GodsWord - Proverbs - 22

22:1  A good name is more desirable than great wealth. Respect is better than silver or gold.

22:2  The rich and the poor have this in common: the LORD is the maker of them all.

22:3  Sensible people foresee trouble and hide from it, but gullible people go ahead and suffer the consequence.

22:4  On the heels of humility (the fear of the LORD) are riches and honor and life.

22:5  A devious person has thorns and traps ahead of him. Whoever guards himself will stay far away from them.

22:6  Train a child in the way he should go, and even when he is old he will not turn away from it.

22:7  A rich person rules poor people, and a borrower is a slave to a lender.

22:8  Whoever plants injustice will harvest trouble, and this weapon of his own fury will be destroyed.

22:9  Whoever is generous will be blessed because he has shared his food with the poor.

22:10  Drive out a mocker, and conflict will leave. Quarreling and abuse will stop.

22:11  Whoever loves a pure heart and whoever speaks graciously has a king as his friend.

22:12  The LORD's eyes watch over knowledge, but he overturns the words of a treacherous person.

22:13  A lazy person says, "There's a lion outside! I'll be murdered in the streets!"

22:14  The mouth of an adulterous woman is a deep pit. The one who is cursed by the LORD will fall into it.

22:15  Foolishness is firmly attached to a child's heart. Spanking will remove it far from him.

22:16  Oppressing the poor for profit or giving to the rich certainly leads to poverty.

22:17  Open your ears, and hear the words of wise people, and set your mind on the knowledge I give you.

22:18  It is pleasant if you keep them in mind so that they will be on the tip of your tongue,

22:19  so that your trust may be in the LORD. Today I have made them known to you, especially to you.

22:20  Didn't I write to you previously with advice and knowledge

22:21  in order to teach you the words of truth so that you can give an accurate report to those who send you?

22:22  Do not rob the poor because they are poor or trample on the rights of an oppressed person at the city gate,

22:23  because the LORD will plead their case and will take the lives of those who rob them.

22:24  Do not be a friend of one who has a bad temper, and never keep company with a hothead,

22:25  or you will learn his ways and set a trap for yourself.

22:26  Do not be found among those who make deals with a handshake, among those who guarantee other people's loans.

22:27  If you have no money to pay back a loan, why should your bed be repossessed?

22:28  Do not move an ancient boundary marker that your ancestors set in place.

22:29  Do you see a person who is efficient in his work? He will serve kings. He will not serve unknown people.