Proverbs 31

1 Let thy heart apply itself to instruction and thy ears to words of knowledge. 2 Withhold not correction from a child: for if thou strike him with the rod, he shall not die. 3 Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and deliver his soul from hell. 4 My son, if thy mind be wise, my heart shall rejoice with thee: 5 And my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips shall speak what is right. 6 Let not thy heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long: 7 Because thou shalt have hope in the latter end, and thy expectation shall not be taken away. 8 Hear thou, my son, and be wise: and guide thy mind in the way. 9 Be not in the feasts of great drinkers, nor in their revellings, who contribute flesh to eat: 10 Because they that give themselves to drinking, and that club together, shall be consumed: and drowsiness shall be clothed with rags. 11 Hearken to thy father, that begot thee: and despise not thy mother when she is old. 12 Buy truth, and do not sell wisdom, and instruction, and understanding. 13 The father of the just rejoiceth greatly: he that hath begotten a wise son, shall have joy in him. 14 Let thy father and thy mother be joyful, and let her rejoice that bore thee. 15 My son, give me thy heart: and let thy eyes keep my ways. 16 For a harlot is a deep ditch: and a strange woman is a narrow pit. 17 She lieth in wait in the way as a robber, and him whom she shall see unwary, she will kill. 18 Who hath woe? whose father hath woe? who hath contentions? who falls into pits? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? 19 Surely they that pass their time in wine, and study to drink off their cups. 20 Look not upon the wine when it is yellow, when the colour thereof shineth in the glass: it goeth in pleasantly, 21 But in the end, it will bite like a snake, and will spread abroad poison like a basilisk. 22 Thy eyes shall behold strange women, and thy heart shall utter perverse things. 23 And thou shalt be as one sleeping in the midst of the sea, and as a pilot fast asleep when the stern is lost. 24 And thou shalt say: They have beaten me, but I was not sensible of pain: they drew me, and I felt not: when shall I awake and find wine again? 26 Seek not to be like evil men, neither desire to be with them: 27 Because their mind studieth robberies, and their lips speak deceits. 28 By wisdom the house shall be built, and by prudence it shall be strengthened. 29 By instruction the storerooms shall be filled with all precious and most beautiful wealth. 30 A wise man is strong: and a knowing man, stout and valiant. 31 Because war is managed by due ordering: and there shall be safety where there are many counsels.