Home Master Index
←Prev   Proverbs 22 as rendered by/in  Next→ 


22:1  A shem tov is rather to be desired than osher rav, and chen (grace) rather than kesef and zahav.
22:2  The oisher (rich man) and the rahsh (pauper) have this in common: Hashem is the Oseh (Maker) of them all.
22:3  A prudent man foreseeth the ra’ah, and hideth himself, but the naïve trudge on, and are punished.
22:4  By anavah (humility) and the Yirat Hashem are osher, and kavod, and chayyim.
22:5  Thorns and pachim (snares) are in the derech of the crooked; he that is shomer over his nefesh shall be far from them.
22:6  Train up a na’ar in the derech (road) he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
22:7  The oisher ruleth over the rahshim (paupers), and the loveh (borrower, debtor) is eved (slave) to the ish malveh (lender).
22:8  He that soweth iniquity shall reap aven (iniquity), and the shevet (rod) of his wrath shall disappear.
22:9  He that hath a tov ayin (generous eye) shall have a bracha; for he giveth of his lechem to the dal (poor).
22:10  Cast out the scoffer, and contention shall leave; indeed, strife and kalon (shame) shall cease.
22:11  He that loveth tahor lev (a pure heart), for the chen (grace) on his sfatayim (lips) the Melech shall be his re’a (friend).
22:12  The eynayim of Hashem preserve da’as, and He overthroweth the devarim of the boged (unfaithful, treacherous, traitor).
22:13  The atzel (sluggard, lazy one) saith, There is an ari (lion) outside; I shall be murdered in the streets.
22:14  The peh (mouth) of zarot (strange women) is a deep pit; he that is under the wrath of Hashem shall fall therein.
22:15  Folly is bound in the lev na’ar, but the shevet musar (rod of correction) shall drive it far from him.
22:16  He that oppresseth the dal (poor) in order to increase, and he that giveth to the oisher, shall surely come to machsor (poverty, want).
22:17  Bow down thine ozen, and hear the devarim of chachamim, and apply thine lev (mind, heart) unto my da’as.
22:18  For it is a pleasant thing if thou be shomer over them within thee; they shall therewith abide ready upon thy sfatayim (lips).
22:19  That thy trust may be in Hashem, I have made thee know this yom, even thee!
22:20  Have not I written to thee shloshim (thirty sayings) in mo’etzot (counsels) and da’as,
22:21  That I might make thee know the certain truth of the words of emes; that thou mightest bring back words of emes to them that send thee?
22:22  Exploit not the dal (poor), because he is dal (poor); neither oppress the oni (afflicted) in the sha’ar,
22:23  For Hashem will plead their cause, and plunder the nefesh of those that plundered them.
22:24  Make no friendship with a ba’al af (angry man), and with an ish chemot (man of wrath) thou shalt not go,
22:25  Lest thou learn his orkhot (ways), and take a mokesh (snare) for thy nefesh.
22:26  Be not thou one of them that shake hands in a pledge, or of them that are collateral for masha’ot (debts, loans).
22:27  If thou hast nothing with which to pay, why should he take away thy mishkav (bed) from under thee?
22:28  Remove not the gevul olam (ancient landmark), which avoteicha have set.
22:29  Seest thou an ish mahir (diligent, one who excells) in his work? He shall stand before melachim; he shall not stand before obscure men.