Proverbs 22 :: English Standard Version (ESV)

Pro 22:1

Pro 22:1A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches,
and favor is better than silver or gold.

Pro 22:2

Pro 22:2The rich and the poor meet together;
the LORD is the Maker of them all.

Pro 22:3

Pro 22:3The prudent sees danger and hides himself,
but the simple go on and suffer for it.

Pro 22:4

Pro 22:4The reward for humility and fear of the LORD
is riches and honor and life.[fn]

Pro 22:5

Pro 22:5Thorns and snares are in the way of the crooked;
whoever guards his soul will keep far from them.

Pro 22:6

Pro 22:6Train up a child in the way he should go;
even when he is old he will not depart from it.

Pro 22:7

Pro 22:7The rich rules over the poor,
and the borrower is the slave of the lender.

Pro 22:8

Pro 22:8Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity,
and the rod of his fury will fail.

Pro 22:9

Pro 22:9Whoever has a bountiful[fn] eye will be blessed,
for he shares his bread with the poor.

Pro 22:10

Pro 22:10Drive out a scoffer, and strife will go out,
and quarreling and abuse will cease.

Pro 22:11

Pro 22:11He who loves purity of heart,
and whose speech is gracious, will have the king as his friend.

Pro 22:12

Pro 22:12The eyes of the LORD keep watch over knowledge,
but he overthrows the words of the traitor.

Pro 22:13

Pro 22:13The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside!
I shall be killed in the streets!”

Pro 22:14

Pro 22:14The mouth of forbidden[fn] women is a deep pit;
he with whom the LORD is angry will fall into it.

Pro 22:15

Pro 22:15Folly is bound up in the heart of a child,
but the rod of discipline drives it far from him.

Pro 22:16

Pro 22:16Whoever oppresses the poor to increase his own wealth,
or gives to the rich, will only come to poverty.

Words of the Wise

Pro 22:17

Pro 22:17Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise,
and apply your heart to my knowledge,

Pro 22:18

Pro 22:18for it will be pleasant if you keep them within you,
if all of them are ready on your lips.

Pro 22:19

Pro 22:19That your trust may be in the LORD,
I have made them known to you today, even to you.

Pro 22:20

Pro 22:20Have I not written for you thirty sayings
of counsel and knowledge,

Pro 22:21

Pro 22:21to make you know what is right and true,
that you may give a true answer to those who sent you?

Pro 22:22

Pro 22:22Do not rob the poor, because he is poor,
or crush the afflicted at the gate,

Pro 22:23

Pro 22:23for the LORD will plead their cause
and rob of life those who rob them.

Pro 22:24

Pro 22:24Make no friendship with a man given to anger,
nor go with a wrathful man,

Pro 22:25

Pro 22:25lest you learn his ways
and entangle yourself in a snare.

Pro 22:26

Pro 22:26Be not one of those who give pledges,
who put up security for debts.

Pro 22:27

Pro 22:27If you have nothing with which to pay,
why should your bed be taken from under you?

Pro 22:28

Pro 22:28Do not move the ancient landmark
that your fathers have set.

Pro 22:29

Pro 22:29Do you see a man skillful in his work?
He will stand before kings;
he will not stand before obscure men.

See the ESV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

ESV Footnotes

(22:4)

Or The reward for humility is the fear of the LORD, riches and honor and life

(22:9)

Hebrew good

(22:14)

Hebrew strange

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For more information on this translation, see the ESV Preface.