Proverbs

Purpose: impart wisdom, discipline, prudence, justice, equity (esp. to the naïve and young). Solomon introduced as king and author. Parental teaching extolled. Warning against violent bandits; their greed rebounds. Wisdom personified calling aloud, promising calamity to mockers.

Seek wisdom like hidden treasure; the LORD is its source. Wisdom protects from evil men and the adulterous woman. Those who walk with wisdom remain on righteous, life-giving paths.

Trust the LORD wholeheartedly; honor Him with first fruits and accept His discipline. Wisdom is more precious than rubies and foundational to creation. Guidance on kindness to neighbors and avoiding envy.

Generational charge to get wisdom at all costs; it guards and crowns. Two roads: righteous path like dawn, wicked stumble in darkness. Guard heart, speech, gaze, and steps.

Vivid warning against adultery; seductress leads to bitterness and death. Celebrate marital fidelity. God observes all paths; sin ensnares the wicked.

Avoid cosigning another's debt; learn diligence from the ant. Seven abominations God hates. Adultery brings ruin and jealous vengeance.

Keep commandments close; wisdom as sister against seductress. Story of naïve youth ensnared; her house is a highway to Sheol. Many mighty have fallen there.

Wisdom calls publicly, offering truth better than gold. She predates creation and delights in humanity. Loving her brings life; hating her courts death.

Lady Wisdom's seven-pillared feast invites the simple; Lady Folly lures to death. Fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; rebuke wise vs. mocker.

Start of Solomon’s two-line proverbs: contrasts righteous vs. wicked, diligent vs. lazy, wise speech vs. violent. Love covers offenses; righteous lips are life-giving.

Honest scales delight God; pride disgraces. Generosity prospers; righteousness lifts a city; wicked desires end in wrath.

Loving discipline equals loving knowledge. Virtuous wife crowns husband. Truthful lips endure; anxiety weighed down but kind word cheers. Diligence outshines laziness.

Guard mouth to preserve life; ill-gotten wealth dwindles; hope deferred hurts. Walk with the wise, avoid fools.

Wise woman builds her house; way that seems right ends in death. Prudence, patience, kindness to poor; quick temper makes fools.

Soft answer turns away wrath; God's eyes everywhere. Better little with fear of LORD than wealth with turmoil. Counsel and humble prayer valued.

Humans plan, but the LORD directs. Pride precedes a fall. Wisdom better than gold; pleasant words like honey. Gray hair crowns righteousness.

Peaceful crust better than feasting with strife. LORD tests hearts. Friend loves at all times. Cheerful heart good medicine; silence shows wisdom.

Fools broadcast opinions; name of the LORD a strong tower. Pride before destruction; power of tongue for life/death. Finding a wife is favor.

Better poor with integrity than perverse fool. Zeal without knowledge hurts. Kindness to poor lends to LORD. Many plans, but His purpose stands.

Wine is a mocker; sluggard won't plow. Even a child known by deeds. LORD’s lamp searches spirit. Diverse weights are abomination.

King’s heart in LORD’s hand. Righteousness better than sacrifice. Better desert than quarrelsome wife. Victory belongs to the LORD.

Good name over riches; train child early; borrower slave to lender. Don’t exploit poor or befriend hot-tempered. Skilled workers serve kings.

Restrain appetite before rulers; don’t chase wealth. Discipline saves child. Buy truth and wisdom. Woes of lingering over wine.

Don’t envy evil. Wisdom builds house; rescue those led to death. Righteous rise after falls; don’t gloat over enemies. Prepare outside work first.

God conceals, kings search. Don’t exalt yourself before king. Word fitly spoken like apples of gold. Feed enemy; self-control prized.

Honor unfitting for fool. Answer fool both ways wisely. Sluggard excuses. Meddler grabs dog’s ears. Smooth words hide hatred; gossip fuels strife.

Don’t boast of tomorrow; let others praise. Faithful wounds of friend; iron sharpens iron. Know flocks; wealth is fleeting.

Wicked flee; righteous bold. Concealing sin blocks prosperity; confession brings mercy. Hard work yields plenty; trusting riches ends in fall.

Stubbornly resisting correction invites ruin. Righteous rule, people rejoice. Discipline child gives rest. Fear of man snares; trust LORD secures.

Agur’s humility; God’s word pure. Requests daily bread. Lists of insatiable, wonderful, small-wise, stately things. Warning against stirring strife.

Lemuel’s mother warns against women and wine; urges justice. Virtuous woman poem: industrious, wise, charitable, God-fearing—her worth exceeds rubies.