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Proverbs 22 New King James Version (NKJV)

The Value of a Good Name

22 A ^(A)good name is to be chosen rather than great riches,
Loving favor rather than silver and gold.

²The ^(B)rich and the poor have this in common,
The ^(C)Lord is the maker of them all.

³A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself,
But the simple pass on and are ^(D)punished.

⁴By humility and the fear of the Lord
Are riches and honor and life.

⁵Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse;
He who guards his soul will be far from them.

⁶^(E)Train up a child in the way he should go,
^[a]And when he is old he will not depart from it.

⁷The ^(F)rich rules over the poor,
And the borrower is servant to the lender.

⁸He who sows iniquity will reap ^(G)sorrow,^[b]
And the rod of his anger will fail.

⁹^(H)He who has a ^[c]generous eye will be ^(I)blessed,
For he gives of his bread to the poor.

¹⁰^(J)Cast out the scoffer, and contention will leave;
Yes, strife and reproach will cease.

¹¹^(K)He who loves purity of heart
And has grace on his lips,
The king will be his friend.

¹²The eyes of the Lord preserve knowledge,
But He overthrows the words of the faithless.

¹³^(L)The lazy man says, “There is a lion outside!
I shall be slain in the streets!”

¹⁴^(M)The mouth of an immoral woman is a deep pit;
^(N)He who is abhorred by the Lord will fall there.

¹⁵Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child;
^(O)The rod of correction will drive it far from him.

¹⁶He who oppresses the poor to increase his riches,
And he who gives to the rich, will surely come to poverty.

Sayings of the Wise

¹⁷Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise,
And apply your heart to my knowledge;
¹⁸For it is a pleasant thing if you keep them within you;
Let them all be fixed upon your lips,
¹⁹So that your trust may be in the Lord;
I have instructed you today, even you.
²⁰Have I not written to you excellent things
Of counsels and knowledge,
²¹^(P)That I may make you know the certainty of the words of truth,
^(Q)That you may answer words of truth
To those who ^[d]send to you?

²²Do not rob the ^(R)poor because he is poor,
Nor oppress the afflicted at the gate;
²³^(S)For the Lord will plead their cause,
And plunder the soul of those who plunder them.

²⁴Make no friendship with an angry man,
And with a ^(T)furious man do not go,
²⁵Lest you learn his ways
And set a snare for your soul.

²⁶^(U)Do not be one of those who ^[e]shakes hands in a pledge,
One of those who is ^[f]surety for debts;
²⁷If you have nothing with which to pay,
Why should he take away your bed from under you?

²⁸^(V)Do not remove the ancient ^[g]landmark
Which your fathers have set.

²⁹Do you see a man who ^[h]excels in his work?
He will stand before kings;
He will not stand before ^[i]unknown men.

New King James Version (NKJV)