Proverbs 20:15–17

¹²As an earring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear.

¹¹For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.

¹⁶How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! and to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver!

²⁴Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.

⁹And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs.

¹⁰The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth.

¹¹The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.

⁷The lips of the wise disperse knowledge: but the heart of the foolish doeth not so.

¹⁵She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her.

¹⁴How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?

¹⁵And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

²⁹Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

¹²But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding?

¹³Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living.

¹⁴The depth saith, It is not in me: and the sea saith, It is not with me.

¹⁵It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof.

¹⁶It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire.

¹⁷The gold and the crystal cannot equal it: and the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold.

¹⁸No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls: for the price of wisdom is above rubies.

¹⁹The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, neither shall it be valued with pure gold.

²⁰The tongue of the just is as choice silver: the heart of the wicked is little worth.

²¹The lips of the righteous feed many: but fools die for want of wisdom.

²¹The wise in heart shall be called prudent: and the sweetness of the lips increaseth learning.

²³A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth: and a word spoken in due season, how good is it!

¹³Take his garment that is surety for a stranger, and take a pledge of him for a strange woman.

²⁶If thou at all take thy neighbour’s raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him by that the sun goeth down:

²⁷For that is his covering only, it is his raiment for his skin: wherein shall he sleep? and it shall come to pass, when he crieth unto me, that I will hear; for I am gracious.

¹⁵He that is surety for a stranger shall smart for it: and he that hateth suretiship is sure.

²⁶Be not thou one of them that strike hands, or of them that are sureties for debts.

²⁷If thou hast nothing to pay, why should he take away thy bed from under thee?

¹⁶To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words;

²⁷For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.

³¶ For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:

¹⁰And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart.

⁵That they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words.

⁹¶ Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.

¹⁷Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.

¹⁸But he knoweth not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell.

¹²Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue;

¹³Though he spare it, and forsake it not; but keep it still within his mouth:

¹⁴Yet his meat in his bowels is turned, it is the gall of asps within him.

¹⁵He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his belly.

¹⁶He shall suck the poison of asps: the viper’s tongue shall slay him.

¹⁷He shall not see the rivers, the floods, the brooks of honey and butter.

¹⁸That which he laboured for shall he restore, and shall not swallow it down: according to his substance shall the restitution be, and he shall not rejoice therein.

¹⁹Because he hath oppressed and hath forsaken the poor; because he hath violently taken away an house which he builded not;

²⁰Surely he shall not feel quietness in his belly, he shall not save of that which he desired.

¹⁵He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made me drunken with wormwood.

¹⁶He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones, he hath covered me with ashes.

²⁵Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;

⁶And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

⁷And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

¹⁷For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence.