Proverbs 22

Listen to Proverbs 22
1 1A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold.
2 2The rich and the poor meet together; the LORD is 3the maker of them all.
3 4The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it.
4 The reward for humility and fear of the LORD is 5riches and honor and life.[a]
5 6Thorns and snares are in the way of the crooked; whoever 7guards his soul will keep far from them.
6 8Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.
7 9The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender.
8 Whoever 10sows injustice will reap calamity, and 11the rod of his fury will fail.
9 12Whoever has a bountiful[b] eye will be blessed, for he 13shares his bread with the poor.
10 14Drive out a scoffer, 15and strife will go out, and 16quarreling and abuse will cease.
11 He who 17loves purity of heart, and whose 18speech is gracious, 19will have the king as his friend.
12 The eyes of the LORD keep watch over knowledge, but he 20overthrows the words of the traitor.
13 21The sluggard says, "There is a lion outside! I shall be killed in the streets!"
14 The mouth of 22forbidden[c] women is 23a deep pit; 24he with whom the LORD is angry will fall into it.
15 Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but 25the rod of discipline drives it far from him.
16 Whoever oppresses the poor to increase his own wealth, or gives to the rich, 26will only come to poverty.

Words of the Wise

17 27Incline your ear, and hear 28the words of the wise, 29and apply your heart to my knowledge,
18 for it will be pleasant if you keep them within you, if all of them are ready on your lips.
19 That your trust may be in the LORD, I have made them known to you today, even to you.
20 Have I not written for you 30thirty sayings of counsel and knowledge,
21 to 31make you know what is right and true, that you may give a true answer to those who sent you?
22 32Do not rob the poor, because he is poor, or 33crush the afflicted at 34the gate,
23 for 35the LORD will plead their cause and rob of life those who rob them.
24 Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man,
25 lest you learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare.
26 Be not one of those who 36give pledges, who put up security for debts.
27 If you have nothing with which to pay, why should 37your bed be taken from under you?
28 Do not move the ancient 38landmark that your fathers have set.
29 Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will 39stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men.

Images for Proverbs 22

Cross References 39

  • 1. [Ecclesiastes 7:1]
  • 2. [Proverbs 29:13]
  • 3. Proverbs 14:31; Job 31:15
  • 4. Proverbs 27:12; [Proverbs 14:16]
  • 5. [Proverbs 21:20, 21]
  • 6. Proverbs 15:19
  • 7. Proverbs 21:23; [1 John 5:18]
  • 8. Ephesians 6:4; 2 Timothy 3:15
  • 9. James 2:6
  • 10. Job 4:8; [Hosea 10:13]
  • 11. [Isaiah 14:6; Isaiah 30:31]
  • 12. [Proverbs 19:17; 2 Corinthians 9:6]
  • 13. [Proverbs 19:17; Luke 14:13, 14]
  • 14. [Genesis 21:9, 10]
  • 15. [Proverbs 26:20]
  • 16. Proverbs 26:20
  • 17. [Proverbs 16:13; Psalms 101:6]
  • 18. [Ecclesiastes 10:12]
  • 19. [Proverbs 14:35]
  • 20. Proverbs 21:12; [Proverbs 11:3]
  • 21. Proverbs 26:13
  • 22. See Proverbs 2:16
  • 23. [Proverbs 23:27]
  • 24. Ecclesiastes 7:26
  • 25. See Proverbs 13:24
  • 26. Proverbs 28:22
  • 27. Proverbs 5:1
  • 28. Proverbs 1:6; Proverbs 24:23
  • 29. [Proverbs 23:12]
  • 30. Proverbs 8:6
  • 31. [Luke 1:3, 4]
  • 32. [Exodus 23:6; Zechariah 7:10; Malachi 3:5]
  • 33. See Job 5:4
  • 34. Job 31:21
  • 35. Proverbs 23:11; 1 Samuel 25:39; Psalms 12:5; Psalms 35:10; Psalms 68:5; Psalms 140:12; Jeremiah 51:36
  • 36. See Job 17:3
  • 37. [Proverbs 20:16; Exodus 22:26]
  • 38. Proverbs 23:10; Deuteronomy 19:14; Deuteronomy 27:17; Job 24:2; Hosea 5:10
  • 39. 1 Kings 10:8; See Genesis 41:46

Footnotes 3

  • [a]. Or The reward for humility is the fear of the Lord, riches and honor and life
  • [b]. Hebrew good
  • [c]. Hebrew strange

Proverbs 22 Commentaries

The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.