Proverbs 29:3–5

¹¹My son, be wise, and make my heart glad, that I may answer him that reproacheth me.

³⁰But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.

¹THE proverbs of Solomon. A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother.

²⁰A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish man despiseth his mother.

¹³And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.

⁷Whoso keepeth the law is a wise son: but he that is a companion of riotous men shameth his father.

²⁶For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life.

¹⁷He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man: he that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich.

⁸Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:

⁹Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:

¹⁰Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger;

¹³But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.

¹⁴And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.

¹⁵For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb.

¹⁶And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.

¹⁷And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

²⁰There is treasure to be desired and oil in the dwelling of the wise; but a foolish man spendeth it up.

¹⁵My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.

²⁴The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him.

²⁵Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice.

¹⁹He that tilleth his land shall have plenty of bread: but he that followeth after vain persons shall have poverty enough.

¹⁴The king that faithfully judgeth the poor, his throne shall be established for ever.

²⁰Then shall stand up in his estate a raiser of taxes in the glory of the kingdom: but within few days he shall be destroyed, neither in anger, nor in battle.

³¶ That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asketh, and the judge asketh for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up.

⁸A king that sitteth in the throne of judgment scattereth away all evil with his eyes.

¹²¶ Then sat Solomon upon the throne of David his father; and his kingdom was established greatly.

¹³And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the Lord thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would the Lord have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever.

⁸Blessed be the Lord thy God, which delighted in thee to set thee on his throne, to be king for the Lord thy God: because thy God loved Israel, to establish them for ever, therefore made he thee king over them, to do judgment and justice.

¹⁸And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord: he departed not all his days from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.

¹⁹And Pul the king of Assyria came against the land: and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand.

²⁰And Menahem exacted the money of Israel, even of all the mighty men of wealth, of each man fifty shekels of silver, to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned back, and stayed not there in the land.

¹⁵And David reigned over all Israel; and David executed judgment and justice unto all his people.

⁸Thus saith the Lord, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages;

⁷Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

¹³¶ Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbour’s service without wages, and giveth him not for his work;

¹⁴That saith, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, and cutteth him out windows; and it is cieled with cedar, and painted with vermilion.

¹⁵Shalt thou reign, because thou closest thyself in cedar? did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well with him?

¹⁶He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know me? saith the Lord.

¹⁷But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it.

¹²It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness: for the throne is established by righteousness.

¹⁵By me kings reign, and princes decree justice.

¹⁴Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face.

⁴The king’s strength also loveth judgment; thou dost establish equity, thou executest judgment and righteousness in Jacob.

¹HEAR ye this, O priests; and hearken, ye house of Israel; and give ye ear, O house of the king; for judgment is toward you, because ye have been a snare on Mizpah, and a net spread upon Tabor.

⁵He that speaketh flattery to his friends, even the eyes of his children shall fail.

²They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak.

⁹For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is very wickedness; their throat is an open sepulchre; they flatter with their tongue.

⁵For neither at any time used we flattering words, as ye know, nor a cloke of covetousness; God is witness:

¹⁷Then thine handmaid said, The word of my lord the king shall now be comfortable: for as an angel of God, so is my lord the king to discern good and bad: therefore the Lord thy God will be with thee.

¹⁸Then the king answered and said unto the woman, Hide not from me, I pray thee, the thing that I shall ask thee. And the woman said, Let my lord the king now speak.

¹⁹And the king said, Is not the hand of Joab with thee in all this? And the woman answered and said, As thy soul liveth, my lord the king, none can turn to the right hand or to the left from ought that my lord the king hath spoken: for thy servant Joab, he bade me, and he put all these words in the mouth of thine handmaid:

²⁰To fetch about this form of speech hath thy servant Joab done this thing: and my lord is wise, according to the wisdom of an angel of God, to know all things that are in the earth.

²¹¶ And the king said unto Joab, Behold now, I have done this thing: go therefore, bring the young man Absalom again.

²²And Joab fell to the ground on his face, and bowed himself, and thanked the king: and Joab said, To day thy servant knoweth that I have found grace in thy sight, my lord, O king, in that the king hath fulfilled the request of his servant.

²³So Joab arose and went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem.

²⁴And the king said, Let him turn to his own house, and let him not see my face. So Absalom returned to his own house, and saw not the king’s face.

¹³From above hath he sent fire into my bones, and it prevaileth against them: he hath spread a net for my feet, he hath turned me back: he hath made me desolate and faint all the day.

²⁰And they watched him, and sent forth spies, which should feign themselves just men, that they might take hold of his words, that so they might deliver him unto the power and authority of the governor.

²¹And they asked him, saying, Master, we know that thou sayest and teachest rightly, neither acceptest thou the person of any, but teachest the way of God truly:

¹⁷Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.

¹⁹He that goeth about as a talebearer revealeth secrets: therefore meddle not with him that flattereth with his lips.

²⁴He that hateth dissembleth with his lips, and layeth up deceit within him;

²⁵When he speaketh fair, believe him not: for there are seven abominations in his heart.

²⁸A lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it; and a flattering mouth worketh ruin.

²¹With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him.

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

¹⁸For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.