1 Wine is a mocker {leitz: taunting companion}, and strong drink is boisterous {homeh: noisy unrest}; everyone who errs in it is not wise.
2 The terror of a king {meleḵ: sovereign authority} is like the roar of a young lion; whoever provokes his anger sins against his own soul {nefesh: life essence}.
3 It is an honor for a man to cease from strife {meriv: dispute}, but every fool will break out {yitgalla: act rashly}.
4 Because of the winter {choref: cold season}, the lazy person will not plow; he will ask and seek at harvest time, but there will be nothing {ayin: utter lack}.
5 Deep waters are counsel {etzah: inward advice} in a man’s heart, but a man of understanding {tevunah: discerning judgment} will draw it out.
6 Many a man will proclaim his own kindness {khesed: steadfast love}, but a faithful man {emunim: reliable, trustworthy}—who can find?
7 A righteous {tzaddiq: righteous person} man who walks in his integrity {tumo: moral completeness} will have his children blessed after him.
8 A king {melekh: supreme authority} who sits upon the throne of judgment scatters all evil with his eyes {einav: piercing discernment}.
9 Who can assert, “I have cleansed {zikkiti: causative purification} my heart; I am pure {taharti: completed purification} from my sin?”
10 Stone and stone, ephah and ephah—both of them are an abomination {to’evah: loathsome practice} to the LORD {YHWH, Impartial Judge}.
11 Also by his deeds {maalalav: conduct} a youth is recognized; whether his work is pure and upright {yashar: ethically correct}.
12 The hearing ear and the seeing eye—the LORD {YHWH, Sovereign Creator} made them both {shenehem: twofold unity}.
13 Do not love sleep {sheinah: unproductive rest}, or you will become poor; open your eyes, and you will be satisfied with bread {lachem: basic sustenance}.
14 “Bad {ra: emphatic complaint}, bad,” says the buyer; then as he goes on his way, he boasts {yithallel: praises himself}.
15 There is gold and an abundance of precious stones {peninim: precious gems}, but lips of knowledge are a precious vessel {kheli: vessel for value}.
16 Take his garment {bigdo: outer garment given in pledge} if he becomes surety for a stranger, and on behalf of foreigners hold him as a pledge {khavlehu: binding to ensure repayment}.
17 Bread of deceit {shaker: morally corrupt falsehood} is sweet to a man; but afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel {chatzatz: small stones causing hardship}.
18 Plans {machashavot: devised intentions} are established by counsel, and by strategies {tachbulot: deliberate planning} make war.
19 A gossip {rakhil: talebearer} who goes about reveals a secret; do not associate {titarav: become involved with} with one who is simple with his lips.
20 Whoever curses his father {aviv: male parent, household authority} and his mother, his lamp shall be extinguished in the deepest darkness {choshekh: total absence of light}.
21 An inheritance grabbed too quickly at the beginning {barishonah: initial stage} will not be blessed in the end {tevorach: marked by favor or prosperity}.
22 Do not say “I will repay evil”; instead hope in the LORD {YHWH, Righteous Deliverer} and He will save {yosha: grant rescue} you.
23 The use of differing weights is an abomination to the LORD {YHWH, Moral Arbiter}, and dishonest balances {moaznei: measuring scales} are not good.
24 A person’s steps come from the LORD {YHWH, Sovereign Guide}; how then can one understand his own way {darko: life’s direction}?
25 It is a snare for a man {adam: human being} to say rashly, “It is holy” {kodesh: set-apart offering}, and only afterward to inquire into vows.
26 A wise king scatters {mezareh: purposeful winnowing} the wicked {reshaʿim: moral transgressors} and brings the wheel upon them.
27 The lamp of the LORD {YHWH, Inward Illuminator} is the spirit of a person, searching all the innermost chambers {chadrei: hidden rooms}.
28 Loyalty {chesed: steadfast relational love} and truth {emet: unwavering reliability} preserve the king, and his throne is upheld by loyalty.
29 The glory {tifʾeret: public honor} of young men is their strength, and the beauty of old men is gray hair {sēḇā: mark of dignity}.
30 Wounds from a blow {petsa: injurious strike} purge evil, and blows reach the inward parts of the belly {beten: innermost being}.