1 A wise son {khakham: skillful in living} listens to his father’s instruction, but a scoffer does not hear rebuke {gearah: corrective warning}.
2 From the fruit {pri: spoken result} of a man’s mouth he will eat what is good, but the soul {nefesh: inner being} of the treacherous longs for violence.
3 Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life {nafesh: vital essence}; but whoever opens wide his lips comes to ruin {mechittah: calamity or downfall}.
4 The soul of the sluggard {atzel: habitual underachievement} desires but has nothing; the soul of the diligent shall be enriched {tedushan: abundantly supplied}.
5 A righteous person {tsaddiq: morally upright} hates falsehood, but a wicked person acts shamefully {yaveish: causes disgust} and brings disgrace.
6 Righteousness {tsedaqah: covenant faithfulness} guards the blameless {tam: morally whole} one in his way, but wickedness overthrows the sinner.
7 There is one who makes himself rich {mita’asher: self-acquired abundance}, yet has nothing; and another who makes himself poor, yet has great wealth {hon: material assets}.
8 The ransom {kofer: payment for release} of a man’s life is his wealth, but a poor person does not hear threat {gearah: sharp threat}.
9 The light of the righteous {tsaddiqim: those declared just} will rejoice, but the lamp of the wicked {resha’im: those acting unjustly} will be extinguished.
10 Only by arrogance {zadon: haughty pride} is strife {matzah: contentious quarreling} given, but with those who take counsel is wisdom.
11 Wealth gained in haste {hevel: fleeting emptiness} will diminish, but he who gathers {qovetz: diligent accumulating} by hand will increase.
12 Hope deferred {memushakhah: drawn-out waiting} brings sickness to the heart; but when desire comes, it is a tree of life {etz chayyim: source of vitality}.
13 Whoever despises the word {davar: spoken declaration} will bring destruction upon himself, but whoever fears the commandment {mitsvah: authoritative decree} will be rewarded.
14 The instruction of the wise {chakham: one skilled in discernment} is a fountain of life, to turn away from the snares of death {mavet: physical and spiritual end}.
15 Good understanding {sekhel: wise discernment} gives favor, but the way of transgressors {bogdim: faithless betrayers} is hard.
16 Every prudent person acts with knowledge {da'at: informed insight}, but a fool lays open folly {ivelet: senselessness}.
17 A wicked {rāšāʿ: morally corrupt} messenger will fall into evil, but a faithful envoy brings healing {marpēʾ: restorative remedy}.
18 Poverty and disgrace will come to the one who refuses discipline {musar: moral instruction}, but whoever keeps correction {tokhachat: stern reproof} will be honored.
19 A desire fulfilled is sweet to the soul {nefesh: life essence}; but for fools, turning away from evil is abomination {toevah: utter repulsion}.
20 Whoever walks with wise men {chakhamim: those possessing practical discernment} will become wise, but a companion of fools will be harmed {yeroa: suffer injury}.
21 Evil pursues sinners, but the righteous {tsaddiqim: just ones} will be repaid with good {tov: beneficial outcome}.
22 A good {tov: morally upright} man leaves an inheritance to his grandchildren, but the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the just {tsaddiq: righteous}.
23 There is much food in the plowed field {nir: newly tilled land} of the poor, but it is swept away without justice {mishpat: righteous judgment}.
24 Whoever withholds his rod {shivto: symbol of authority} hates his son, but whoever loves him earnestly seeks discipline {musar: corrective instruction}.
25 The righteous person eats to the satisfaction of his soul {nefesh: life essence}, but the belly of the wicked will lack {beten: inner appetite}.