The Reading
Proverbs 22
A reputation is to be chosen rather than great riches;
favor is better than silver and gold.
Rich and poor have much in common;
Yahweh is the maker of all of them.
The clever sees danger and hides,
but the simple go on and suffer.
The reward of humility is the fear of Yahweh—
wealth and honor and life.
Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse;
he who guards himself will keep away from them.
Train the child concerning his way;
even when he is old, he will not stray from it.
The rich will rule over the poor,
and the borrower is a slave of the lender.
He who sows injustice will reap calamity,
and the rod of his anger will fail.
He who is generous will be blessed,
for he gives to the poor from his own bread.
Drive out a scoffer and strife will go out;
quarrel and abuse will cease.
He who loves purity of heart
and hasgracious speech, his friend is the king.
The eyes of Yahweh keep watch over knowledge,
but he will overthrow the words of the faithless.
A lazy person says "A lion in the street!
In the middle of the highway, I shall be killed!"
A deep pit is the mouth of an adulteress,
he with whom Yahweh is angry will fall there.
Folly is bound up in the heart of a boy;
the rod of discipline will drive it from him.
He who oppresses the poor in order to enrich himself,
or gives to the rich, will come to poverty.

Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise;
you shall apply your heart to my teaching.
For it is pleasant if you guard them within you;
together they will be ready upon your lips.
In order for your trust to be in Yahweh,
I have made them known to you today—even you.
Have I not written for you thirty sayings
with admonitions and knowledge?
In order to show you what is right—sayings of truth—
in order to return a true saying to him who sent you.
Do not rob the poor because he is poor,
and do not crush the afflicted at the gate;
For Yahweh will plead their case
and despoil those who despoil them of life.
Do not befriend an owner of anger,
and with a man of wrath you shall not associate;
lest you learn his way
and become entangled in a snare to yourself.
Do not be with those who give a pledge
by becoming surety.
If there is nothing for you to pay,
why will he take your bed from under you?
Do not remove an ancient boundary marker
which your ancestors made.
A man who is skillful in his work, you shall see:
before kings, he will serve;
he will not serve before the commoners.
Proverbs 23
When you sit to eat with a ruler,
you shall surely observe what is before you,
and you shall put a knife to your throat
if you have a big appetite.
Do not desire his delicacies,
for it is food of deception.
Do not tire in order to become rich;
out of your understanding, may you desist.
Your eyes will alight on it, but there is nothing to it,
for suddenly it will make for itself wings
like an eagle and it will be exhausted in the heavens.
Do not eat the bread of the stingy,
and do not desire his delicacies.
For, like hair in his throat, so it is.
"Eat and drink!" he will say to you,
but his heart will not be with you.
Your morsel you have eaten, you will vomit it up,
and you will waste your pleasant words.
In the ears of a fool do not speak,
for he will despise the wisdom of your words.
Do not remove an ancient boundary marker,
and on the fields of orphans do not encroach;
For their redeemer is strong,
he himself will plead their cause against you.
Apply your heart to instruction,
and your ear to sayings of knowledge.
Do not withhold discipline from a child,
if you will beat him with the rod, he will not die.
As for you, with the rod you shall beat him,
and his life you will save from Sheol.
My child, if your heart is wise,
my heart will be glad—even me!
And my insides will rejoice
when your lips speak what is upright.
May your heart not envy the sinners,
but live in fear of Yahweh all day.
Surely there is a future,