Proverbs 22

NEW JERUSALEM	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 Fame is preferable to great wealth, favour, to silver and gold.	1 A good name is better than many riches. And good esteem is above silver and gold.
2 Rich and poor rub shoulders, Yahweh has made them both.	2 The rich and poor have met one another. The Lord is the maker of them both.
3 The discreet sees danger and takes shelter, simpletons go ahead and pay the penalty.	3 The clever saw evil and hid himself. The innocent continued on and was afflicted with damage.
4 The reward of humility is the fear of Yahweh, and riches, honour and life.	4 The end of moderation is the fear of the Lord, riches and glory and life.
5 Thorns and snares line the path of the wilful, whoever values life will stay at a distance.	5 Weapons and swords are on the way of the perverse. But he who guards his own soul withdraws far from them.
6 Give a lad a training suitable to his character and, even when old, he wil not go back on it.	6 The proverb is: A youth is close to his way; even when he is old, he will not withdraw from it.
7 The rich lords it over the poor, the borrower is the lender's slave.	7 The rich rule over the poor. And the borrower is servant to the lender.
8 Whoever sows injustice reaps disaster, and the rod of such anger wil disappear.	8 Whoever sows iniquity will reap evils, and by the rod of his own wrath he will be consumed.
9 A kindly eye wil earn a blessing, such a person shares out food with the poor.	9 Whoever is inclined to mercy shall be blessed, for from his bread he has given to the poor. Whoever gives gifts will acquire victory and honor. But he carries away the soul of the receiver.
10 Expel the mocker and strife goes too, law-suits and dislike die down.	10 Cast out the one who ridicules, and conflict will go out with him, and accusations and insults will cease.
11 Whoever loves the pure of heart and is gracious of speech has the king for a friend.	11 Whoever loves cleanness of heart, because of the grace of his lips, will have the king as his friend.
12 Yahweh's eyes protect knowledge, but he confounds deceitful speeches.	12 The eyes of the Lord watch over knowledge. And the words of the iniquitous are supplanted.
13 'There is a lion outside,' says the idler, 'I shal be kil ed in the street!'	13 The lazy one says: “There is a lion outside. I might be slain in the midst of the streets.”
14 The mouth of an adulterous woman is a deep pit, into it fal s the man whom Yahweh rebukes.	14 The mouth of a foreign woman is a deep pit; the Lord was angry with him who will fall into it.
15 Fol y is anchored in the heart of a youth, the whip of instruction wil rid him of it.	15 Foolishness has been bound to the heart of a child, and a rod of discipline shall cause it to flee.
16 Harsh treatment enriches the poor, but a gift impoverishes the rich.	16 Whoever slanders the poor, so as to augment his own riches, will give it away to one who is richer, and will be in need.
17 Give ear, listen to the sayings of the sages, and apply your heart to what I know,	17 Incline your ear, and listen to the words of the wise. Then apply your heart to my doctrine.
18 for it wil be a delight to keep them deep within you to have them al ready on your lips.	18 It shall be beautiful to you, if you preserve it in your inner self, and it shall overflow from your lips,
19 So that your trust may be in Yahweh, it is you whom I wish to instruct today.	19 so that your confidence may be in the Lord. Therefore, I also have revealed it to you this day.
20 Have I not written for you thirty chapters of advice and knowledge,	20 Behold, I have written it for you in three ways, and with meditations and knowledge,
21 to make you know the certainty of true sayings, so that you can return with sound answers to thosewho sent you?	21 so that I might reveal to you, firmly and with words of truth, in order to respond about these things to those who sent you.
22 Do not despoil the weak, for he is weak, and do not oppress the poor at the gate,	22 Do not act with violence toward the pauper because he is poor. And do not weary the needy at the gate.
23 for Yahweh takes up their cause, and extorts the life of their extortioners.	23 For the Lord will judge his case, and he will pierce those who have pierced his soul.
24 Do not make friends with one who gives way to anger, make no one quick-tempered a companion ofyours,	24 Do not be willing to be a friend to an angry man, and do not walk with a furious man,
25 for fear you learn such behaviour and in it find a snare for yourself.	25 lest perhaps you learn his ways, and take up a stumbling block to your soul.
26 Do not be one of those who go guarantor, who go surety for debts:	26 Do not be willing to be with those who certify with their hands, and who offer themselves as a guarantee against debts.
27 if you have no means of paying your bed wil be taken from under you.	27 For if you do not have the means to restore, what reason should there be for him to take the covering from your bed?
28 Do not displace the ancient boundary-stone set by your ancestors.	28 Do not cross beyond the ancient limits that your fathers have set.
29 You see someone alert at his business? His aim wil be to serve kings; not for him the service of theobscure.	29 Have you seen a man swift in his work? He shall stand in the sight of kings, and not before those who are disreputable.