The Bible, King James version, Book 20: Proverbs
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Unknown >> The Bible, King James version, Book 20: Proverbs
This eBook was produced by David Widger [widger@cecomet.net]
with the help of Derek Andrew's text from January 1992
and the work of Bryan Taylor in November 2002.
Book 20 Proverbs
20:001:001 The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel;
20:001:002 To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of
understanding;
20:001:003 To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment,
and equity;
20:001:004 To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and
discretion.
20:001:005 A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of
understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:
20:001:006 To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of
the wise, and their dark sayings.
20:001:007 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools
despise wisdom and instruction.
20:001:008 My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not
the law of thy mother:
20:001:009 For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and
chains about thy neck.
20:001:010 My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.
20:001:011 If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us
lurk privily for the innocent without cause:
20:001:012 Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those
that go down into the pit:
20:001:013 We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses
with spoil:
20:001:014 Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse:
20:001:015 My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot
from their path:
20:001:016 For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.
20:001:017 Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.
20:001:018 And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for
their own lives.
20:001:019 So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which
taketh away the life of the owners thereof.
20:001:020 Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets:
20:001:021 She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of
the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying,
20:001:022 How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the
scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?
20:001:023 Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto
you, I will make known my words unto you.
20:001:024 Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my
hand, and no man regarded;
20:001:025 But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my
reproof:
20:001:026 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear
cometh;
20:001:027 When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction
cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon
you.
20:001:028 Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they
shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:
20:001:029 For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of
the LORD:
20:001:030 They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.
20:001:031 Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be
filled with their own devices.
20:001:032 For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the
prosperity of fools shall destroy them.
20:001:033 But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be
quiet from fear of evil.
20:002:001 My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my
commandments with thee;
20:002:002 So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine
heart to understanding;
20:002:003 Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice
for understanding;
20:002:004 If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for
hid treasures;
20:002:005 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the
knowledge of God.
20:002:006 For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge
and understanding.
20:002:007 He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler
to them that walk uprightly.
20:002:008 He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of
his saints.
20:002:009 Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and
equity; yea, every good path.
20:002:010 When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is
pleasant unto thy soul;
20:002:011 Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:
20:002:012 To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man
that speaketh froward things;
20:002:013 Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of
darkness;
20:002:014 Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the
wicked;
20:002:015 Whose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths:
20:002:016 To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger
which flattereth with her words;
20:002:017 Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the
covenant of her God.
20:002:018 For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the
dead.
20:002:019 None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of
the paths of life.
20:002:020 That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the
paths of the righteous.
20:002:021 For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall
remain in it.
20:002:022 But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the
transgressors shall be rooted out of it.
20:003:001 My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my
commandments:
20:003:002 For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add
to thee.
20:003:003 Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy
neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:
20:003:004 So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight
of God and man.
20:003:005 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto
thine own understanding.
20:003:006 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy
paths.
20:003:007 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from
evil.
20:003:008 It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.
20:003:009 Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits
of all thine increase:
20:003:010 So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses
shall burst out with new wine.
20:003:011 My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be
weary of his correction:
20:003:012 For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the
son in whom he delighteth.
20:003:013 Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth
understanding.
20:003:014 For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of
silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold.
20:003:015 She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou
canst desire are not to be compared unto her.
20:003:016 Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand
riches and honour.
20:003:017 Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are
peace.
20:003:018 She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and
happy is every one that retaineth her.
20:003:019 The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding
hath he established the heavens.
20:003:020 By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop
down the dew.
20:003:021 My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom
and discretion:
20:003:022 So shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck.
20:003:023 Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not
stumble.
20:003:024 When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou
shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet.
20:003:025 Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the
wicked, when it cometh.
20:003:026 For the LORD shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot
from being taken.
20:003:027 Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in
the power of thine hand to do it.
20:003:028 Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and to morrow
I will give; when thou hast it by thee.
20:003:029 Devise not evil against thy neighbour, seeing he dwelleth
securely by thee.
20:003:030 Strive not with a man without cause, if he have done thee no
harm.
20:003:031 Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways.
20:003:032 For the froward is abomination to the LORD: but his secret is
with the righteous.
20:003:033 The curse of the LORD is in the house of the wicked: but he
blesseth the habitation of the just.
20:003:034 Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace unto the
lowly.
20:003:035 The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion
of fools.
20:004:001 Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to
know understanding.
20:004:002 For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law.
20:004:003 For I was my father's son, tender and only beloved in the
sight of my mother.
20:004:004 He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my
words: keep my commandments, and live.
20:004:005 Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline
from the words of my mouth.
20:004:006 Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and
she shall keep thee.
20:004:007 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with
all thy getting get understanding.
20:004:008 Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to
honour, when thou dost embrace her.
20:004:009 She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of
glory shall she deliver to thee.
20:004:010 Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy
life shall be many.
20:004:011 I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in
right paths.
20:004:012 When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened; and when
thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble.
20:004:013 Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for
she is thy life.
20:004:014 Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way
of evil men.
20:004:015 Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.
20:004:016 For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their
sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall.
20:004:017 For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of
violence.
20:004:018 But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth
more and more unto the perfect day.
20:004:019 The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what
they stumble.
20:004:020 My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.
20:004:021 Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of
thine heart.
20:004:022 For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all
their flesh.
20:004:023 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the
issues of life.
20:004:024 Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far
from thee.
20:004:025 Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look
straight before thee.
20:004:026 Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be
established.
20:004:027 Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot
from evil.
20:005:001 My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my
understanding:
20:005:002 That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep
knowledge.
20:005:003 For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her
mouth is smoother than oil:
20:005:004 But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.
20:005:005 Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.
20:005:006 Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are
moveable, that thou canst not know them.
20:005:007 Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the
words of my mouth.
20:005:008 Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her
house:
20:005:009 Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto
the cruel:
20:005:010 Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be
in the house of a stranger;
20:005:011 And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are
consumed,
20:005:012 And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised
reproof;
20:005:013 And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined
mine ear to them that instructed me!
20:005:014 I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and
assembly.
20:005:015 Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out
of thine own well.
20:005:016 Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in
the streets.
20:005:017 Let them be only thine own, and not strangers' with thee.
20:005:018 Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy
youth.
20:005:019 Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her
breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always
with her love.
20:005:020 And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman,
and embrace the bosom of a stranger?
20:005:021 For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he
pondereth all his goings.
20:005:022 His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall
be holden with the cords of his sins.
20:005:023 He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his
folly he shall go astray.
20:006:001 My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, if thou hast
stricken thy hand with a stranger,
20:006:002 Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken
with the words of thy mouth.
20:006:003 Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself, when thou art come
into the hand of thy friend; go, humble thyself, and make sure
thy friend.
20:006:004 Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids.
20:006:005 Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, and as a
bird from the hand of the fowler.
20:006:006 Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:
20:006:007 Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler,
20:006:008 Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in
the harvest.
20:006:009 How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out
of thy sleep?
20:006:010 Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the
hands to sleep:
20:006:011 So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want
as an armed man.
20:006:012 A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth.
20:006:013 He winketh with his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, he
teacheth with his fingers;
20:006:014 Frowardness is in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually;
he soweth discord.
20:006:015 Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he
be broken without remedy.
20:006:016 These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an
abomination unto him:
20:006:017 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent
blood,
20:006:018 An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift
in running to mischief,
20:006:019 A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord
among brethren.
20:006:020 My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law
of thy mother:
20:006:021 Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy
neck.
20:006:022 When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it
shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with
thee.
20:006:023 For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and
reproofs of instruction are the way of life:
20:006:024 To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the
tongue of a strange woman.
20:006:025 Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take
thee with her eyelids.
20:006:026 For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of
bread: and the adultress will hunt for the precious life.
20:006:027 Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be
burned?
20:006:028 Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?
20:006:029 So he that goeth in to his neighbour's wife; whosoever
toucheth her shall not be innocent.
20:006:030 Men do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul
when he is hungry;
20:006:031 But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold; he shall give
all the substance of his house.
20:006:032 But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh
understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul.
20:006:033 A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not
be wiped away.
20:006:034 For jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare
in the day of vengeance.
20:006:035 He will not regard any ransom; neither will he rest content,
though thou givest many gifts.
20:007:001 My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee.
20:007:002 Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of
thine eye.
20:007:003 Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thine
heart.
20:007:004 Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister; and call understanding
thy kinswoman:
20:007:005 That they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the
stranger which flattereth with her words.
20:007:006 For at the window of my house I looked through my casement,
20:007:007 And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the
youths, a young man void of understanding,
20:007:008 Passing through the street near her corner; and he went the
way to her house,
20:007:009 In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night:
20:007:010 And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an
harlot, and subtil of heart.
20:007:011 (She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her house:
20:007:012 Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at
every corner.)
20:007:013 So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face
said unto him,
20:007:014 I have peace offerings with me; this day have I payed my vows.
20:007:015 Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy
face, and I have found thee.
20:007:016 I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved
works, with fine linen of Egypt.
20:007:017 I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
20:007:018 Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us
solace ourselves with loves.
20:007:019 For the goodman is not at home, he is gone a long journey:
20:007:020 He hath taken a bag of money with him, and will come home at
the day appointed.
20:007:021 With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the
flattering of her lips she forced him.
20:007:022 He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the
slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks;
20:007:023 Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the
snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life.
20:007:024 Hearken unto me now therefore, O ye children, and attend to
the words of my mouth.
20:007:025 Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her
paths.
20:007:026 For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have
been slain by her.
20:007:027 Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of
death.
20:008:001 Doth not wisdom cry? and understanding put forth her voice?
20:008:002 She standeth in the top of high places, by the way in the
places of the paths.
20:008:003 She crieth at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the
coming in at the doors.
20:008:004 Unto you, O men, I call; and my voice is to the sons of man.
20:008:005 O ye simple, understand wisdom: and, ye fools, be ye of an
understanding heart.
20:008:006 Hear; for I will speak of excellent things; and the opening of
my lips shall be right things.
20:008:007 For my mouth shall speak truth; and wickedness is an
abomination to my lips.
20:008:008 All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is
nothing froward or perverse in them.
20:008:009 They are all plain to him that understandeth, and right to
them that find knowledge.
20:008:010 Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather
than choice gold.
20:008:011 For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may
be desired are not to be compared to it.
20:008:012 I wisdom dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge of witty
inventions.
20:008:013 The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy,
and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.
20:008:014 Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom: I am understanding; I have
strength.
20:008:015 By me kings reign, and princes decree justice.
20:008:016 By me princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the
earth.
20:008:017 I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall
find me.
20:008:018 Riches and honour are with me; yea, durable riches and
righteousness.
20:008:019 My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold; and my
revenue than choice silver.
20:008:020 I lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths
of judgment:
20:008:021 That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance; and
I will fill their treasures.
20:008:022 The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his
works of old.
20:008:023 I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the
earth was.
20:008:024 When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there
were no fountains abounding with water.
20:008:025 Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I
brought forth:
20:008:026 While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor
the highest part of the dust of the world.
20:008:027 When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a
compass upon the face of the depth:
20:008:028 When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the
fountains of the deep:
20:008:029 When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not
pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the
earth:
20:008:030 Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily
his delight, rejoicing always before him;
20:008:031 Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights
were with the sons of men.
20:008:032 Now therefore hearken unto me, O ye children: for blessed are
they that keep my ways.
20:008:033 Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not.
20:008:034 Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my
gates, waiting at the posts of my doors.
20:008:035 For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of
the LORD.
20:008:036 But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they
that hate me love death.
20:009:001 Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven
pillars:
20:009:002 She hath killed her beasts; she hath mingled her wine; she
hath also furnished her table.
20:009:003 She hath sent forth her maidens: she crieth upon the highest
places of the city,
