Anonymous (Septuagint) · a new plain-English translation from the original language
1| Whoever touches pitch will be smeared by it, and whoever keeps company with a proud man will become like him.
2| Do not lift a weight beyond your strength, and do not associate with someone stronger and richer than you. What partnership can a clay pot have with an iron kettle? This one will strike, and that one will be smashed.
3| A rich man does wrong, and on top of it he blusters; a poor man is wronged, and on top of it he must beg pardon.
4| If you are useful to him, he will make use of you; but if you fall short, he will abandon you.
5| If you have something, he will live alongside you and drain you dry, and he himself will feel no pain.
6| If he has need of you, he will lead you astray, and he will smile at you and give you hope; he will speak kindly to you and say, "What do you need?"
7| And he will shame you with his banquets, until he has drained you two or three times over, and in the end he will mock you. After that he will see you and abandon you, and he will shake his head at you.
8| Take care not to be led astray, and do not be brought low in the midst of your gladness.
9| When a powerful man calls you, hold yourself back, and all the more will he call for you.
10| Do not press forward, or you will be pushed away; and do not keep too far off, or you will be forgotten.
11| Do not presume to speak with him as an equal, and do not trust his many words; for by much talk he will test you, and while smiling he will be examining you.
12| Merciless is the man who does not keep confidences, and he will not spare you injury and bonds.
13| Keep watch and be exceedingly on your guard, for you walk about alongside your own downfall.
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15| Every animal loves its own kind, and every man loves his neighbor.
16| All flesh gathers according to its kind, and a man clings to his own kind.
17| What partnership can a wolf have with a lamb? So it is with a sinner toward a godly man.
18| What peace can a hyena have with a dog? And what peace can a rich man have with a poor man?
19| Wild asses in the wilderness are prey for lions; so likewise the poor are pasture for the rich.
20| Lowliness is an abomination to the proud man; so likewise the poor man is an abomination to the rich.
21| When a rich man totters he is propped up by friends, but when a lowly man falls he is pushed further down by friends.
22| When a rich man slips, there are many to catch him; he speaks improper things, and they justify him. When a lowly man slips, they rebuke him besides; he utters good sense, and no room is given him.
23| A rich man speaks, and all fall silent, and they exalt his word to the clouds; a poor man speaks, and they say, "Who is this?" and if he stumbles, they will push him over entirely.
24| Wealth is good when there is no sin attached to it, and poverty is spoken of as an evil even in the mouth of a godly man.
25| A man's heart changes his face, whether for good or for evil.
26| A trace of a heart at ease is a cheerful face, but the finding of proverbs is the fruit of laborious reflection.