | People who depend on their money will not be successful, but righteous people will thrive like a green plant. |
The one who depends on his riches will not be successful.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One troubling his house will inherit wind, and a fool {will be} a slave to the wise of heart. | People who trouble their families will not inherit anything, and people who act foolishly will serve people who think wisely. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The fruit of the righteous {is} a tree of life, and one taking souls is wise. | What righteous people say and do is {like} a tree {with fruit} that keeps people alive, and people who persuade others {to be righteous} are wise. |
The fruit of the righteous, what righteous people say and do, is like a tree with fruit that keeps people alive.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Behold, a righteous {one} in the land will be repaid, how much more a wicked {one} and a sinner! | Pay attention! Righteous people on the earth will get what they deserve; but even more so, wicked, sinful people will {also} get what they deserve! |
Those who are righteous will be repaid, and much more the wicked and the sinner will get what they deserve.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The lover of correction loves knowledge, but the hater of rebuke {is} stupid. | People who love other people correcting them {also} love {learning} what they should know. But people who hate other people correcting them are foolish. |
A person who accepts correction loves learning what they should know.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A good one obtains favor from Yahweh, but a man of schemes he will condemn. | Yahweh approves of people who are good, but he condemns people who plan to do what is evil. |
Yahweh condemns a person who plans to do what is evil.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A man will not be established by wickedness, but the root of the righteous will not be shaken. | People do not become secure by acting wickedly, but righteous people are {as secure as} a tree with immovable roots. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A wife of worth {is} the crown of her husband, but she who causes shame {is} like rottenness in his bones. | A virtuous wife causes people to praise her husband, but a disgraceful wife {destroys her husband} like a disease that destroys his bones. |
A virtuous wife is a husband’s crown.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The plans of the righteous {are} justice; the directions of the wicked {are} deceit. | Righteous people plan {to treat people} fairly; wicked people advise {people} in order to deceive {them}. |
The wicked give deceitful directions.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The words of the wicked lie in wait {for} blood, but the mouth of the upright will deliver them. | What wicked people say {is like a trap that} kills people {who pass by}; but what upright people say will enable them to escape. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The wicked are overthrown, and they are naught, but the house of the righteous will stand. | Yahweh destroys wicked people and they disappear, but the families of righteous people will continue. |
The families of the righteous will continue.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| For the mouth of his insight a man will be praised, but {one} twisted of heart will be for contempt. | People will praise someone according to how insightful that person is, but people will despise someone who thinks perversely. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Better {is} being disregarded and having a servant than honoring oneself and lacking bread. | It is better to be a lowly person yet have a servant than to think that you are important yet have no food. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A righteous {one} knows the life of his animal, but the compassion of the wicked {is} cruel. | Righteous people care for their animals, but even when wicked people {think that they} act compassionately, they act cruelly. |
Righteous people care for their animals.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Bread will satisfy one who works his ground, but one who pursues empty things {is} lacking of heart. | People who work hard will have enough food {to eat}, but people who waste time doing worthless things do not think wisely. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A wicked {one} desires the snare of the evil, but the root of the righteous will give. | Wicked people want what evil people steal, but righteous people benefit {others} like a tree with deep roots. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| In the transgression of lips {is} the snare of an evil {one}, but a righteous {one} will go out from distress. | The sinful things that wicked people say will destroy them, but righteous people escape from trouble. |
The sinful things that wicked people say will destroy them.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| From the fruit of the mouth of a man will he be satisfied {with} good, and the accomplishment of the hands of a man will return to him. | The {good} things that people say {to others} will {also} satisfy them with what is good; what people work hard to accomplish will {also} benefit them. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The way of a fool {is} right in his eyes, but a wise one listens to counsel. | Foolish people {always} think that what they are doing is right; but wise people listen to what other people advise {them to do}. |
A fool thinks that what he is doing is right.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A fool—his anger is known on the day, but a prudent one covers dishonor. | People know immediately when foolish people are angry; but smart people ignore it when someone disrespects them. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| He who breathes out faithfulness tells righteousness, but a witness of falsehoods, deceit. | People who naturally say what is true speak righteously, but witnesses who say what is false speak deceitfully. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| There is one speaking thoughtlessly like the thrusts of a sword, but the tongue of the wise ones—healing. | When people speak without thinking {about what to say}, they hurt others like someone who stabs people with a sword, but what wise people say helps people heal. |
Words spoken thoughtlessly are like the thrusts of a sword; they hurt others.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A lip of truth will be established to perpetuity, but a tongue of falsehood as long as I would blink. | What people say truthfully will last forever, but what people say falsely will {only} last for a moment. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Deceit {is} in the heart of devisers of evil, but joy {is} for advisers of peace. | People who plan to act evilly think deceitfully, but people who advise others to act peacefully will be joyful. |
Deceit is in the heart of those who plan evil.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Any iniquity will not be allowed to happen to the righteous, but the wicked are full of evil. | Bad things {usually} do not happen to righteous people, but wicked people will experience many bad things. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| An abomination to Yahweh {are} lips of falsehood, but doers of faithfulness {are} his delight. | Yahweh detests people who speak falsely, but people who act faithfully please him. |
Yahweh detests people who speak falsely.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A prudent man covers knowledge, but the heart of the stupid calls out folly. | Smart people do not reveal {all of} what they know, but foolish people shout out foolish things. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The hand of the diligent will rule, but an idle one will become a forced laborer. | People who work hard will reign {over others}, but lazy people will become forced laborers. |
Lazy people will become forced laborers.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Concern in the heart of a man weighs it down, but a good word gladdens it. | When people worry, they feel sad, but when others speak kindly to them, it causes them to be cheerful again. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A righteous {one} searches out from his neighbor, but the way of the wicked leads them astray. | Righteous people guide their friends {in the right way to live}, but by living wickedly, wicked people destroy themselves. |
The way of the wicked leads them astray; by living wickedly, they destroy themselves.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A negligent one will not roast his game, but the wealth of a man {is} precious {for} a diligent one. | Lazy people do not even cook the animals that they catch, but people who work hard value their possessions. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| In the path of righteousness {is} life, and the way of the beaten path {is} no death. | People who do what is righteous will live. Indeed, people who do so will not die. |
People who do what is righteous will live.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A wise son, the instruction of a father, but a mocking {one} does not listen to rebuke. | Wise children pay attention when their fathers instruct them, but people who ridicule {other people} do not pay attention when people correct {them}. |
A wise son listens to his father’s instruction.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| From the fruit of the mouth of a man he eats good, but the appetite of the treacherous ones, violence. | The {good} things that people say are {like} good food to them, and the violent things that treacherous people do are {like} food for them. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One guarding his mouth keeps his life; one opening his lips, ruin for him. | People who are careful about what they say enable themselves to stay alive, {but} people who speak carelessly destroy themselves. |
A person keeps his life by guarding his mouth.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A lazy one, his appetite is craving and there is nothing, but the appetite of the diligent will be fattened. | Lazy people want things very much and get very little, but people who work hard will receive everything that they want. |
A lazy person wants things very much and gets very little.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A righteous {one} hates a word of falsehood, but a wicked {one} causes a stink and causes embarrassment. | Righteous people detest speaking falsely, but what wicked people do is disgusting and disgraceful. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Righteousness guards the blameless of way, but wickedness leads a sinful one astray. | Acting righteously enables people who act blamelessly to be safe, but acting wickedly causes sinful people to do what will destroy them. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| There is one pretending to be rich, but there is nothing {at} all; one pretending to be poor, but much wealth. | Some people act as if they are wealthy while they are {actually} poor. Other people act as if they are poor while they are {actually} wealthy. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The ransom of the life of a man {is} his riches, but a poor one does not hear a rebuke. | Rich people {might} have to pay money {to someone who threatens them} in order to stay alive, but poor people do not {even} listen when someone threatens them. |
A rich person might have to pay out of his riches as a ransom to someone who threatens him.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The light of the righteous will be glad, but the lamp of the wicked goes out. | Righteous people live joyfully like a light {that shines brightly}, but wicked people {will merely die} like an oil lamp that stops burning {oil}. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| With presumptuousness comes only contention, but with those who are counseled, wisdom. | People who act proudly cause people to argue, but people who let others advise them cause people to be wise. |
People who act proudly cause people to argue.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Wealth from emptiness will dwindle, but one gathering by hand will increase. | Riches that people gain effortlessly will disappear, but people who gain {riches} by working steadily will increase {their riches}. |
Wealth that people gain without working for it will disappear.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Hope deferred makes a heart sick, but a desire fulfilled {is} a tree of life. | People despair when they do not receive what they have been hoping to receive, but when people receive what they have been wanting to receive, they feel like they have everything that they need. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One despising a word, it will go badly for him, but {one} fearing a command, that one will be rewarded. | People who detest what others {try to} teach them will suffer {for doing so}, but God will reward those people who respect what he has commanded. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The law of the wise {is} a fountain of life, to turn away from the snares of death. | What wise people teach continuously benefits people throughout their lives. It enables people to avoid dangerous things that could kill them. |
The law of the wise, that which wise people teach, benefits people throughout their lives.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Good insight gives favor, but the way of treacherous ones {is} permanent. | People approve of people who are very insightful, but treacherous people are stubborn in the way that they live. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Every prudent {one} acts with knowledge, but a stupid person displays folly. | All clever people think carefully before they do something, but foolish people show that they are foolish {by how they act}. |
The prudent think carefully before they do something.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A wicked messenger falls into evil, but an envoy of faithfulness {causes} healing. | Bad things happen to messengers who are not reliable, but reliable messengers make people peaceful. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Poverty and shame {are for} one avoiding correction, but one keeping a rebuke will be honored. | People who do not let other people correct them will become poor and ashamed, but people respect those who let other people rebuke them {for any bad behavior}. |
Those who let other people rebuke them for any bad behavior will be honored.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A desire {that} occurs will be pleasing to the self, but the abomination of the stupid {is} turning away from evil. | People feel pleasant when they get what they want, but foolish people detest refusing to do what is evil. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One walking with wise ones will become wise, but one associating with stupid ones will be harmed. | People who associate with wise people will become wise {themselves}, but people who are companions of foolish people will suffer. |
In order to be wise, a person should associate with wise people.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Evil will pursue the sinful, but goodness will reward the righteous. | Bad things happen to sinful people, but good things happen to righteous people. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The good will cause sons of sons to inherit, but the wealth of a sinner is stored up for the righteous. | Good people will leave riches for their grandchildren {when they die}, but righteous people will receive the riches that sinful people have saved. |
A sinner’s wealth is stored up for righteous people.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Much food {is in} the unplowed field of poor ones, but there is {food} being swept away by no justice. | Poor people have fields that can produce a lot of food, but unjust people take it away {from them}. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One who withholds his rod hates his son, but one who loves him diligently seeks him {with} discipline. | Parents who do not punish their children {for bad behavior act as if they} hate their children, but parents who {truly} love their children are careful to discipline them. |
Parents who truly love their children are careful to discipline them.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A righteous {one} eating to the satisfaction of his appetite, but the stomach of the wicked will lack. | Righteous people have enough {food} to eat and satisfy themselves, but wicked people will be hungry. |
The stomach of the wicked will be hungry.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The wisest of women builds her house, but a foolish woman tears it down with her hands. | The wisest women help their families to thrive, but foolish women ruin their families by {the foolish} things that they do. |
The wisest women help their families to thrive.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The one walking in his uprightness fears Yahweh, but the one crooked in his ways despises him. | People who behave uprightly {show that they} greatly revere Yahweh, but people who behave deceptively {show that they} detest Yahweh. |
People who behave deceptively show that they despise Yahweh.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| In the mouth of a fool {is} a rod of pride, but the lips of the wise ones will preserve them. | What foolish people say causes others to punish them for being proud, but what wise people say protects them. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Where there are no cattle {is} a trough of cleanness, but an abundance of produce {is} by the strength of an ox. | If a man has no oxen {to plow his field}, he does not need to put grain in their feedbox, but if he has oxen, they will enable {him to produce} an abundant crop. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A witness of faithfulness will not lie, but a witness of falsehood breathes out lies. | Honest witnesses do not lie, but dishonest witnesses lie easily. |
A witness of who is honest will not lie.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A mocker seeks wisdom and there is none, but knowledge is easy for the understanding one. | People who ridicule {other people} try to become wise and fail to do so, but people who understand {what is right} learn things easily. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Go before a man of stupidity, and you will not know lips of knowledge. | If you associate with foolish people, you will not learn {anything} from knowledgeable people. |
If you associate with foolish people, you will not learn anything from knowledgeable people.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The wisdom of a prudent {one} is to understand his way, but the folly of the stupid {is} deceit. | People who have good sense know that it is wise to understand {the consequences of} what they do, but stupid people deceive {themselves and others}, which is foolish. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The foolish mock the guilt offering, but among the upright {is} favor. | Foolish people scorn people who make amends with Yahweh after sinning, but Yahweh approves of people who do what is right. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A heart knows the bitterness of itself, and in its joy a stranger will not share. | Only you truly know how miserable you are, and only you truly know how joyful you are. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The house of the wicked will be destroyed, but the tent of the upright will flourish. | The families of wicked people will die out, but the families of upright people will thrive. |
The house of the wicked will be destroyed.
The tent of the upright will flourish.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| There is a straight road to the face of a man, but its end {is} the ways of death. | There is a way to do things that is easy and convenient for people, but in the end, doing things that way will cause them to die. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Even in laughter a heart may ache, and the end of joy {may be} grief. | People who are laughing may still be suffering, and people who feel joyful may ultimately feel sad. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A backsliding heart will be filled from his ways, but a good man, from his deeds. | People who refuse {to live righteously} will receive {from Yahweh} what they deserve {from living that way}; and good people {will also receive from Yahweh} what they deserve {from living the good way}. |
People who refuse to live righteously will receive from Yahweh what they deserve from living that way.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A naive one believes every word, but a prudent {one} considers his step. | Naive people believe whatever people say, but smart people think carefully about what they do. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A wise {one} fears and turns away from trouble, but a stupid {one} interferes and is confident. | Wise people are careful and avoid doing things that annoy {others}, but foolish people confidently interfere {in other people’s business}. |
No, a fool confidently interferes in other people’s business.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| {One} short of nostrils does folly, and a man of schemes is hated. | People who quickly become angry act foolishly, and people hate those who plan to do evil things. |
A person who quickly becomes angry acts foolishly.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Simpletons inherit folly, but the prudent will wear a crown of knowledge. | Naive people only acquire foolish habits, but the reward for clever people is what they know. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The evil will bow down to the face of the good, and the wicked at the gates of the righteous one. | {Some day} evil people will {respectfully} bow in front of good people, and wicked people will bow at the doors of {the houses where} righteous people {dwell}. |
Some day, evil people will bow down in front of good people.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One who is poor is hated even by his neighbor, but those who love the rich {are} many. | Even the friends of poor people despise them, but rich people have many friends. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The one despising his neighbor sins, but the one who shows favor to the lowly, happy {is} he. | It is sinful to despise your {poor} neighbors, but God is pleased with those who do kind things for poor people. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Do not devisers of evil go astray? But covenant faithfulness and trustworthiness {are} devisers of good. | People who plan to act wickedly are surely doing the wrong thing with their lives, but people who plan to do what is good are faithful and trustworthy people. |
Those who plan to do good are faithful and trustworthy people.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| With all toil is profit, but the word of lips {is} only for lack. | If people work hard, they will gain from it, but if people {only} talk, they will remain poor. |
If people work hard, they will gain from it, but if people only talk, they will remain poor.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The crown of the wise ones {is} their riches; the folly of stupid ones {is} folly. | A reward of being wise is to become rich, but because stupid people are foolish, they {only} become more foolish. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A witness of truth rescues lives, but a fraud breathes out lies. | Truthful witnesses save people from dying, but deceptive people tell lies {that cause harm to people}. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| In the fear of Yahweh {is} strong confidence, and for his sons he will be a refuge. | People who revere Yahweh are completely confident {that he will protect them}. Yahweh will also protect their children. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The fear of Yahweh {is} a fountain of life, to turn away from the snares of death. | Reverently fearing Yahweh is like having a refreshing spring that enables people to live well. It enables people to avoid what could kill them. |
The fear of Yahweh is a fountain of life which is like a refreshing spring that enables people to live well.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| With the abundance of people {is} the majesty of a king, but with the end of the population {comes} the ruin of the ruler. | Kings who rule over many people are glorious, but kings who have no people {to rule over} have nothing. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One long of nostrils {is} abundant {in} understanding, but one short of spirit lifts up folly. | People who do not become angry quickly are very wise, but people who become angry quickly show everyone how foolish they are. |
People who quickly become angry show everyone how foolish they are.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A heart of healing {is} life to bodies, but envy {is} the decay of bones. | Feeling peaceful makes a person’s body healthy, but envying others {makes a person’s body unhealthy, like something that} rots a person’s bones. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| An oppressor of a lowly one taunts his maker, but one showing favor to a needy one honors him. | People who make poor people suffer ridicule Yahweh, who made them, but people who are kind to needy people respect Yahweh. |
A person who oppresses poor people is taunting Yahweh, his maker.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| By his evil the wicked {one} is thrust down, but the righteous {one} finds refuge in his death. | Wicked people destroy themselves by doing evil things, but righteous people are safe {even} when they die. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| In the heart of the understanding one rests wisdom, and in the midst of the stupid she will be known. | Understanding people think wisely, but when one is among foolish people what is wise is {especially} obvious. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Righteousness raises a nation, but sin {is} shame for peoples. | Acting righteously makes a country great, but acting sinfully disgraces communities. |
Acting righteously makes a country great.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The delight of a king {is} for the servant who has insight, but his rage is {for} one who acts shamefully. | Insightful servants please their kings, but kings are furious with {servants} who act disgracefully. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A gentle answer turns back heat, but a word of pain lifts up a nose. | Replying gently to angry people will calm them, but speaking harshly {to them} will make them angrier. |
Replying gently to angry people will calm them.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The tongue of the wise makes knowledge good, but the mouth of the stupid gushes forth folly. | What wise people say makes others want to know more, but foolish people constantly say what is foolish. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The eyes of Yahweh {are} in every place, watching the evil and the good. | Yahweh sees everything that is happening; he observes both evil people and good people. |
Yahweh watches both the evil and the good.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A healing tongue {is} a tree of life, but crookedness in it {is} a breaking in the spirit. | What people say soothingly is {like} a tree {with fruit} that enables people to live well, but what people say deceitfully makes people despair. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A fool despises the correction of his father, but one who keeps rebuke is prudent. | Foolish people detest what their fathers say to correct them, but people who let others rebuke them are clever. |
A fool despises the correction of his father.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The house of the righteous {has} much treasure, but in the harvest of the wicked is being troubled. | Righteous people have houses that contain a lot of riches, but what wicked people gain disrupts them. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The lips of the wise scatter knowledge, but the heart of the stupid {is} not so. | What wise people say informs others of what they should know, but what foolish people think does not do that. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The sacrifice of the wicked {is} an abomination to Yahweh, but the prayer of the upright {is} his delight. | Yahweh detests the sacrifices that wicked people offer {to him}, but he delights in the prayers of upright people. |
The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to Yahweh.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| An abomination to Yahweh {is} the way of the wicked, but a pursuer of righteousness he loves. | Yahweh detests what wicked people do, but he loves people who diligently try to do what is right. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Severe discipline {is} for one who forsakes the path; one who hates rebuke will die. | Yahweh will severely punish people who refuse to live righteously, {and} people who refuse to let other people correct them will perish. |
Yahweh will severely punish the person who refuses to live righteously.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Sheol and Abaddon {are} before Yahweh; how much more the hearts of the sons of man! | Yahweh knows everything about the place where dead people are, so he surely knows everything that everyone thinks! |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A mocker does not love one who rebukes him; to the wise, he will not go. | People who ridicule others despise anyone who corrects them; they avoid wise people. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A joyful heart makes a face glad, but by pain of heart, a spirit {is} stricken. | People smile when they are happy, but feeling sad can make people despair. |
A joyful heart makes the face glad.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The heart of the understanding one seeks knowledge, but the mouth of the stupid feeds on folly. | Sensible people are always trying to learn more, but foolish people satisfy themselves with what is foolish. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| All the days of the afflicted {are} evil, but the good of heart {has} a feast continually. | People who suffer experience bad things every day, but cheerful people live as though they are always feasting. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Better {is} a little with the fear of Yahweh than much treasure and anxiety with it. | Being poor while reverently fearing Yahweh is better than being rich while worrying. |
Being poor while reverently fearing Yahweh is better than being rich while worrying.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Better {is} a portion of vegetables and love there than a fattened ox and hatred with it. | It is better for someone to have a small meal of vegetables with people who love each other than to have a large meal of good meat with people who hate each other. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A man of heat stirs up a quarrel, but one long of nostrils will quiet a dispute. | People who easily become angry cause people to argue, but people who do not easily become angry will help people to be peaceful. |
A person who does not easily become angry will help people to be peaceful.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The way of the lazy {is} like a hedge of briar, but the path of the upright {is} a built-up highway. | Lazy people are {unproductive} like people walking through thorny plants, but upright people are {productive} {like people} walking on a level road. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A wise son gladdens a father, but a stupid man despises his mother. | Wise sons and daughters make their parents happy, but any sons or daughters who detest their parents are foolish. |
A wise son gladdens his father.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Folly {is} a joy to the lacking of heart, but the man of understanding makes to go straight. | People who are not wise enjoy acting foolishly, but understanding people do what is right. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Plans are broken with no counsel, but with a multitude of advisers, it will stand. | People will not accomplish what they plan to do if there is no one to advise them {well}, but when many people advise them {well}, they will succeed. |
When many people advise them well, they will succeed.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Joy {is} for the man in the answer of his mouth, and how good {is} a word in its time. | People rejoice when they answer someone aptly. It is so good to say something at the right time! |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The path of life {is} upward for the insightful one, in order to turn away from Sheol below. | Insightful people live in a way that causes their lives to become increasingly better, in order for them to avoid living in a way that would result in dying. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Yahweh will tear down the house of the proud, but he will set up the boundary of the widow. | Yahweh will destroy what proud people own, but he protects the {few} things that widows own. |
Yahweh will tear down what a proud person owns.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Evil thoughts {are} an abomination to Yahweh, but words of pleasantness {are} pure ones. | Yahweh detests the evil things that people think, but the pleasing things that people say are pure. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One who unjustly gains unjust gain troubles his house, but one who hates bribes will live. | People who gain wealth in an unjust manner trouble their families, but people who refuse bribes will live {in a better way}. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The heart of the righteous considers {how} to answer, but the mouth of the wicked gushes forth evils. | Righteous people think carefully about how to reply to people, but wicked people quickly say what is evil. |
The righteous person thinks carefully before answering.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Yahweh {is} far from the wicked, but the prayer of the righteous, he hears. | Yahweh does not listen to {what} wicked people {request him to do}, but he listens {and responds} when righteous people pray {to him}. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The luminary of the eyes gladdens the heart; good news fattens the bone. | People feel happy when they see someone smile, {and} people feel healthy when they hear something good. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| An ear hearing the rebuke of life will lodge in the midst of the wise ones. | People who begin to behave in a more life-giving way when others rebuke them {for behaving badly} show that they belong to the group of wise people. |
The person who behaves better after hearing a rebuke will live among people who are wise.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One who avoids correction rejects his life, but one who hears rebuke acquires heart. | People who refuse to let others correct them {act as if they} despise themselves, but people who listen when others rebuke them think wisely. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The fear of Yahweh {is} instruction of wisdom, and to the face of honor {is} humility. | Revering Yahweh teaches people to be wise, and people must be humble before other people can respect them. |
A reverent fear of Yahweh teaches a person to be wise.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The arrangements of the heart {are} a man’s, but the answer of the tongue {is} from Yahweh. | People plan what they want {to say}, but Yahweh determines how they will {actually} speak. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| All the ways of a man {are} pure in his eyes, but Yahweh examines spirits. | People think that everything that they do is right, but Yahweh knows why people do what they do. |
All of a person’s ways are pure in his own eyes.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Roll to Yahweh your works, and your plans will be established. | Entrust what you do to Yahweh, and he will make what you plan {to do} succeed. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Yahweh has made all for its purpose and even a wicked {one} for the day of evil. | When Yahweh made everything, he planned what would happen to each thing. He has even made wicked people for the time when he will punish them. |
Yahweh has made everything for its purpose.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| An abomination to Yahweh {is} each one high of heart, hand to hand he will not remain blameless. | Yahweh detests all proud people; he will certainly punish them. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| By covenant faithfulness and trustworthiness, iniquity is atoned {for}, and by the fear of Yahweh, one turns away from evil. | Be loyal to Yahweh and faithfully obey him; if you do that, he will forgive you for having sinned. People who revere Yahweh will avoid doing what is evil. |
By covenant faithfulness and trustworthiness sin is forgiven.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| When Yahweh is pleased with the ways of a man, he causes even his enemies to be at peace with him. | When Yahweh approves of what people do, he even causes their enemies to be peaceful with them. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Better {is} a little with righteousness than an abundance of produce with no justice. | It is better {for someone} to have {just} a few things while being righteous, than {for someone} to have a lot of crops while being unjust. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The heart of a man plans his way, but Yahweh establishes his step. | People plan what they want to do, but Yahweh determines what they will {actually} do. |
A person plans out what he wants to do, but Yahweh determines what he will actually do.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Divination {is} on the lips of a king, in judgment, his mouth must not act unfaithfully. | Kings speak for God; when kings judge, they must {always} speak justly. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A scale with the two balances of justice {belong} to Yahweh; all the stones of the bag {are} his work. | Yahweh made accurate weighing instruments {for us to use honestly}. Indeed, he made all the stones in the {weighing} bag {so that we would use them honestly}. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| An abomination of kings {is} doing wickedness, for by righteousness is a throne established. | Kings {should} detest any wicked thing that people do because acting righteously causes kings to rule securely. |
A throne is established by righteousness.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The delight of kings {is} lips of righteousness, and he loves one who speaks upright things. | {Ideally,} kings enjoy hearing people speak honestly. Indeed, they love people who say what is true. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The heat of a king {is} messengers of death, but a wise man will atone {for} it. | When kings are angry, they cause people to die, so wise people will appease them. |
A king’s anger is a messenger of death.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| In the light of the face of the king {is} life, and his favor {is} like a cloud of spring rain. | When kings are happy, they let people live; when they approve of people, it is as refreshing as rain in springtime. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| How much better {it is} to acquire wisdom than gold, and to acquire understanding is to be chosen {more} than silver. | Becoming wise is better than having gold. Indeed, it is better to choose to become understanding than to have silver. |
Wisdom and understanding should be chosen more than gold and silver.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The highway of the upright ones turns away from evil; one who protects his life guards his way. | Upright people act in a way that avoids doing what is evil; people who want to stay alive are careful about what they do. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| To the face of a breaking {is} pride, and to the face of a stumbling {is} a height of spirit. | Being proud causes people to destroy themselves. Indeed, being arrogant causes people to ruin themselves. |
Being arrogant causes people to ruin themselves.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Better to be lowly of spirit {with} afflicted ones than to share a portion {of} spoil {with} proud ones. | It is better to live humbly among poor people than to {live proudly and} receive some of what proud people have taken from others. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One who comprehends concerning a matter will find good, and one who trusts in Yahweh, he {is} happy. | People who act prudently in a matter will succeed, and people who trust in Yahweh are happy. |
A person who trusts in Yahweh is happy.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The wise of heart will be called an understanding one, and the sweetness of lips increases learning. | People will call those who think wisely, “understanding ones,” and people who speak pleasantly are able to teach others effectively. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A fountain of life {is} the insight of its owner, but the instruction of fools {is} folly. | Being insightful allows a person to live well continually, but foolish people can only teach others to be foolish. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The heart of the wise makes his mouth insightful, and on his lips it increases learning. | What wise people think causes them to speak insightfully, and what those people say causes others to learn. |
When the wise speak insightfully, what they say causes others to learn.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Words of pleasantness {are} a honeycomb of honey, sweet to the soul and healing to the bone. | The pleasing things that people say are {like} a honeycomb: They cause people to feel pleasant and healthy. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| There is a straight road to the face of a man but its end {is} the ways of death. | There is a way to do things that is easy and convenient for people, but in the end, doing things that way will cause them to die. |
In the end, doing things that way will cause them to die.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The appetite of the laborer labors for him, for his mouth presses on him. | Being hungry helps working people work because wanting to eat motivates people to keep on working. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A man of worthlessness digs up evil and on his lips {it is} like a scorching fire. | Worthless people plot how to hurt others; the evil things they say harm others like fire burns {people}. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A man of perverse things lets loose strife, and a murmurer separates the friendly. | Perverse people cause other people to argue with each other, and people who gossip about others cause friends to stop being friends. |
People who gossip about others cause friends to stop being friends.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A man of violence entices his neighbor, and he leads him on a road {that is} not good. | Violent people tempt other people {to sin}, and they guide them to behave wickedly. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One who shuts his eyes plans perverse things; one who compresses his lips brings evil to completion. | People who use their eyes to signal to others are planning to do something perverse; people who use their lips to signal to others are about to do the evil thing {that they had planned to do}. |
The one who signals others with his eyes is about to do something perverse.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Gray hair {is} a crown of splendor; on the road of righteousness it is found. | {The} gray hair {that old people have} is {like} an honorable crown {on their heads}; they achieve it by living righteously. |
Gray hair is like an honorable crown on the head.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Better {is} one long of nostrils than a mighty one, and one ruling his spirit than one capturing a city. | It is better to be someone who does not become angry quickly than to be powerful. It is better to control oneself than to be {as powerful as} someone who conquers a city. |
It is better to be someone who does not become angry quickly than to be powerful and capture a city.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Into the lap a lot is cast, but its every judgment {is} from Yahweh. | People throw lots {in order to decide what to do}, but Yahweh decides whatever happens. |
Yahweh decides whatever happens.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Better {is} a dry morsel and ease with it than a house full of sacrifices of quarreling. | It is better for someone to have a little stale food {to eat} while living peacefully than for someone to live in a house where people frequently eat large meals while arguing with each other. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| An insightful servant will rule over a shameful son, and in the midst of brothers, he will share an inheritance. | An insightful slave will become the boss of a disgraceful son {of his master}, and that slave will inherit a portion {of his master’s property} along with his master’s sons. |
An insightful servant will rule over a shameful son.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The smelting-pot {is} for the silver and the furnace {is} for the gold, and Yahweh tests hearts. | People put silver and gold into very hot furnaces {to burn out what is impure}, and Yahweh tests what people are thinking and desiring to do {in a similar manner}. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The evildoer listens attentively to the lips of iniquity; a liar gives ear to a tongue of destruction. | People who act wickedly listen carefully when people speak what is sinful; people who lie pay attention when people say things that destroy {others}. |
An evildoer will listen carefully when people say sinful things that destroy others.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A mocker of one who is poor taunts his maker; one glad at calamity will not remain blameless. | People who ridicule poor people despise Yahweh, who made them; Yahweh will certainly punish people who rejoice when other people experience disastrous things. |
Yahweh will certainly punish people who rejoice when others experience disastrous things.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The crown of the old {is} sons of sons, and the splendor of sons {is} their fathers. | Old people are proud of their grandchildren, and children are proud of their parents. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A lip of excess {is} not suitable for a worthless {one}; how much less a lip of falsehood for a noble. | It is not fitting for worthless people to speak eloquently. It is even less fitting for royal officials to speak falsely! |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A stone of favor {is} a bribe in the eyes of its owner; he succeeds to all that he turns. | People who pay bribes think that bribes are magical; {by paying bribes, they think that} everything that they do will be successful. |
They think that, by paying bribes, everything they do will be successful.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One who covers a transgression seeks love, but one who repeats a matter separates a close friend. | If you want people to love you, forgive them for the wrong things that they have done to you. If you continue to remind them about those {wrong} things, they will no longer be your friends. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A rebuke goes down into an understanding one more than striking a stupid one a hundred {times}. | Rebuking sensible people once causes them to learn more than hitting foolish people a hundred times {causes them to learn}. |
Rebuking a sensible person once causes him to learn.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| An evil one seeks only rebellion, and a cruel messenger will be sent against him. | Evil people only want to rebel, so a merciless messenger will come and punish them. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Let a female bear robbed of offspring meet a man and not a stupid one in his folly! | A mother bear who is furious because someone has stolen her cubs is dangerous, but it can be more dangerous to confront a foolish person who is doing something foolish. |
It can be more dangerous to confront a foolish person who is doing something foolish.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One who returns evil for good, evil will not depart from his house. | If someone does bad things to people who have done good things to him, then bad things will always happen to his family. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The beginning of a quarrel {is} the releasing of water, so leave the dispute before it breaks out. | When people start arguing with each other, it is {as difficult to stop as it is to stop} water that is leaking out {of a dam}, so prevent yourself from arguing before you start to argue. |
A person should leave the dispute before it breaks out because once an argument has started, it will be as difficult to stop as it is to stop water that is leaking.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One who declares a wicked one righteous and one who declares a righteous one wicked, even the two of them {are} an abomination to Yahweh. | There are people who acquit guilty people, and there are people who condemn innocent people; Yahweh detests both types of people. |
A person who declares a wicked person as righteous and one who declares a righteous person as wicked are both an abomination to Yahweh.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Why {is} this: A payment {is} in the hand of a stupid one to acquire wisdom, but there is no heart? | How useless it is for foolish people to try to pay money in order to become wise when they are unable to think! |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| At every time the friend loves, and a brother is born for distress. | A friend loves {you} all the time, and relatives exist in order to help {other relatives} when disastrous things happen. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A man lacking of heart {is} one who clasps a palm, pledging a pledge to the face of his neighbor. | People who do not think wisely agree to pay someone else’s loan and even guarantee to pay that loan in front of people whom they know. |
A man who does not think wisely agrees to pay someone else’s loan.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One who loves transgression loves contention; one who makes his opening high seeks a breaking. | People who love to sin {also} love to cause people to argue; people who brag a lot cause others to destroy them. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One crooked of heart will not find goodness, and one who is turned away in his tongue will fall into evil. | People who think deceitfully will not experience good things, and bad things will happen to people who speak deceitfully. |
Bad things will happen to a person who thinks and speaks deceitfully.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One who begets a stupid one, {it is} for grief for him, and the father of a worthless one will not rejoice. | Foolish people grieve their parents. Indeed, worthless people will cause their parents to be very sad. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A joyful heart makes healing good, but a broken spirit dries up bone. | Being cheerful helps the body to heal, but being discouraged makes the body weak. |
A joyful heart helps the body to heal.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A wicked one takes a bribe from the bosom to bend the paths of justice. | Wicked people accept bribes that people give to them secretly, so that they will decide matters unfairly. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Wisdom {is} with the face of an understanding one, but the eyes of a stupid one {are} at the end of the earth. | Understanding people concentrate on what is wise, but foolish people cannot concentrate on anything. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A stupid son {is} a grief to his father and bitterness to her who bore him. | Foolish children grieve their fathers and make their mothers miserable. |
A foolish son is a grief to his father and bitterness to his mother.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Actually to fine the righteous {is} not good; to strike nobles {is} against uprightness. | Punishing innocent people is surely very bad, {and} flogging noble people {would be just as} wrong. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One restraining his words {is} one knowing knowledge, and the cool of spirit {is} a man of understanding. | People who refrain from speaking {unnecessarily} are knowledgeable, and people who can remain calm are {truly} wise. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Even a fool keeping silent will be considered wise; one shutting his lips—understanding. | People will think even foolish people are wise if those foolish people do not speak. Indeed, if fools refrain from speaking people will consider them to be insightful. |
A fool can be considered wise if he keeps silent.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One who separates himself seeks for desire; against all sound wisdom, he breaks out. | People who avoid other people only care about doing what they want to do. They refuse to do anything that is wise. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A stupid one does not delight in understanding but rather in his heart revealing itself. | Foolish people hate learning. Instead, they only want to tell others what they think. |
A foolish person hates learning and does not delight in understanding.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| When a wicked one comes, contempt also comes, and with shame, reproach. | People treat wicked people contemptuously, and people scold people who act shamefully. |
A wicked person is treated with contempt and a person who acts shamefully, with reproach.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The words of the mouth of a man {are} deep waters; a fountain of wisdom {is} a gushing stream. | What {wise} people say is as profound as a deep ocean. Wise people are {always saying wise things, like} a fountain that flows in a constant stream. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| {It is} not good to lift the face of the wicked, to turn aside the righteous in the judgment. | It is very evil {for judges} to favor guilty people in order to prevent judging innocent people justly. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The lips of a stupid one enter into a dispute, and his mouth calls for blows. | What foolish people say makes people argue, and it makes people want to beat them. |
What a foolish person says makes people argue and want to beat him.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The mouth of a stupid one {is} ruin for him, and his lips {are} a snare of his life. | What foolish people say will ruin them. Indeed, what they say may cause them to die, as a trap {may cause an animal to die}. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The words of a murmurer {are} like things swallowed greedily, and they themselves go down into the rooms of the belly. | People are eager to listen to what people who gossip say, and what they say deeply affects those who hear it. |
What people who gossip say deeply affects those who hear it.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Also, one who slacks in his work, he {is} a brother to an owner of destruction. | People who are lazy when they work are like people who destroy things. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The name of Yahweh {is} a tower of strength; the righteous {one} runs into it and is set on high. | Yahweh is {like} a strong tower that righteous people run into and are safe. |
The name of Yahweh is like a strong tower into which the righteous can run and be safe.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The wealth of the rich one {is} the city of his strength and like a wall set on high—in his imagination. | Rich people think that what they own keeps them safe like walls keep cities safe; they think that what they own protects them as well as a high wall. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| To the face of breaking, the heart of a man is exalted, but to the face of honor—humility. | Before people ruin themselves, they have first become proud; and before people will respect someone, that person must become humble. |
A person must become humble before others will respect him.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One who returns a word before he listens, it {is} folly to him and shame. | It is foolish and shameful for someone to reply to what a person has said before hearing it. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The spirit of a man will endure his illness, but a crushed spirit, who can lift it? | When someone is inwardly strong, he can endure being sick. However, when someone is inwardly weak and depressed, it is very difficult to make the person feel better! |
When they are inwardly weak and depressed.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The heart of an understanding one acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge. | Understanding people are always learning more. Indeed, wise people are always trying to learn more. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The gift of a man will make room for him, and before the face of great ones it will guide him. | Giving something {to someone} can benefit the one who gives it; doing so can enable that person to meet important people. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The first one with his case {is} right; then his neighbor comes and examines him. | People who state their cases first seem to be right until people whom they know arrive and question them. |
The first person to state his case seems to be right until people whom he knows arrive and question him.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The lot causes quarrels to cease, and between mighty ones, it makes a separation. | Throwing lots {in order to decide something} can make people stop arguing, it can also decide who is right between powerful people. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A brother offended {is} more than a city of strength, and quarrels {are} like the gate bar of a fortress. | It is more difficult to reconcile with a relative {whom you have} offended than {to conquer} a fortified city; and when people argue, they avoid each other as if a castle’s strong gate were between them. |
It is more difficult to reconcile with an offended relative than it is to conquer a fortified city.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| From the fruit of the mouth of a man his belly is satisfied; {with} the produce of his lips, he is satisfied. | What people say will satisfy them when they are hungry. Indeed, what people say will satisfy them. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Death and life {are} in the hand of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit. | What people say can cause people to die or to remain alive. So people who are skillful at talking will strongly influence what happens to themselves {and to others}. |
What people say can influence what happens, even to cause people to die or to remain alive.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| He who finds a wife finds good, and he obtains favor from Yahweh. | A man who marries a {good} wife will experience good things, and Yahweh approves of them. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One who is poor speaks pleas, but a rich one answers harshly. | Poor people plead for others to be merciful {to them}, but rich people reply {to them} rudely. |
A rich person answers others harshly.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A man of companions {is} to be broken, but there is one who loves, clinging more than a brother. | Having companions {who only seem to be true friends} will destroy a person, but there is a type of friend who loves us and is more loyal than any brother. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Better {is} one who is poor who walks in his integrity than one who is crooked {in} his lips and he {is} a stupid one. | It is better to be poor and behave honestly than to speak deceitfully and be foolish. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Also, zeal with no knowledge {is} not good, and one who hurries with feet misses {the way}. | Furthermore, it is very bad for people to be enthusiastic {about doing something} while not knowing {anything about it}; people who act hastily do things wrong. |
A person must have knowledge in addition to zeal.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The folly of a man will lead astray his way, and his heart will rage against Yahweh. | People who act foolishly destroy themselves, yet they become furious with Yahweh {and blame him}. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Wealth adds many companions, but a lowly one is separated from his companions. | Wealthy people {easily} make many friends, but when people become poor, they lose {even} the friends they have. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A witness of falsehoods will not be blameless, and he who breathes out lies will not escape. | Someone will surely punish lying witnesses. Indeed, someone will surely punish people who lie easily. |
Someone will surely punish people who lie easily.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Many will entreat the face of a noble, and everyone {is} the friend of a man of gift. | A lot of people want royal officials to favor them, and many people want to be friends with people who give gifts. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| All the brothers of one who is poor hate him; how much more do his friends go far away from him! He pursues {with} words; they {are} not. | All the relatives of poor people despise them, and even their friends avoid them! Although they call out {to them for help}, they do not {respond}. |
When a poor man calls out to his friends, they are gone.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The one acquiring heart is loving his life; the one keeping understanding {is} to find good {fortune}. | People who love to learn benefit themselves; people who are consistently sensible will surely succeed. |
A person who loves his life loves to learn.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A witness of falsehoods will not be blameless, and one who breathes out lies will perish. | Someone will surely punish lying witnesses. Indeed, people who lie easily will die. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Luxury {is} not suitable for a stupid one; how much less for a slave to rule over princes! | It is wrong for foolish people to live luxuriously, and it is even worse for slaves to reign over princes! |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The insight of a man makes his nose long, and his splendor {is} to pass over a transgression. | Insightful people do not get angry quickly, and people show how honorable they are by forgiving {people who} sin {against them}. |
Insightful people do not get angry quickly.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The rage of a king {is} a growling like the young lion, but his favor {is} like dew on vegetation. | When kings are furious, they frighten people like the roaring of young lions {frightens people}, but when they approve of people, it is as refreshing {for the people} as dew {is} on plants. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A stupid son {is} destruction to his father, and a continual dripping, the quarrels of a wife. | Foolish children destroy their fathers, and when wives argue {with their husbands}, it is {as annoying as} constantly dripping water. |
A quarreling wife is like a constant dripping of water.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A house and wealth {are} the inheritance of fathers, but from Yahweh {is} a wife who has insight. | People inherit houses and riches from their fathers, but Yahweh {alone} gives {men} insightful wives. |
An insightful wife is from Yahweh.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Laziness causes deep sleep to fall, and a life of idleness is hungry. | Lazy people sleep well, but {such} idle people are {always} hungry. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One who keeps a commandment keeps his life; one who despises his ways will die. | People who obey {God’s} commandments stay alive, but people who do not care about {God’s} ways will die. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One who is gracious {to} a lowly one lends {to} Yahweh, and his dealing he will repay to him. | Giving things to poor people is {like} loaning them to Yahweh; he will reward anyone who does this. |
Giving things to poor people is like loaning them to Yahweh.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Discipline your son when there is hope, and do not lift up your soul to put him to death. | Discipline your children while {they are young and} you can expect them to learn {to live in the right way}. {If you} do not {discipline them}, {it is as though you} want them to die. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One great of heat lifts up a fine; for if you rescue, then you will continue to do {so} again. | Very angry people will pay {for being angry}; so if you rescue them {once from what they must pay}, you will have to do that again and again. |
A very angry person will have to be rescued a second time.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Listen to counsel and accept instruction, so that you will become wise in your afterwards. | Pay attention to what people advise you {to do} and let people teach you. If you do so, you will become wise for the rest of your life. |
A person can become wise for the rest of your life by paying attention to what people advise them and by accepting instruction.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Many {are} the plans in the heart of a man, but the counsel of Yahweh, it will stand. | People plan to do many things, but {only} what Yahweh advises will succeed. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The desire of a man {is} his covenant faithfulness, and better {is} one who is poor than a man of lying. | People want others to consider them to be faithful. It is better to be poor than to be someone who lies. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The fear of Yahweh {is} to life and the satisfied {one} will stay overnight; he will not be visited by evil. | Revering Yahweh causes people to live for a long time; such people rest contentedly at night; nothing will harm them. |
Revering Yahweh causes people to live for a long time.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A lazy one hides his hand in the dish; he will not even return it to his mouth. | Some people are so lazy that even though they have put their hands in a dish {of food}, they will not even lift the food to their mouths. |
A lazy one will not even lift the food to his mouth.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| You strike a mocker and a naive one will become prudent, and rebuke an understanding one—he will understand knowledge. | {If you} punish people who ridicule {others}, {then} naive people {who see you do that} will learn to be sensible. {If you} correct understanding people, {then} they will know even more. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One who does violence {to} a father, who causes a mother to flee, {is} a son who causes shame and causes embarrassment. | Children who act violently toward their fathers and chase away their mothers are disgraceful and embarrassing. |
A child who does violence to his father and causes his mother to flee causes shame and embarrassment.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| My son, cease to hear instruction to stray from the words of knowledge. | My child, if you want to become stupid, then stop listening to what people teach you. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A witness of worthlessness mocks justice, and the mouth of the wicked ones swallows iniquity. | Worthless witnesses scorn what is just, and wicked people enjoy acting sinfully as if they were gulping down delicious food. |
A worthless witness scorns what is just.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Judgments are prepared for the mockers, and blows for the back of stupid ones. | Yahweh is ready to condemn people who ridicule {others}, and he is ready to beat fools on their backs. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The wine {is} a mocker, beer {is} a brawler, and everyone who staggers by it is not wise. | Drinking a lot of intoxicating drink causes people to start ridiculing and fighting others; becoming drunk is very foolish. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The terror of a king {is} a growling like the young lion; one who infuriates him {is} one who wrongs his life. | When kings are terrifyingly angry, they frighten people like the roaring of young lions {frightens people}; people who make kings angry cause themselves to die. |
The king’s anger can frighten people like the roaring of a lion.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Honor for a man {is} cessation from strife, but every fool breaks out. | It is honorable to cease arguing with other people, but all foolish people are eager to argue with others. |
Foolish people are eager to argue with others.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A lazy one will not plow from winter, and he begs in the harvest, but there is nothing. | Lazy farmers do not plow {their fields} when they should {plow their fields}. Then when it is time to harvest {crops}, they look {for crops in their fields}, but there are none. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Counsel in the heart of a man {is} deep waters, but a man of understanding will draw it out. | Knowing what people are thinking and planning is {as difficult as} drawing water out of a deep {well}, but discerning people are able to do so. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Many a man proclaims, {each} man, his covenant faithfulness, but a man of faithful acts, who can find? | Many people claim that they are faithful individuals, but very few people {actually} act faithfully! |
A faithful person is difficult to find.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A righteous {one} walks about in his integrity; happy {are} his sons after him. | Righteous people live honestly; their children are very fortunate. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A king who sits on the throne of judgment {is} one who winnows all evil with his eyes. | {Ideally,} kings who sit on their thrones in order to judge {people} discern anything that is evil and remove it {from their lands}. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Who can say, “I have made my heart pure; I am clean from my sin”? | No one can truthfully say, “I do not think sinfully anymore; I do not sin anymore.” |
No one can say truthfully that he has made his heart pure and is clean from sin.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Stone and stone, ephah and ephah {are} an abomination to Yahweh, both the two of them. | Yahweh detests {people dishonestly using} both weights that differ and measurements that differ {to benefit themselves}. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Even a young man will make himself known by his deeds, if pure and if upright {is} his behavior. | Even young people show others {who they are} by what they do; how they act shows whether they are innocent and right {or not}. |
Even a young man will show others who he is by what he does.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A hearing ear and a seeing eye, Yahweh made both the two of them. | Yahweh has made both ears with which to hear and eyes with which to see. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Do not love sleep lest you become impoverished. Open your eyes; be satisfied {with} bread. | If you sleep a lot, you will become poor; {but} if you stay awake {and work}, you will have plenty of food. |
If you sleep a lot, you will become poor.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| “Bad! Bad!” says the buyer, but when he departs on his way, then he praises himself. | Buyers claim that something is not good at all {when they are bargaining with the seller about its price}. But {after they buy it,} they go and boast {to their friends about the good thing that they bought}. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| There is gold and an abundance of corals, but lips of knowledge {are} a vessel of preciousness. | Gold and precious jewels are plentiful, but the knowledgeable things that people say are rare and precious. |
The knowledgeable things that people say are rare and precious.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Take his garment when he has pledged {for} a stranger, and on behalf of a foreign woman hold it in pledge. | Take the coats of people who promise to pay a loan for someone whom they do not know. Indeed, hold onto the coats of people who do so for a foreigner {because those people are not likely to repay those loans}. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Sweet to a man {is} bread of falsehood, but afterward his mouth will be filled {with} gravel. | Food that people get by deceiving {others} may taste sweet {to them at first}, but later what they have done will be {as unpleasant to them as having} a mouth full of rocks. |
Food gained by deceiving others tastes like gravel afterward.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Plans by counsel are established, and by guidance make war. | When people give you good advice, {if you do what they suggest,} your plans will succeed. Therefore, let others advise you before you start fighting a war. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One who goes about {as} a gossip reveals a secret, and with one who opens his lips do not associate yourself. | People who walk around gossiping tell {others} what is secret, so avoid people who speak carelessly. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One who curses his father and his mother, his lamp will be extinguished in the pupil of darkness. | People who curse their parents {will die like} an oil lamp that stops burning {oil} in a totally dark place. |
People who curse their parents will be like an oil lamp that is extinguished in a totally dark place.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| An inheritance gained quickly in the beginning, its end will not be blessed. | If people inherit {property} hastily before the proper time, they will ultimately not receive any blessing from it. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Do not say, “I will repay evil.” Wait for Yahweh, and he will save you. | Do not say that you will harm someone who has harmed you. Rather, wait for Yahweh {to resolve the matter}, so that he may vindicate you. |
You should wait for Yahweh to resolve the matter, so that he may vindicate you.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Stone and stone {are} an abomination to Yahweh, and scales of deceit {are} not good. | Yahweh detests {people dishonestly using} differing weights {to benefit themselves}. Indeed, {using} weighing instruments in order to deceive {others} is very bad. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| From Yahweh {are} the steps of a strong man, so how can a man understand his way? | Yahweh directs what happens {even} to powerful people. So then, no one can comprehend what will happen to him! |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A snare of a man: He says rashly, “{It is} holy,” and after vows, considers. | It is dangerous for people to declare thoughtlessly that they will dedicate something to Yahweh, and then later regret that they have promised to do that. |
It is dangerous to thoughtlessly declare that a man will dedicate something to Yahweh before he considers.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A wise king {is} one who winnows the wicked, and he brings back a wheel over them. | Wise kings separate the wicked people from the good people and then punish the wicked people severely. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The breath of a man {is} the lamp of Yahweh, searching all the rooms of the belly. | Just as the light of a lamp penetrates into and illuminates a dark place, the life-breath that Yahweh puts into each person penetrates into the person’s inner being. That breath is like the presence of Yahweh, who sees everything that is inside a person. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Covenant faithfulness and trustworthiness guard a king, and his throne is sustained by covenant faithfulness. | Being faithful and trustworthy makes kings safe. Indeed, being faithful enables them to rule securely. |
Covenant faithfulness and trustworthiness guard a king.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The splendor of young men {is} their strength and the adornment of old ones {is} gray hair. | People admire young men because they are strong, but people admire old men because they have become wise. |
The splendor of young men is their strength.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Blows of a wound cleanse away evil and strikes, the rooms of the belly. | Flogging people for doing evil things can stop them from doing those evil things, and hitting those people {on the outside} can change who they are on the inside. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The heart of a king {is} channels of water in the hand of Yahweh; he steers it according to all that he desires. | Yahweh directs what kings think as {a farmer directs} streams of water to make them go wherever he wants {them to go}. |
Yahweh directs what kings think according to all that he desires.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Every way of a man {is} right in his eyes, but Yahweh examines hearts. | People always think that what they do is right, but Yahweh {rightly} evaluates why they do those things. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| To do righteousness and justice is preferred to Yahweh more than a sacrifice. | Doing what is right and fair is more acceptable to Yahweh than sacrificing {animals to him}. |
To do what is right and fair is more acceptable to Yahweh than sacrifice.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Height of eyes and broadness of heart, the lamp of wicked ones, {are} sin. | Being proud and arrogant guide what wicked people do like a lamp {shows people where to go}; they are sinful. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The plans of the diligent {one} surely {are} to profit, but everyone hurrying about surely {is} to lack. | What diligent people plan will certainly profit them, but all those who act too hastily will certainly become poor. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The making of treasures by a tongue of falsehood {is} scattered vapor, seekers of death. | When people gain wealth by speaking falsely, that wealth quickly vanishes like mist, {and doing that} will kill them. |
That wealth quickly vanishes like mist, and doing that will kill the person who lied.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The violence of the wicked will drag them away, for they refuse to do justice. | When wicked people act violently, they cause others to punish them for it because they refuse to do what is right. |
The wicked are punished because they refuse to do what is right.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Perverse {is} the way of a guilty man, but the pure {one}, upright {is} his behavior. | Guilty people continually do what is wrong, but innocent people do what is right. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Better to dwell on the corner of a roof than {with} a woman of quarrels and a house of companionship. | It is better to live {alone} in a corner of a housetop than to live inside a house with a wife who always argues {with you}. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The soul of the wicked {one} craves evil; his neighbor is not shown grace in his eyes. | Wicked people strongly desire to do what is evil, they will not be merciful to the people around them. |
Grace is not seen in the eyes of the wicked.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| When fining a mocker, a naive one becomes wise, and when giving insight to a wise one, he receives knowledge. | If you punish people who ridicule others, {then} naive people {who see you do that} will become wise, and if you teach wise people, they will become {even more} knowledgeable. |
The naive learn wisdom when a mocker is punished.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A righteous {one} evaluates the house of a wicked {one}; overturning the wicked to evil. | Righteous people are able to understand what the households of wicked people do; they let the evil things that wicked people do happen to them. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One who shuts his ears from the outcry of a lowly one, he also will cry out but will not be answered. | People who refuse to listen to poor people when they cry out {for help} will also cry out {for help themselves}, but no one will help them. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A gift in secrecy subdues nose, and a bribe in the bosom, strong heat. | Secretly giving something to an angry person will stop him from being angry. Indeed, secretly bribing a furious person will calm him down. |
A secret gift subdues anger.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A joy for the righteous {is} doing justice, but a terror for doers of iniquity. | Righteous people are glad when people judge justly, but judging justly terrifies people who act sinfully. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A man wandering from the way of understanding will rest in the assembly of the spirits of the dead. | People who stop behaving sensibly will {soon} go to the place where the spirits of dead people are. |
One who wanders from understanding rests in the assembly of the spirits of the dead.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A man of lack loves joy; a lover of wine and oil will not become rich. | People who love what is pleasurable will be poor. Indeed, people who indulge themselves in wine and rich food will never be wealthy. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A ransom for the righteous {one} {is} a wicked {one}, and instead of the upright, one who acts treacherously. | Wicked people will suffer instead of righteous people, and treacherous people {will suffer} in place of upright people. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Better to dwell in a land of wilderness than {with} a woman of quarrels and vexation. | It is better to live {alone} in a desolate land than {to live} with an argumentative and nagging wife. |
It is better to live in the wilderness than with an argumentative, nagging wife.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Desirable treasure and oil {are} in the home of a wise {one}, but a stupid man swallows it up. | Wise people store up precious riches and olive oil, but foolish people waste everything that they have. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A pursuer of righteousness and covenant faithfulness will find life, righteousness, and honor. | People who diligently try to be righteous and faithful will live {well}, will be righteous, and people will respect them. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A wise {one} ascends a city of mighty ones, and he brings down the strength of its confidence. | Wise people know how to conquer cities that mighty warriors are defending; they can pull down the walls that people {in those cities} believe will protect them. |
A wise man is able to bring down the walls that people believe will protect them.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One who keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps his life from distress. | People who are careful about what they say avoid becoming distressed. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A presumptuous, haughty one, “Mocker” {is} his name, acting with the rage of presumption. | People who ridicule others are proud and arrogant; they behave furiously and presumptuously. |
A proud and haughty person is called “Mocker.”
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The desire of the lazy one causes him to die, for his hands refuse to act. | Lazy people want {food}, but they will die because they refuse to work. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| All the day he desires desire for himself, but a righteous {one} gives and does not withhold. | Lazy people always want more things for themselves, but righteous people generously give {what they have to others}. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The sacrifice of the wicked {is} an abomination; how much more when he brings it with a wicked plan! | {Yahweh} detests the sacrifices that wicked people offer {to him}; it is even more {detestable} when they are offering something {to Yahweh} while intending to act wickedly! |
The sacrifice of a wicked person is detestable, and even more so when he offers it while intending to act wickedly.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A witness of lies will perish, but a listening man will speak to perpetuity. | Witnesses who lie will die, but when someone who listens carefully speaks, what he says will finish the matter. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A wicked man strengthens his face, but an upright one, he considers his ways. | Wicked people pretend to know what they are doing, but upright people think about what they do. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| There is no wisdom and there is no understanding and there is no counsel in front of Yahweh. | Even the wisest and most knowledgeable counselor is nothing compared to Yahweh. |
Wisdom, understanding, or counsel are nothing compared to Yahweh.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the salvation {is} of Yahweh. | Soldiers prepare to fight, but Yahweh determines who wins {that fight}. |
Yahweh determines who wins that fight.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A name is to be chosen more than abundant riches; favor {is} better than silver and than gold. | Being someone whom people respect is more important than being very wealthy. Indeed, being someone whom others approve of is better than having silver and gold. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A rich one and a poor one meet together; Yahweh {is} maker of all of them. | Rich people and poor people have this in common: Yahweh made all of them. |
Yahweh is the maker of both the rich people and poor people.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A prudent {one} sees evil and hides himself, but the naive pass on and they are fined. | Sensible people observe something dangerous happening and avoid it, but naive people just keep going and suffer {for doing so}. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The result of humility, the fear of Yahweh, {is} riches and honor and life. | People who are humble, who revere Yahweh, will become rich, people will respect them, and they will live {long and well}. |
The reward of riches, honor, and life is given to people who are humble and revere Yahweh.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Thorns, traps {are} in the way of the crooked; one guarding his life will stay far away from them. | Deceptive people live {dangerously,} as if they were walking down a road covered with thorns and traps, {but} people who want to stay alive avoid living that way. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Train up the boy upon the mouth of his way; even when he is old, he will not turn away from it. | Teach children how to behave {properly}, so that when they become old, they will still continue to do so. |
If a child is taught how to behave properly, he will not turn away from that training when he grows old.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A rich one rules over those who are poor, and a borrower {is} a slave to a man who lends. | Rich people reign over poor people, and people who borrow {money} from others become like slaves to the people who loaned them {money}. |
The one who borrows is a slave to the one who lends.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A sower of iniquity will reap disaster, and the rod of his rage will come to an end. | People who act unjustly will suffer for doing so, and they will no longer be able to furiously oppress other people. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The one good of eye, he will be blessed, for he gives from his bread to the lowly one. | Yahweh will bless generous people because they give some of their own food to poor people. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Drive out a mocker and strife will go out, and judgment and dishonor will cease. | If you banish people who ridicule others, then people will stop arguing {with each other}, condemning {each other}, and shaming {each other}. |
Judgment and dishonor will cease if the mocker is driven away.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One who loves a pure heart, his lips {are} gracious, the king {is} his friend. | People who love being sincere and speaking graciously are companions of kings. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The eyes of Yahweh guard knowledge, but he overturns the words of a treacherous one. | Yahweh preserves true sayings, but he makes what treacherous people say fail. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A lazy one says, “A lion {is} outside! I will be killed in the midst of the open areas!” | Lazy people {as an excuse to not work} claim that there is a lion outside that will kill them in the street {if they go outside}. |
A lazy person says there is a lion in the streets that will kill him if he goes outside.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The mouth of a strange woman {is} a deep pit; one who is cursed of Yahweh will fall there. | What adulterous women say is {as dangerous as} a deep hole {that men could fall into}; those with whom Yahweh is angry will suffer from it. |
What an adulterous woman says is as dangerous as a deep hole that men could fall into.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Folly is bound up in the heart of a boy; the rod of discipline will cause it to be far away from him. | Children naturally think foolishly, but physically disciplining them will teach them to stop being foolish. |
The rod of discipline drives foolishness from a child.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One oppressing a lowly {one} to increase for him, one giving to the rich, surely {will be} to lack. | People who oppress poor people in order to make more money for themselves or who give things to rich people {in order to become rich} will only become poor. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise ones, and you must set your heart to my knowledge! | Listen carefully to what wise people have said; consider carefully what I am teaching you! |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| For {it will be} pleasant if you keep them in your inner parts, they are ready together on your lips. | {Do this} because if you remember these sayings and if you are always ready to repeat them {to others}, then you will be glad. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| {For} your trust to be in Yahweh, I have caused you to know today, even you. | I am teaching these sayings to you—yes, you—right now so that you will trust Yahweh. |
A person should trust in Yahweh.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Have I not written for you 30 thingswith counsels and knowledge, | I am indeed writing these 30 sayings to advise and teach you. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| to cause you to know the truth of the words of trustworthiness, to return trustworthy words to one who sent you? | {I am writing them} in order to teach you what is true in trustworthy sayings, and in order to answer those who sent you with trustworthy sayings. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Do not rob a lowly {one} because he {is} a lowly {one}, and do not crush an afflicted {one} at the gate. | Do not steal from poor people just because they are poor; and do not oppress suffering people in court. |
Do not steal from the poor and do not oppress suffering people.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| For Yahweh will plead their dispute, and he will plunder of life those who plunder them. | {Do not do these things} because Yahweh will defend those poor people when you dispute with them, and he will kill the people who stole from them. |
Yahweh will kill the people who stole from them.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Do not befriend an owner of nose, and do not go {with} a man of heat, | Do not become friends with angry people. Indeed, do not associate with people who easily become angry. |
A person must not associate with someone who easily becomes angry because he will learn to act like them and endanger himself.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| lest you learn his paths and you take a snare for your life. | {If you do so,} then you will act like them, and you will endanger yourself like an animal caught in a trap. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Do not be among those who clasp a palm, among those who pledge for loans. | Stay away from those people who agree to pay loans for others. {Indeed, stay away from those people} who guarantee to pay the loans of others. |
A person could take even their bed if they cannot repay the loan.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| If there is nothing to you to make payment, why should he take away your bed from under you? | {Because} if you cannot pay back {the loan}, {then} the person to whom you owe money will surely take away even your own bed {in order to pay back the loan}. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Do not move the ancient boundary that your fathers made. | Do not cheat people by moving the stones that their ancestors placed long ago to mark the boundaries of their land. |
The ancient boundary stone set by their ancestors must not be moved.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| You see a skilled man in his work. He will station himself before the face of kings; he will not station himself before the face of obscure ones. | Consider this: People who work skillfully will serve kings rather than serving unknown people. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| When you sit to eat {with} a ruler, consider carefully what {is} before your face, | When you sit down to eat {a meal} with someone who rules over others, pay attention to the food that is in front of you. |
When a person sits to eat with a ruler, he should carefully consider what is before him.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| and you should put a knife at your throat if you {are} an owner of appetite. | Restrain yourself {from eating too much} if you like eating a lot of food. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Do not desire his delicious morsels, for it {is} bread of lies. | Do not crave the {expensive} food that the ruler has because that ruler is using that food to deceive you. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Do not weary yourself to gain riches; from your understanding, cease. | Do not work so much that you exhaust yourself in order to become rich. Be understanding enough to stop doing so. |
A wise person knows when to stop working too hard to try to become rich.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Will you cause your eyes to fly to it, but it is not there? For making, it will make wings for itself; like an eagle, it will fly {into} the sky. | As soon as you look at that wealth, it will surely be gone! {This is} because wealth certainly disappears quickly as if it had wings and flew off into the sky like a fast bird. |
Both wealth and a bird can quickly disappear.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Do not eat the bread of {one} evil of eye, and do not desire his delicious morsels. | Do not eat food that stingy people {give you}. Do not crave the expensive food that they have, |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| For like one who calculates in his soul, so he {is}. “Eat and drink!” he will say to you, but his heart {is} not with you. | because stingy people are always thinking about how much the food costs them. They will tell you to eat and drink, but they do not mean what they say. |
Because stingy people are always thinking about how much the food costs them.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| You will vomit up your morsel you ate, and you will ruin your pleasant words. | {When you realize this,} you will want to vomit what little food you ate. You will have wasted the kind things you said {to them}. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Do not speak in the ears of a stupid {one}, for he will show contempt for the insight of your words. | Do not {try to} talk to foolish people because they will {only} despise the insightful things that you say. |
A fool despises the insightful things that you say.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Do not move an ancient boundary, and do not enter into the fields of fatherless ones, | Do not cheat people by moving the old stones that mark the boundaries of their land. Do not claim the land that belongs to {defenseless} orphans, |
Their strong redeemer, Yahweh, will defend them when they dispute with you.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| for their redeemer {is} strong; he himself will plead their dispute against you. | because {Yahweh is} the one who redeems them {and he} is powerful. He is the one who will defend them when they dispute with you. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Bring your heart to correction and your ear to words of knowledge. | Consider carefully {what people say} when they correct you. Indeed, listen carefully to what people teach you. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Do not withhold discipline from a boy; when you strike him with the rod, he will not die. | Do not refuse to discipline your children. If you physically punish them, they will not die. |
Discipline should not be withheld from a child.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| You, with the rod you will strike him, and you will rescue his life from Sheol. | In fact, if you physically punish your children, you will prevent them from dying. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| My son, if your heart {is} wise, my heart, even myself, will be glad, | My child, if you are wise, then surely I myself will be very happy, |
When his son speaks what is right, the father will be deeply joyful.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| and my inner parts will exult, when your lips speak upright things. | and I will be deeply joyful when you say what is right. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Do not let your heart be envious of sinners, but rather in the fear of Yahweh all the day. | Do not envy sinful people; instead always revere Yahweh. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Surely there is a future and your hope will not be cut off. | {If you do so, then} you will surely have a {good} future, and what you hope will happen will indeed occur! |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Listen, you my son, and be wise, and lead your heart in the way. | My child, listen {to me} so that you can become wise. Make yourself think about behaving rightly. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Do not be among drinkers of much wine, among gluttonous eaters of flesh for themselves. | Stay away from drunkards and gluttons, |
A person should stay away from drunkards or gluttonous eaters.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| For one who drinks much and one who eats gluttonously will become poor, and slumber will clothe {with} rags. | because drunkards and gluttons will become poor. They sleep so much that they will only have rags to wear. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Listen to your father, this {one} begot you, and do not despise your mother when she {is} old. | Pay attention to your father, who enabled you to exist, and continue to honor your mother when she becomes old. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Acquire truth and do not sell, wisdom and instruction and understanding. | Learn what is true and remember it. Learn what is wise and instructive and what you should understand. |
A person should acquire truth, wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The father of a righteous one, rejoicing, will rejoice, and one who begets a wise one, he will be glad in him. | Fathers of righteous people are very joyful. Indeed, those who father wise people are happy because of them. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| May your father and your mother be glad, and may she who bore you rejoice. | So do what will make your parents happy! Do what will make your mother joyful! |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| My son, give your heart to me, and may your eyes watchmy ways. | My son, pay close attention to me! Carefully observe what I do! |
A son should give his father his heart.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| For a prostitute {is} a deep pit, and a foreign woman {is} a narrow well. | {Do this} because prostitutes are as dangerous as a deep hole. Indeed, {becoming involved with} an adulterous woman is as dangerous as {falling into} a well that you cannot escape from. |
Prostitutes and adulterous women are dangerous because they cause many men to become unfaithful.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Surely she herself lies in wait like a robber, and she adds to the treacherous ones among man. | These very women certainly wait {for men to seduce} like robbers {wait for people to rob}. They cause many men to become unfaithful. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| For whom {is} woe? For whom {is} sorrow? For whom {are} quarrels? For whom {is} a lament? For whom {are} wounds without reason? For whom {is} dullness of eyes? | These are the kind of people who are woeful, sorrowful, and quarrelsome, who lament, get hurt for no reason, and have red eyes: |
Those people who drink too much wine.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| For those who linger over wine, for those coming to search out mixed wine. | those people who drink too much wine and are always looking around for wine {to drink} that someone has prepared. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Do not look {at} wine when it is red; when its eye gives in the cup, it goes with evenness. | Do not let wine become overly attractive to you, even though it is beautifully red, glistens in the cup, and goes down your throat smoothly. |
When you are drunk, you will hallucinate.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Its end bites like a snake, and it stings like a viper. | Afterward you will feel as terrible as if a poisonous snake has bitten you. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Your eyes will see strange things, and your heart will speak perverse things. | {When you are drunk,} you will hallucinate, and you will imagine distorted things. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| And you will be like one who lies down in the heart of the sea and like one who lies down at the head of a mast. | You will feel {dizzy and sick} as if you were trying to sleep on a ship that the sea was tossing back and forth. Indeed, you will feel as if you were trying to sleep while swaying at the top of a ship’s sails. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| “They struck me. I was not hurt. They beat me. I did not know. When will I awake? I will add, I will seek it again.” | {You will say,} “People hit me, but it did not hurt. People beat me, but I did not feel it. I wish I could be sober so that I could find even more wine {to drink} again!” |
The drunkard says he wishes to be sober so that he could find even more wine to drink again.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Do not be envious of men of evil, and do not desire to be with them. | Do not envy evil people; do not want to associate with them, |
A person should not be envious of those who are evil.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| For their heart plots violence, and their lips speak trouble. | because they plan to act violently, and they talk about doing bad things to people. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established. | People build households by acting wisely; they make those households stable by acting sensibly. |
A household is established by wisdom.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| And by knowledge the rooms are filled {with} all precious and pleasant wealth. | By acting knowledgeably, people fill the rooms {of those households} with all kinds of valuable and delightful riches. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A man of wisdom {is} with strength and a man of knowledge strengthens power. | Wise people are strong, and knowledgeable people make themselves more powerful, |
A wise person who adds knowledge to wisdom makes himself more powerful.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| For by guidance you make war for yourself and salvation {is} in an abundance of counsel. | because letting people advise you will make you fight your war successfully, and letting many people counsel you will rescue you {from losing the war}. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Wise things {are too} high for a fool; at the gate he will not open his mouth. | Foolish people cannot understand what is wise; they have nothing {useful} to say in court. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One who plans to do evil, they will call him an owner of schemes. | {Some} people are always planning to do evil things; people refer to them as schemers. |
People call a person who plans to do evil a schemer.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A scheme of folly {is} sin, and a mocker {is} an abomination to man. | Foolish plans are sinful, and people detest those who ridicule others. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| {If} you make yourself slack in the day of distress, your strength {is} narrow. | If you give up during distressful times, then you are weak. |
If you give up during distressful times, then you are weak.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Rescue those being taken for the death, and those staggering to the slaughter if you hold back! | Save people whom others are trying to kill; save the ones who will certainly die unless you do something! |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| If you say, “Behold, we did not know this,” does not he, the examiner of hearts, understand, and he, the guard of your life, know, and he, give back to a man according to his work? | If you {falsely} claim that you did not know that those people were dying unjustly, then think about this: Yahweh knows exactly what you are thinking and he understands {what you are doing}! He is the one who keeps you alive and he knows {everything about you}! He will surely make people receive what they deserve for whatever they have done or not done! |
God gives each person what he deserves.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| My son, eat honey because {it is} good and the fresh honey {is} sweet on your palate. | My child, eat honey because it tastes good, and honey dripping from the comb tastes sweet. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Know wisdom {is} thus for your soul; if you find {it}, then there will be a future and your hope will not be cut off. | Be aware that what is wise is like honey for you. If you become wise, then you will have a {good} future, and what you hope will happen will indeed occur! |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Do not lie in wait {like} a wicked {one} against the abode of the righteous; do not assault his resting place. | Do not be like wicked people and hide in wait in order to attack the places where righteous people dwell. Do not devastate the places where righteous people rest! |
The wicked lie in wait to attack the places where righteous people dwell.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| For seven {times} a righteous {one} falls and rises up, but the wicked stumble into calamity. | {Do not do so} because righteous people can recover many times when disastrous things happen to them, but disastrous things will destroy wicked people. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| When your enemy falls, do not be glad, and when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice, | Do not be happy when something disastrous happens to your adversaries. Indeed, do not rejoice when that happens! |
Yahweh will notice and disapprove, and stop being angry with your enemies.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| lest Yahweh see, and {it be} evil in his eyes, and he turn away his nose from upon him. | If you do, then Yahweh will notice and disapprove, so that he stops being angry with your enemies. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Do not make yourself hot because of evildoers; do not envy wicked ones. | Do not worry about people who do what is evil. Do not be envious of wicked people. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| For a future is not for an evil {one}, the lamp of the wicked will be extinguished. | {Do not do so} because evil people will not have {good} futures, {but} wicked people {will merely die} like an oil lamp that stops burning {oil}. |
The lamp of the wicked will be extinguished.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| My son, fear Yahweh and the king; do not associate with ones who change. | My child, reverently fear Yahweh and kings. Avoid people who rebel {against either Yahweh or the king}, |
A person should not associate with those who rebel against the king.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| For suddenly their calamity will arise, and who {is} knowing the destruction of the two of them? | because disastrous things will happen quickly to those people, and no one knows how terribly both Yahweh and kings can destroy {others}! |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| These also {are} of the wise ones: Recognizing faces in judgment {is} not good. | Here are more things that wise people have said: It is very evil to favor someone when you judge. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One saying to a wicked {one}, “You {are} righteous,” peoples will curse him, nations will denounce him. | If anyone declares that a guilty person is innocent, many people will curse him and whole people groups will hate him. |
Many people will curse him and whole people groups will hate him.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| But for the rebukers it will be pleasant, and over them will come a blessing of goodness. | However, people who condemn {guilty people} will prosper, and Yahweh will bless them well. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| He kisses lips who returns straightforward words. | People who answer honestly show that they are true friends. |
An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Prepare your work in the outdoors, and make it ready for yourself in the field, and after, you will build your house. | Do the work you must do outside and prepare your fields before you build your house. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Do not be a witness without cause against your neighbor. And would you deceive with your lips? | Do not testify against someone if you do not have a good reason {to do so}, and do not try to deceive people by what you say. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Do not say, “Just as he did to me, so I will do to him; I will return to the man according to his deed.” | Do not say, “I will do to him that same {bad} thing that he did to me; I will pay him back for what he did to me!” |
A person should not say that he will pay back his neighbor for what he has done.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| I passed over the field of a lazy man and over the vineyard of a man lacking of heart. | I walked by the land of a lazy person and past the vineyard of someone who does not think wisely. |
In the lazy man’s field, thistles and weeds were everywhere, and the stone wall surrounding it had broken down.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| And behold, all of it went up {with} thorns, its face was covered {with} weeds, and the wall of its stones was torn down. | And I saw that thistles and weeds were everywhere in that field and vineyard. Even the stone wall surrounding them had fallen down. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| And I myself looked, I set my heart, I saw, I received instruction: | When I saw {that}, I considered carefully {what I was seeing}. When I observed {that}, I learned {this}: |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to lie down, | {If you say to yourself,} “Let me sleep just a little more! Let me lay my hands {across my chest} in order to rest comfortably for a little while longer!” |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| and your poverty will come {like} one who walks around, and your needs like a man of shield. | Then {the result of being so lazy will be that} you will become poor and needy just as surely as if a thief has robbed you. |
Poverty and need come upon the lazy man as if a thief has robbed him.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| These also {are} proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah, king of Judah, copied. | Here are more wise sayings said by Solomon that the scribes who served Hezekiah, the king of Judah, copied {from a scroll that Solomon had written}: |
Solomon was the author of this proverb.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The glory of God {is} to hide a matter, but the glory of kings {is} to search out a matter. | God shows how glorious he is when he makes something that is difficult for people to understand. But kings show how glorious they are when they explain something {that is difficult for people to understand}. |
It is the glory of God to make something that is difficult for people to understand.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Heavens for height and earth for depth, and the heart of kings is not searchable. | As people cannot fully understand how high the sky is or how deep the earth is, so they cannot fully understand what kings think. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Remove dross from silver and a vessel comes out for the refiner. | People who make things from metal must remove impurities from silver before they can make {that silver into} something useful. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Remove a wicked one to the face of the king, and his throne will be established by righteousness. | {In the same way,} people must remove wicked advisers from the presence of kings so that they can rule securely by being righteous. |
People must remove wicked advisers from the presence of the king so that he can rule securely by being righteous.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Do not honor yourself to the face of the king, and in the place of the great ones do not stand. | Do not promote yourself in front of kings, and do not pretend to be great. |
Waiting for the king tell you to come up here is better than standing in the place designated for the great and being told to sit farther away from the king.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| For, better to say to you, “Come up here,” than to humiliate you to the face of a noble, whom your eyes have seen. | {Do not do so} because it is better if someone invites you to sit in a place that is closer {to the king}, than for someone to embarrass you in front of a royal official whom you have seen {by telling you to sit farther away from the king}. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Do not go out hastily to dispute, or else what will you do in its end when your neighbor humiliates you? | Do not plead your case too quickly against someone you know. If you do, then you will not know what to do when that person {wins the case and} embarrasses you! |
You should not plead your case too quickly because your neighbor may win the case and embarrass you.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Dispute your dispute {with} your neighbor and the secret of another do not uncover, | If you do indeed plead your case against someone you know, {settle it between yourselves and} do not tell {others} any secret about that person. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| lest one who hears shame you, and the rumor {of} you not turn back. | If you do {tell a secret}, then the people who hear you may shame you {for it}, and people will speak badly about you from then on. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Apples of gold in sculptures of silver {is} a word spoken according to its circumstance. | When someone says something that is very appropriate to a situation, it is {as delightful as seeing} golden apples in a setting of silver. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A ring of gold and jewelry of fine gold {is} a wise rebuke to a listening ear. | When a wise person rebukes someone who is willing to listen, it is {as valuable as} a gold ring or jewelry made from the best gold. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Like the coolness of snow in the day of harvest {is} a faithful envoy for his senders, and he brings back the life of his masters. | Reliable messengers are {as refreshing} to those who send them as cold snow would be {refreshing} during the {summer} harvest time; they refresh the people whom they serve. |
A faithful messenger refreshes the people whom he serves.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Clouds and wind but without rain {is} the man who boasts in a gift of falsehood. | People who brag about giving something but then do not give it are as disappointing as clouds and wind that do not bring rain. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| By length of nostrils a commander may be persuaded, and a soft tongue can break a bone. | People can persuade leaders by being patient, and by speaking gently people can convince those who oppose them {to agree with them}. |
A ruler can be persuaded with patience.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| {If} you find honey, eat enough {for} you, lest you become satiated with it and you vomit it up. | If you discover some wild honey, do not eat too much of it. If you do, then you will become sick from it and vomit. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Make rare your foot from the house of your neighbor, lest he become satiated with you and hate you. | {In the same way,} do not visit too often the houses of your friends. If you do, then they may feel that they have had too much of you and {even} hate you. |
Your neighbor could feel that he has had too much of you if you visit his house too often.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A hammer and a sword and a sharp arrow {is} a man who answers a testimony of falsehood against his neighbor. | People who lie when they testify against other people are {deadly, as if they had attacked them with} a club, a sword, or a piercing arrow. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A broken tooth and a shaky foot {is} confidence {in} one who acts treacherously in the day of distress. | Trusting treacherous people during distressful times is {like trying to eat with} a rotten tooth or {trying to walk with} a crippled foot. |
Trusting treacherous people during distressful times is like a crippled foot.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One removing a garment on a cold day, vinegar on natron, so {is} a singer with songs to a heart of misery. | Singing songs to someone who is sad is {as unhelpful as} taking a coat off of someone in cold weather or pouring vinegar on soda. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| If one who hates you {is} hungry, cause him to eat bread, and if thirsty, cause him to drink water; | Feed your enemies if they are hungry; give them something to drink if they are thirsty. |
You should give your enemy food to eat and water to drink if they are hungry or thirsty.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| for you are heaping embers on his head, and Yahweh will repay to you. | {Do so} because by doing so you {will shame them, as if you} were pouring burning coals on top of them, and Yahweh will reward you {for doing so}. |
Yahweh will reward the one who gives his enemy food and drink.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The wind of the north brings forth rain, and indignant faces, a tongue of secrecy. | When wind blows from the north, that produces rain. {Similarly,} when people tell the secrets {of others}, {that produces} angry people. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Better to dwell on the corner of a roof than {with} a wife of quarrels and a house of companionship. | It is better to live {alone} in a corner of a housetop than to live inside a house with a wife who always argues {with you}. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Cool water over a weary soul, so {is} good news from a distant land. | When people hear something good from a faraway place, it is as {refreshing as drinking} cold water when one is thirsty. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A spring muddied by trampling and a fountain spoiled {is} a righteous {one} swaying to the face of a wicked {one}. | When righteous people yield to wicked people, it is {as bad as} a spring that people have made murky by walking in it or {as bad as} a polluted fountain. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| To eat much honey {is} not good, also the searching out {of} their honor, honor. | {As} it is not good to eat too much honey; {so it is not} honorable to try to make people honor you. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A breached city without a wall {is} a man who has no restraint for his spirit. | People who cannot control themselves are {as defenseless as} a city that an army has broken into and knocked down its walls. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Like the snow in the summer and like the rain in the harvest, so honor {is} not suitable for a stupid one. | Honoring foolish people is just as inappropriate as snow {falling} in {hot} summer and rain {falling} during the time to harvest crops. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Like the bird for fluttering, like the swallow for flying, so a curse without cause does not come. | Just as a bird will fly by {and not land on you}, so a curse will not harm you if you are innocent. |
A curse will not harm you if you are innocent.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the back of stupid ones. | As people must whip horses and bridle donkeys {in order to guide them}, so people must physically punish foolish people {in order to guide them}. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Do not answer a stupid one according to his folly, lest you yourself also become like him. | Do not reply to foolish people according to their foolish way of thinking. If you do, then you also will be foolish. |
If you do, then you also will be foolish.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Answer a stupid one according to his folly, lest he become wise in his eyes. | Reply to foolish people according to their foolish way of thinking. If you do not, then they may think that they are wise. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One cutting off feet, one drinking violence, {is} one sending words by the hand of a stupid {one}. | Anyone who asks a foolish person to take a message to someone is {doing something as foolish as} cutting off his own feet or drinking poison. |
Sending a message by the hand of a fool is like cutting off one’s own feet.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Legs dangle from a lame one, and a proverb in the mouth of stupid ones. | {As} the legs of people who cannot walk are useless, so are the sayings that foolish people say. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Like tying a stone in a sling, so {is} one who gives honor to a stupid one. | Honoring foolish people is just {as useless} as a harmless weapon. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A thorn goes up into the hand of a drunkard, and a proverb in the mouth of stupid ones. | A drunken person picks up a thorn {and it will hurt someone}, {in the same way} a foolish person says a proverb {that can only be harmful}. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| An archer piercing everyone, so {is} one hiring a stupid {one} and hiring passersby. | People who employ foolish people or random strangers are {as dangerous} as someone who randomly shoots arrows at people. |
One who employs a fool is like an archer who randomly shoots arrows at people.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Like a dog returning to its vomit {is} a stupid {one} who repeats his folly. | Foolish people who do the same foolish thing over and over again are like dogs that eat what they have vomited up. |
A fool is like a dog who returns to his vomit because a fool does the same foolish thing over and over again.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| You see a man wise in his eyes. {There is more} hope for a stupid {one} than for him. | Consider this: Foolish people are more likely to learn than people who {wrongly} think that they are {already} wise. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A lazy {one} says, “A young lion {is} on the road! A lion {is} between the open areas!” | Lazy people claim that there is a lion in the path or in the midst of the streets {so that they can stay inside their houses and do nothing}. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The door turns on its hinge, and a lazy {one} on his bed. | As doors swing on their hinges {and do not go anywhere}, so lazy people turn back and forth in their beds. |
As a door swings on its hinges and does not go anywhere, so a lazy person turns back and forth in his bed.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A lazy {one} hides his hand in the dish; he is {too} weary to return it to his mouth. | Lazy people put their hands in a dish {of food}, {but} they are so lazy that they will not lift the food to their mouths. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A lazy {one} {is} wiser in his eyes than seven returning discernment. | A {typical} lazy person {wrongly} thinks that he is wiser than several people who answer intelligently. |
A lazy person wrongly thinks that he is wiser than several people who answer intelligently.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One grabbing the ears of a dog passing by {is} one infuriating himself over a dispute not for him. | People who make themselves angry because of an argument that does not concern them are {as foolish as} people who grab the ears of a dog that is passing by. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Like an insane {one} shooting firebrands, arrows, and death, | People who trick others and then say that they were just joking are {as dangerous} as a crazy person who shoots deadly flaming arrows {at people}. (vv18-19) |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| so {is} a man who deceives his neighbor and says, “Was I not joking?” | People who trick others and then say that they were just joking are {as dangerous} as a crazy person who shoots deadly flaming arrows {at people}. (vv18-19) |
A person says he was just joking after deceiving his neighbor.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| With the end of wood pieces a fire goes out, and when there is no murmurer, a quarrel becomes silent. | Fires stop burning when they have nothing {to burn}. In the same way, people stop arguing when no one is gossiping. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Charcoal to burning coals and wood to fire, so a man of quarrels {is} to kindling of a dispute. | {As} charcoal keeps coals burning and wood keeps fires burning, so people who always argue keep other people arguing. |
A quarrelsome person kindles a dispute.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The words of a murmurer {are} like things swallowed greedily, and they themselves go down into the rooms of the belly. | People are eager to listen to what people who gossip say, and what they say deeply affects those who hear it. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Silver of dross overlaid on a clay vessel {are} burning lips and a heart of evil. | People who fervently say {that they are your friend} while thinking about doing evil things {to you} {are as deceptive as} a {cheap} clay pot that someone has made to look like silver. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| With his lips one who hates disguises himself, but within him he sets deceit. | People who hate you will use what they say to hide what they feel, but they are {really} thinking about how to betray you. |
A person who hates others will use what they say to hide what they feel.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| When he makes his voice gracious, do not trust in him, for seven abominations {are} in his heart. | Do not believe those people when they speak kindly to you, because they are thinking many detestable things. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Hatred is covered by guile; his evil will be uncovered in the assembly. | Although those people deceive others by pretending that they do not hate you, When people gather together, they will discover how wicked those people are. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One who digs a pit will fall into it, and one who rolls a stone, it will come back to him. | People who dig pits to trap others will fall into those pits instead; and people who try to crush others with stones will become crushed by those stones instead. |
The person who digs a pit will fall into it.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A tongue of falsehood hates its oppressed ones, and a smooth mouth makes calamity. | Liars hate the people whom they hurt, and flatterers cause disastrous things to happen. |
Flatterers cause disastrous things to happen.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Do not boast about the next day, for you do not know what a day will bring forth. | Do not brag about {what you will do} tomorrow, because you do not know what will happen then. |
A person should not boast about tomorrow because he does not know what will happen then.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Let a stranger praise you and not your mouth, a foreigner and not your lips. | Do not praise yourself; let someone else praise you. Indeed, let other people praise you, not yourself. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The heaviness of a stone and the weightiness of the sand, yet the vexation of a fool {is} heavier than the two of them. | Stones and sand are heavy, but fools are so annoying that they are harder to bear than either of those. |
A fool is so annoying that he is harder to bear than either of those.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Cruelty of heat and a flood of nose, but who can stand to the face of jealousy? | Angry people are cruel and furious people are destructive, but no one can withstand jealous people! |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Better {is} open rebuke than hidden love. | It is better to correct people openly, than to love them without showing them that you love them. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Faithful {are} the wounds of one loving, but deceptive {are} the kisses of one hating. | Friends will be faithful to you by criticizing you {when necessary}, but enemies will deceive you by acting affectionately toward you. |
An enemy will deceive you by acting affectionately toward you.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A satiated appetite tramples fresh honey, but {for} the appetite of a hungry one everything bitter {is} sweet. | When people have full stomachs, they do not want to eat {even} honey. But when people are hungry, {even} bitter things taste sweet to them. |
To hungry people, every bitter thing is sweet.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Like a bird wandering from her nest, so {is} a man who wanders from his place. | People who stray from their homes are like birds that stray from their nests. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Oil and incense gladden the heart, and the sweetness of his friend {is} from the counsel of the soul. | Fragrant oil and perfume make people feel happy, but having a friend who advises you sincerely is even better. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Do not forsake your friend and the friend of your father, and do not enter the house of your brother in the day of your calamity. Better {is} a nearby inhabitant than a distant brother. | Do not ignore your friends or your father’s friends. Do not {think that you must} go to the house of a relative when something disastrous happens to you. {Rather,} it is better to go to a nearby neighbor than to relatives who live far away. |
A nearby neighbor is better than a brother who is far away.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Be wise, my son, and gladden my heart and I shall return a word to one reproaching me. | My child, make me happy by becoming wise. Then I will be able to reply to anyone who argues against me. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A prudent one sees evil, he hides himself; naive ones pass on, they are fined. | Sensible people observe something dangerous happening and avoid it, but naive people {ignorantly} do not avoid it and suffer {for doing so}. |
A prudent man hides himself when he sees something dangerous happening.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Take his garment when he has pledged {for} a stranger, and on behalf of a foreign woman hold it in pledge. | Take the coats of people who promise to pay a loan for someone whom they do not know. Indeed, hold onto the coats of people who do so for a foreigner. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One who blesses his neighbor with a great voice in the rising morning, it will be considered a curse to him! | If you rise early in the morning and loudly call out a blessing to your neighbor {while he is still sleeping}, he will consider it to be a curse{, not a blessing}. |
Early in the morning, a blessing given with a loud voice is considered to be a curse.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A continual dripping on a day of steady rain and a woman of quarrels are alike. | A wife who always argues {with you} is as {annoying as} constantly dripping water on a rainy day. |
Restraining a quarreling wife is like stopping the wind.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The one hiding her hides the wind, and oil meets his right hand. | It is as difficult to stop her {from arguing} as stopping the wind, or catching oil in one hand. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Iron sharpens against iron, and a man sharpens the face of his neighbor. | {We can use} one iron tool to sharpen another iron tool; {similarly,} when one person shares what he is thinking, it can help another person to think more clearly. |
The author says that, similar to how iron sharpens iron, when one person shares what he is thinking, it can help another person to think more clearly.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One guarding a fig tree will eat its fruit, and one protecting his master will be honored. | Just as people who take care of fruit trees will also eat the fruit from those trees, so too will masters honor their servants who guard them. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| As the water, the face to the face, so the heart of the man, to the man. | When people look in water, the water reflects their faces. In the same way, what people think reveals what kinds of people they are. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Sheol and Abaddon are not satisfied, and the eyes of the man are not satisfied. | Just as the place where dead people go never becomes full; so people never stop wanting {things}. |
A person’s desire for things is never satisfied.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The smelting-pot {is} for the silver and the furnace {is} for the gold; so {is} a man for the mouth of one who praises him. | People use crucibles and furnaces to test and refine silver and gold. In the same way, people can know what kind of person someone is {by how he reacts} when people praise him. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Even if you pound a fool in a mortar with a pestle in the midst of ground grains, his folly will not turn away from on him. | If you were to crush a fool the way that you would crush grain {into powder}, you would still not be able to find any part of him that is not foolish. |
If you were to crush a fool the way that you would crush grain into powder, you would still not be able to find any part of him that is not foolish.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Know well the faces of your flock; set your heart to the herds. | Be fully aware of how your sheep are doing. Indeed, consider carefully how your animals fare. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| For treasure {is} not to eternity, nor even a crown for generation and generation. | {Do so} because riches will not last forever. Even a king’s family will not rule forever! |
Riches do not last forever.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The grass disappears, and fresh grass is seen, and the herbs of the mountains are gathered; | Harvest the grass and then you will see new grass. Collect {and store} the plants that grow on the hillside. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| lambs {will be} for your clothing, and male goats the price of a field. | {If you do these things, then} you will have lambs with wool that you can clothe yourself with. You will also have male goats that you can sell for enough money to buy a field. |
Lambs provide wool with which to clothe yourself.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| And {there will be} enough milk of female goats for your food, for the food of your house, and life for your young women. | You will even have female goats that produce enough milk for yourself, your family, and your servant girls to drink. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The wicked flee and there is no pursuer, but the righteous are {as} confident as a young lion. | Wicked people run away even though no one is chasing them, but righteous people are as brave as lions. |
The wicked run away even though no one is chasing them.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| By the transgression of a land many {are} its rulers, but by a man who understands, who knows, so it will endure. | When the people in a country sin, they will continually have {new} leaders; but when they have a truly knowledgeable ruler, then they will have a {stable} government that will last. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A man who is poor and who oppresses the lowly {is} a rain {that} washes away, and there is no bread. | A poor person who oppresses other poor people is {as destructive as} rain that washes away {the crops}, leaving nothing to eat. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Those forsaking the law praise the wicked, but those keeping the law strive against them. | People who reject {Yahweh’s} laws say good things about wicked people; but people who obey those laws oppose such wicked people. |
The wicked are praised by those who forsake the law.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Men of evil do not understand justice, but seekers of Yahweh understand everything. | Evil people cannot comprehend what is just, but people who desire to please Yahweh comprehend everything {about it}. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Better {is} one who is poor who walks in his integrity than one crooked of ways, yet he {is} rich. | It is better to be poor and honest than to be dishonest and rich. |
It is better to be poor and honest than to be dishonest and rich.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One who guards the law {is} a son who understands, but one who associates with gluttonous eaters humiliates his father. | Young people who obey {Yahweh’s} laws are wise, but young people who carouse with gluttons disgrace their fathers. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One increasing his wealth by interest and usury gathers it for one showing favor {to} the lowly. | Money that people gain by charging an unreasonably large amount of interest {from those to whom they loan money} will {eventually} belong to someone who is kind to poor people. |
His wealth will eventually belong to someone who is kind to poor people.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One turning away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer {is} an abomination. | Yahweh detests hearing prayers from people who refuse to obey his laws. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One leading the upright astray in the way of evil into his pit he himself will fall, but the blameless will inherit good. | People who guide upright people to act evilly will destroy themselves by what they do, but people whom Yahweh does not blame {for acting wickedly} will receive what is good. |
People who guide upright people to act evilly will destroy themselves by what they do.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A rich man {is} wise in his eyes, but a discerning lowly {one} will search him out. | Rich people tend to think that they are wise, but perceptive poor people can tell whether or not this is true. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| When the righteous exult, {there is} great splendor, but when the wicked arise, a man is searched for. | People celebrate when righteous people become powerful, but people hide when wicked people become powerful. |
People hide when the wicked become powerful.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One covering his transgressions will not prosper, but one confessing and forsaking will be shown mercy. | People who {try to} hide the sinful things that they do will never be successful, but Yahweh will be merciful to people who confess the sinful things that they have done and stop doing them. |
A sinner who confesses and forsakes his sin will be shown mercy.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Happy {is} a man fearing continually, but one hardening his heart will fall into evil. | People who constantly examine how they are thinking and behaving are happy, but bad things will happen to people who become uncaring about those things. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A lion growling and a bear charging {is} a wicked ruler over a lowly people. | Wicked people who rule over poor people are {as dangerous as} a roaring lion or attacking bear. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A leader lacking of understanding {is} also abundant of oppressions; one hating unjust gain will lengthen days. | Leaders who are not sensible severely oppress {other people}, {but} people who despise gaining wealth unjustly will live for a long time. |
A ruler can prolong his days if he despises gaining wealth unjustly.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A man oppressed by the blood of a life will flee as far as a pit; let them not support him. | People who murder others will keep running away {from those who would punish them} until they die. Do not help them! |
We should not help people who murder others and keep running away from those who would punish them until they die.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One walking blameless will be saved, but one crooked of ways will fall into one. | Yahweh will rescue people who continually do what is right, but people who behave dishonestly will ruin themselves in the end. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One working his ground will be satisfied {with} bread, but one pursuing empty things will be satisfied {with} poverty. | People who work hard will have enough food {to eat}, but people who waste time doing worthless things will only be poor. |
A person who wastes time pursuing empty things will only be poor.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A man of faithfulness {has} an abundance of blessings, but one hurrying to become rich will not remain blameless. | Yahweh abundantly blesses faithful people, but he will certainly punish people who are eager to be wealthy. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Recognizing faces {is} not good, yet for a bit of bread a man will transgress. | Although it is very evil to unfairly favor one person over another, some people will sin {by doing so} to get even a small bribe. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One hurrying to the wealth {is} a man of an evil eye, but he does not know that lack will come to him. | People who are eager to become rich are greedy. They do not realize that they will become poor. |
A greedy man hurries after riches.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One rebuking a man, afterward will find favor more than one making the tongue smooth. | Afterward, people appreciate someone who has corrected them more than {they appreciate} someone who has spoken flatteringly {to them}. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One robbing his father and his mother and says, “There is no transgression,” he {is} the companion of a man of destruction. | People who rob their parents and say that doing so is not wrong are as bad as thieves. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One wide of appetite stirs up strife, but one who trusts in Yahweh will be fattened. | Greedy people cause people to argue with each other, but Yahweh will prosper people who trust him. |
Yahweh will prosper people who trust him.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One trusting in his heart, he {is} a stupid one, but one walking in wisdom, he himself will flee. | People who trust in themselves are foolish, but people who act wisely are the ones who will escape {what is dangerous}. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One giving to the one who is poor—there is no lack, but one hiding his eyes—an abundance of curses. | People who give poor people {what they need} will have all that they need, but there are many who will curse people who ignore poor people. |
A person who ignores the poor will receive many curses.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| When wicked ones arise, a man will hide himself, but when they perish, righteous ones will increase. | People hide when wicked people become powerful, but when those wicked people die, there will be more and more righteous people. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A man of rebukes who stiffens the neck will suddenly be broken and without healing. | Some people remain stubborn even though other people often correct them; but someday something will destroy them quickly, and they will not be able to recover. |
A person who remains stubborn even though other people often correct him will be destroyed quickly, and he will not be able to recover.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, but when a wicked {one} rules, a people groans. | People are joyful when righteous people become influential, but people are miserable when wicked people rule {over them}. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A man who loves wisdom gladdens his father, but one who associates with prostitutes destroys wealth. | People who cherish what is wise make their fathers happy, but people who have sex with prostitutes waste all their money. |
A person who has sex with prostitutes wastes all their money.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A king by justice causes the land to stand, but a man of contributions tears it down. | Kings make the people in their land succeed by acting justly, but leaders who take money dishonestly ruin the people in their land. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A man who makes smooth for his neighbor spreads out a net for his steps. | People who flatter others are really just preparing to exploit them in some way |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| In the transgression of an evil man—a snare, but a righteous {one} shouts for joy and is glad. | Evil people endanger themselves by acting sinfully, but righteous people sing joyfully and are happy. |
Acting sinfully causes an evil person to endanger himself.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A righteous {one} knows the legal claim of the lowly; a wicked {one} does not understand knowledge. | Righteous people know that they should treat poor people justly, but wicked people do not {even} understand that they should know {this}. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Men of mockery inflame a city, but the wise turn away nose. | People who mock others agitate people throughout a city, but wise people enable others to remain calm. |
A wise person enables others to remain calm.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A wise man goes to judgment with a foolish man, but he rages and he laughs, and there is no rest. | If wise people dispute with foolish people, the foolish people will become angry and sneer and not resolve anything. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Men of bloodshed hate a blameless {one}, but upright {ones} seek his life. | Murderers despise people who always try to do what is right, but righteous people try to protect them. |
Murderers despise people who always try to do what is right.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A stupid {one} brings out all his spirit, but a wise {one} soothes it backward. | Foolish people uncontrollably express everything that they feel, but wise people control how they express what they feel. |
Foolish people uncontrollably express everything that they feel.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A ruler who listens attentively to a word of falsehood, all his servants {are} wicked ones. | Leaders who believe the false things that people tell them have only wicked servants. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A poor one and a man of oppression meet together; the one enlightening the eyes of the two of them {is} Yahweh. | Poor people and the people who oppress {them} have {at least} one thing in common: Yahweh is the one who causes both of them to live. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A king who judges the lowly with truth, his throne will be established to perpetuity. | Kings who judge poor people according to what is true will always rule securely. |
A king can establish his throne forever by judging the poor with truth.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A rod and rebuke give wisdom, but a boy let loose causes his mother shame. | If parents punish and correct their children, doing so can make those children wise; but if parents let their children do whatever they want to do, then their children will disgrace them. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| When the wicked increase, transgression increases, but the righteous will see their downfall. | People sin more when wicked people rule over them, but {someday} Yahweh will destroy those wicked people, and righteous people will see it happen. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Discipline your son, and he will cause you to rest, and he will give delights to your soul. | If you discipline your children, then you will no longer feel worried {about their behavior} and they will make you very happy. |
Discipline your son, and he will cause you to rest, and he will give delights to your soul.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| When there is no vision, the people are let loose, but one keeping the law, happy {is} he. | When the people {of a nation} do not have messages from Yahweh {through his prophets}, then they do not control themselves, but people who obey {Yahweh’s} laws are happy. |
If the people do not keep the law, they do not control themselves.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A servant will not be instructed by words, for he understands, but there is no answer. | You cannot correct servants by {only} speaking to them because they will not do what you say even though they understand {what you say}. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| You see a man hurrying in his words. {There is more} hope for a stupid one than him. | Consider this: Foolish people are more likely to do well in life than people who speak thoughtlessly. |
There is more hope for a stupid one than for a man hurrying in his words.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Pampering his servant from youth, then his end will be insolence. | If you give your servants everything they want when they are young, then they will eventually be arrogant. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A man of nose stirs up strife, and an owner of heat, much transgression. | People who easily become angry cause people to argue. Indeed, angry people cause many people to sin. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The pride of a man will make him low, but {one} lowly of spirit will grasp honor. | People will humiliate proud people for being proud, but people will honor those who are humble. |
A person with a humble spirit is given honor.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| One who shares with a thief hates his life; he hears the oath but does not tell. | People who take a share of a thief’s spoils greatly endanger themselves; They hear that Yahweh will curse them {for not testifying to what they know}, but they do not say anything {about the crime}. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The anxiety of a man sets a snare, but the one trusting in Yahweh will be set on high. | Being anxious is {as dangerous as walking into} a trap, but Yahweh will protect people who trust in him. |
Yahweh protects the one who trusts in him.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Many {are} those who seek the face of a ruler, but from Yahweh {is} justice of a man. | Many {people} want leaders to help them, but Yahweh is the {only} one who {surely} does for them what is just. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| An abomination to the righteous {is} a man of injustice, but an abomination to the wicked {is} {one} upright of way. | Righteous people detest unjust people, and wicked people detest people who do the right thing. |
Righteous people detest unjust people.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The words of Agur son of Jakeh, the burden: The declaration of the strong man to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal: | {These are} the sayings of Agur son of Jakeh, which Yahweh told him to say; {these are what} Agur declared to both Ithiel and Ucal: |
The sayings of Agur the son of Jakeh are written in this proverb.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| “Surely, I {am} more stupid than a man, and the understanding of man {is} not mine. | I am certainly less intelligent than other people. Indeed, I do not understand as much as everyone else understands! |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| And I have not learned wisdom, nor the knowledge of holy ones do I know. | I have not learned how to become wise, nor do I know {much} about {Yahweh,} the Holy One. |
The author has not learned wisdom.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Who has ascended {to} heaven and descended? Who has gathered the wind in the hollow of his hands? Who has wrapped waters in the cloak? Who has raised up all the ends of the earth? What {is} his name? And what {is} the name of his son? Surely you know! | {But I will say this:} Surely nobody has ever gone to heaven and returned to earth! Surely nobody has ever controlled the wind! Surely nobody has ever gathered the water for rain in the clouds! Surely nobody has ever formed the boundaries of the earth! You do not know the name of any such person, or the name of his son. Therefore, you {also} do not know {much}! |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Every saying of God is refined; he {is} a shield for those who take refuge in him. | Everything that God says is true; he is {like} a shield that protects people who trust him to protect them. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Do not add upon his words, lest he rebuke you and you be shown a liar. | Never claim that God has said something other than what he has {actually} said. If you do that, then he will correct you and he will prove that you lied {about what he said}. |
God will correct you and he will prove that you lied about what he said.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Two things I ask from with you, do not withhold from me before I die: | {God,} I ask you to do two things; please do them for me before I die: |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Emptiness and the word of a lie put far away from me. Do not give to me poverty or riches; cause me to receive the bread of my portion. | {Please} prevent me from being dishonest or speaking what is not true. {Please} do not let me become too poor or too rich, {but} just provide the proper amount of food for me. |
The author wishes to have neither poverty nor riches, but just the proper amount of food.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Lest I be satiated, and I deny and say, ‘Who {is} Yahweh?’ And lest I become dispossessed and steal, and I seize the name of my God. | Because if I become rich, I might say that I do not know you and that I do not need you; and if I become poor, I might dishonor you by stealing things. |
The author is afraid he would deny Yahweh if he were rich.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Do not slander a slave to his master, lest he curse you, and you be found guilty. | Never say bad things about servants to the people whom they serve. If you do, then they will curse you, and people will hold you responsible {for what you said}. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| {There is} a generation, it curses its father and does not bless its mother. | Some people disrespect their parents. |
People who disrespect their parents think that they are sinless, yet have committed disgusting sins.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| {There is} a generation clean in its eyes, but it is not washed from its excrement. | Some people think that they are sinless, but they have committed disgusting sins, {like} people who have covered themselves with excrement. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| {There is} a generation, how its eyes are raised up, and its eyelids are lifted up! | Some people are very proud! They think that they are better than other people. |
The proud generation destroys the poor.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| {There is} a generation, its teeth {are} swords and its fangs {are} knives for devouring the afflicted from the earth and the needy from man. | Some people are very cruel toward others; they harshly oppress and destroy poor people as fierce animals attack and eat other animals. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Two daughters {are} to the leech, ‘Give! Give!’ {There are} three, they are not satisfied; four, they do not say, ‘Enough:’ | {Greedy people are like} the offspring of leeches {because they} always want other people to give them more. There are three, even four things that always want more: |
Greedy people are like the offspring of leeches because they always want other people to give them more.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Sheol, and the closure of the womb, a land not satisfied with water, and a fire—it does not say, ‘Enough!’ | the place where dead people are, childless women, soil that never receives enough water, and fire that keeps consuming more. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| An eye mocks a father and shows contempt for the obedience {to} a mother; the ravens of the valley will peck it out, and the sons of the vulture will eat it. | People who ridicule their fathers, and refuse to obey their mothers deserve to {die and} have wild animals eat their {dead} bodies. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Three things, they {are} too wonderful for me, and four, I do not understand them: | There are three, even four things, that are too amazing for me to comprehend: |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| the way of the eagle in the sky, the way of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship in the heart of the sea, and the way of a young man with a young woman. | how a bird flies in the air, how a snake slithers over a rock, how a ship sails in the middle of the ocean, and how a young man loves a young woman. |
The author does not understand the way of a snake on a rock.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Thus {is} the way of a woman who commits adultery: She eats and wipes her mouth and says, ‘I have not done iniquity.’ | Acting adulterously is {as easy} for adulterous women as eating and wiping their mouths. Afterward, they claim that they have not sinned at all. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Under three things the earth quakes, and under four it is not able to hold up: | There are three, even four, things that {the people in} the world cannot tolerate: |
The first thing that causes the earth to tremble is a slave when he becomes king.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| under a slave when he becomes king and a worthless one when he is satisfied with bread, | what slaves do who become rulers, what worthless people do when they have plenty of food to eat, |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| under a hated woman when she is married and a female servant when she dispossesses her mistress. | what women whom people hate do when they marry someone, and what servant girls do who replace the wives of their masters. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Four things, they {are} small things of the earth but they {are} wise things, being made wise: | There are four creatures in the world that are small but extremely wise: |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The ants {are} a people not strong, but they prepare their food in the summer. | Although ants are not strong, they store up their food during the summer {so that they have it to eat during the winter}. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Rock badgers {are} a people not mighty, but they set their house in the cliff. | Although hyraxes are {also} not strong, they are able to make their homes {high up in the rocks} on cliffs. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| There is no king for the locust, but each of it goes out divided {into groups}. | Although locusts do not have a king, they move in orderly groups like soldiers in an army. |
The author finds locusts amazing because they have no king, but all of them move in orderly groups.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| You can catch a lizard with hands, yet it {is} in the palaces of the king. | Although anyone can {easily} catch lizards in his hands, they can freely enter into kings’ palaces. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Three things, they are doing well of step, and four are doing well of walking: | There are three, even four, things that look very impressive when they walk: |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| a lion, mighty among the animals, and it will not turn away from the face of anything, | lions, which are the most powerful animals and never flee from anything, |
The lion does not turn away from anything.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| a rooster of loins, or a male goat, and a king against whom one does not rise up. | strutting male birds, male goats, and kings whom people are afraid to rebel against. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| If you have been foolish by lifting up yourself, or if you have schemed, a hand {be} to mouth! | If you have acted foolishly by bragging about yourself, or if you were plotting {to do what is evil}, then stop doing so immediately! |
A person who has been devising evil should stop doing so immediately.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| For the squeezing of milk brings out butter, and the squeezing of the nose brings out blood, and the squeezing of nostrils brings out strife.” | {Stop doing so} because just as churning milk produces butter, and squeezing a nose produces blood, making people angry causes them to fight. |
Anger causes people to fight.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The words of Lemuel the king, a burden that his mother had instructed him: | {These are} the sayings of King Lemuel; Yahweh had spoken these sayings that his mother had taught him: |
King Lemuel wrote this proverb.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| What, my son? And what, son of my womb? And what, son of my vows? | My son, whom I gave birth to and whom I vowed {to dedicate to Yahweh}, listen to me! |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Do not give to women your strength or your ways to cause kings to be wiped out. | Do not exhaust yourself by having sex with women; they can destroy kings. |
He should not give his strength to women and exhaust himself by having sex with them.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| {It is} not for kings, Lemuel, {it is} not for kings to drink wine or for dignitaries or intoxicating drink. | Lemuel, kings and dignitaries should not {constantly} drink wine, or {greatly} desire to drink what can intoxicate {them}. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Lest he drink and forget what has been decreed and pervert the legal claim of all the sons of the afflicted one. | {They must not do this} so that they do not forget the laws {that they have made} and prevent all suffering people from getting what they legally deserve. |
Rulers forget what has been decreed when they have strong drink.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Give intoxicating drink to the perishing one and wine to those bitter of soul. | Let dying people drink what can intoxicate {them}, and let miserable people drink wine. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| He will drink and forget his poverty, and his trouble he will not remember again. | They can drink {what can intoxicate them} to forget that they are poor and to completely forget what troubles them. |
Those in bitter distress forget what troubles them when they have strong drink.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Open your mouth for a mute one, for the legal claim of all the sons of the one passing away. | Defend those who cannot speak {for themselves}; {defend} all those whom others are threatening to kill so that they get what they legally deserve. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Open your mouth, judge {with} righteousness, and plead the legal case of the afflicted one and poor one. | Defend, judge rightly, and plead for suffering and poor people to get what they legally deserve. |
The king should plead for suffering and poor people to get what they legally deserve.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| A woman of worth, who can find? And her value {is} far more than coral pearls. | Virtuous and capable women are difficult to find! This kind of woman is more valuable than precious jewels. |
A virtuous and capable wife is more valuable than precious jewels.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The heart of her husband trusts in her, and spoil he will not lack. | Her husband completely trusts her, and he will always gain many things {because of her}. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| She does to him good and not evil all the days of her life. | Such a woman benefits her husband for as long as she lives. |
She does good for her husband and not evil all the days of her life.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| She searches {for} wool and linens and works with the delight of her palms. | She gets materials to make clothing for both warm and cool weather, and she enjoys making that clothing. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| She is like the ships of a merchant; she brings her bread from far away. | She is like merchant ships because she brings food to her home from distant places. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| And she rises while still night and gives food to her house and a portion to her young women. | She gets up before dawn in order to prepare food for her family and to prepare some {food} for her female servants. |
She arises while it is still night.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| She considers a field and gets it; from the fruit of her palms she plants a vineyard. | She carefully evaluates a field and then buys it. {Then} she uses some of what she earned by working to plant a vineyard {in it}. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| She girds her loins with strength, and she strengthens her arms. | She keeps her body strong, and she makes her arms strong {by working hard}. |
She keeps her body strong and she makes her arms strong by working hard.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| She perceives that her profit {is} good; her lamp does not go out in the night. | She knows that what she does is very profitable. She works late into the night. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| She stretches out her hands at the distaff, and her palms grasp the spindle. | She makes thread {for clothing} with her own hands. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| She spreads out her palm to the afflicted one, and she stretches out her hands to the poor one. | She generously helps people who are poor and suffering. |
She generously helps people who are poor and suffering.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| She does not fear for her house because of snow, for all her house is clothed {with} crimson. | She is not worried that her family will be cold during cold weather because her whole family has the best clothing. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| She makes for herself coverings, fine linen and purple for her clothing. | She makes her own blankets to cover beds. She wears clothing made from expensive cloth. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Her husband is known at the gates, when he sits with the elders of the land. | People respect such a woman’s husband at the {city} gates, when he sits {there} with the {other} leaders of the city. |
Her husband sits with the elders at the gates.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| She makes a linen garment and sells, and a belt she gives to the Canaanite. | This woman makes clothing and sells it. She also sells belts to merchants. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Strength and splendor {are} her clothing, and she laughs at a future day. | People notice how strong and dignified she is, and she is cheerful about what will happen in the future. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Her mouth opens with wisdom, and the law of covenant faithfulness {is} on her tongue. | She speaks wisely, and when she speaks, she teaches {others} to be faithful and kind. |
She speaks wisely, and when she speaks, she teaches others to be faithful and kind.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| She scans the goings on of her house, and the bread of laziness she does not eat. | She carefully watches what happens in her household, and she is never lazy. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Her sons rise up and call her blessed; her husband also praises her. | This woman’s children stand respectfully and declare that she lives well. Her husband says good things about her, as well. |
Her children call her blessed.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| “Many daughters have acted {with} worth, but you yourself have ascended over all of them.” | He says to her, “Many women have acted virtuously and capably, but you indeed have done better than them all!” |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The charm {is} falsehood and the beauty {is} vapor; a woman fearful of Yahweh, she herself will be praised. | Charming women {who are not good} can deceive people into thinking that they are good, and beautiful women will be beautiful for only a short time. However, people will {always} praise those women who reverently fear Yahweh. |
People will praise a woman who fears Yahweh.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Give to her from the fruit of her hands and let her works praise her at the gates. | Give to such women what they have earned, and praise them publicly for what they have done. |