Proverbs 19 - Amplified Bible - Classic Edition

¹ BETTER IS a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is perverse in his speech and is a [self-confident] fool.

² Desire without knowledge is not good, and to be overhasty is to sin and miss the mark.

³ The foolishness of man subverts his way [ruins his affairs]; then his heart is resentful and frets against the Lord.

⁴ Wealth makes many friends, but the poor man is avoided by his neighbor. [Prov. 14:20.]

⁵ A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he who breathes out lies shall not escape. [Exod. 23:1; Deut. 19:16-19; Prov. 6:19; 21:28.]

⁶ Many will entreat the favor of a liberal man, and every man is a friend to him who gives gifts.

⁷ All the brothers of a poor man detest him–how much more do his friends go far from him! He pursues them with words, but they are gone.

⁸ He who gains Wisdom loves his own life; he who keeps understanding shall prosper and find good.

⁹ A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he who breathes forth lies shall perish.

¹⁰ Luxury is not fitting for a [self-confident] fool–much less for a slave to rule over princes.

¹¹ Good sense makes a man restrain his anger, and it is his glory to overlook a transgression or an offense.

¹² The king's wrath is as terrifying as the roaring of a lion, but his favor is as [refreshing as] dew upon the grass. [Hos. 14:5.]

¹³ A self-confident and foolish son is the [multiplied] calamity of his father, and the contentions of a wife are like a continual dripping [of water through a chink in the roof].

¹⁴ House and riches are the inheritance from fathers, but a wise, understanding, and prudent wife is from the Lord. [Prov. 18:22.]

¹⁵ Slothfulness casts one into a deep sleep, and the idle person shall suffer hunger.

¹⁶ He who keeps the commandment [of the Lord] keeps his own life, but he who despises His ways shall die. [Luke 10:28; 11:28.]

¹⁷ He who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord, and that which he has given He will repay to him. [Prov. 28:27; Eccl. 11:1; Matt. 10:42; 25:40; II Cor. 9:6-8; Heb. 6:10.]

¹⁸ Discipline your son while there is hope, but do not [indulge your angry resentments by undue chastisements and] set yourself to his ruin.

¹⁹ A man of great wrath shall suffer the penalty; for if you deliver him [from the consequences], he will [feel free to] cause you to do it again.

²⁰ Hear counsel, receive instruction, and accept correction, that you may be wise in the time to come.

²¹ Many plans are in a man's mind, but it is the Lord's purpose for him that will stand. [Job 23:13; Ps. 33:10, 11; Isa. 14:26, 27; 46:10; Acts 5:39; Heb. 6:17.]

²² That which is desired in a man is loyalty and kindness [and his glory and delight are his giving], but a poor man is better than a liar.

²³ The reverent, worshipful fear of the Lord leads to life, and he who has it rests satisfied; he cannot be visited with [actual] evil. [Job 5:19; Ps. 91:3; Prov. 12:13; Isa. 46:4; Jer. 1:8; Dan. 6:27; II Tim. 4:8.]

²⁴ The sluggard buries his hand in the dish, and will not so much as bring it to his mouth again.

²⁵ Strike a scoffer, and the simple will learn prudence; reprove a man of understanding, and he will increase in knowledge.

²⁶ He who does violence to his father and chases away his mother is a son who causes shame and brings reproach.

²⁷ Cease, my son, to hear instruction only to ignore it and stray from the words of knowledge.

²⁸ A worthless witness scoffs at justice, and the mouth of the wicked swallows iniquity.

²⁹ Judgments are prepared for scoffers, and stripes for the backs of [self-confident] fools. [Isa. 32:6.]