A Good Name and Training Children
Study note
This section contains two of the most famous verses in Proverbs. Verse 1 teaches that a good reputation is worth more than great wealth. Verse 6, 'Train up a child in the way he should go,' is one of the most quoted verses about parenting in the Bible. It teaches that early instruction shapes a person's entire life.
1 A solid reputation is far more valuable than a great bank account. Being well-liked is worth more than gold or silver. A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold.
2 Rich people and poor people have one thing in common: God is the one who made every one of them. The rich and poor meet together: the LORD is the maker of them all.
3 A person with good sense spots trouble coming from a distance and gets out of the way. Someone without experience walks straight into it and suffers. A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.
4 When you combine humility with honoring the Lord, the result is wealth, respect, and a full life. By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, and honour, and life.
5 Dangerous traps and sharp thorns litter the road that crooked people walk. Anyone who values their life keeps far away from that path. Thorns and snares are in the way of the froward: he that doth keep his soul shall be far from them.
6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
Rich and Poor, Generous and Lazy
Study note
These proverbs honestly describe the relationship between the rich and the poor. The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is a slave to the lender. A generous person will be blessed. The lazy person makes ridiculous excuses like claiming there is a lion in the street. Whoever oppresses the poor or gives to the rich will come to poverty.
7 Rich people have power over poor people. Anyone who borrows money becomes a servant to the one who lent it. The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.
8 Plant injustice and you will harvest misery. The weapon of your fury will break apart in your hands. He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity: and the rod of his anger shall fail.
9 People who give freely will be blessed. They gladly share what they have with those in need. He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor.
10 Get rid of the person who mocks, and the conflict goes with them. The fighting and the insults will finally stop. Cast out the scorner, and contention shall go out; yea, strife and reproach shall cease.
11 If you love having a pure heart and speak with grace, even a king will want to be your friend. He that loveth pureness of heart, for the grace of his lips the king shall be his friend.
12 The Lord's eyes stand guard over true knowledge, but he tears apart the schemes of people who cannot be trusted. The eyes of the LORD preserve knowledge, and he overthroweth the words of the transgressor.
13 The lazy person says, "I cannot go outside! There is a lion out there somewhere, and it is going to eat me right in the street!" The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets.
14 The seductive words of an immoral woman are like a deep hole in the ground. If you have fallen out of favor with the Lord, you will tumble right in. The mouth of strange women is a deep pit: he that is abhorred of the LORD shall fall therein.
15 Every child has a streak of foolishness in their heart, but firm, loving correction will drive it out. Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.
16 Exploiting the poor to pad your own wallet, or giving gifts to the rich hoping for favors, both lead to poverty. He that oppresseth the poor to increase his riches, and he that giveth to the rich, shall surely come to want.
Words of the Wise Begin
Study note
Beginning at verse 17, a new section called 'Words of the Wise' starts. These are longer teachings, similar in style to the Egyptian 'Instruction of Amenemope.' The author urges the reader to listen carefully, keep these words ready in their heart, and trust in the Lord.
17 Open your ears and take in what wise people have to say. Let your heart absorb the knowledge I am sharing. Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge.
18 It will be a wonderful thing if you tuck these truths into your heart and have them ready to share whenever the time is right. For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee; they shall withal be fitted in thy lips.
19 I am spelling this out for you personally, right here and now, so that you will learn to put your full trust in the Lord. That thy trust may be in the LORD, I have made known to thee this day, even to thee.
20 I have carefully written out these important lessons for you. They are full of advice and solid knowledge. Have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge,
21 My goal is to teach you things that are true and that you can count on. Then you can give solid answers when people ask you questions. That I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth; that thou mightest answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee?
Warnings About Justice and Debt
Study note
These wise sayings warn against robbing the poor, making friends with angry people, guaranteeing other people's debts, and moving ancient boundary stones. The section ends with a promise: a skilled worker will serve before kings, not before obscure people.
22 Do not cheat poor people because they are easy targets. Do not use the courts to crush people who have nothing. Rob not the poor, because he is poor: neither oppress the afflicted in the gate:
23 The Lord himself will step in and fight their case, and he will destroy anyone who destroys them. For the LORD will plead their cause, and spoil the soul of those that spoiled them.
24 Stay away from people with explosive tempers. Do not spend your time with someone who is always losing their cool. Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go:
25 Hang around them long enough and you will start acting the same way, and then you will be stuck in the same trap they are in. Lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul.
26 Never be the person who guarantees somebody else's loan by shaking on it. Be not thou one of them that strike hands, or of them that are sureties for debts.
27 If you cannot pay up when the time comes, they will literally take the bed out from under you. If thou hast nothing to pay, why should he take away thy bed from under thee?
28 Do not tamper with the old property lines that your ancestors established. Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set.
29 Have you noticed someone who is truly excellent at what they do? That person will serve alongside rulers, not waste their talent on nobodies. Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.