Old Testament · Wisdom & Poetry · World English Bible
Proverbs
"Open your mouth for the mute, in the cause of all who are left desolate. Open your mouth, judge righteously, and serve justice to the poor and needy."
— Proverbs 31:8–9 
The Reading LensEvery verse pulled to the top of a book is chosen by three questions: Where is God’s heart here? Who is He protecting? Who is being saved by the action? It marks the place where those answers come into clearest focus — a “look at this, in this book.”
About the Book
The Hebrew name is Mishlei. It is a collection of collections and says so — headings inside the book name different sources: Solomon, “the wise,” Agur son of Jakeh, and the mother of King Lemuel.
The first nine chapters are not proverbs at all but extended speeches — a father addressing a son, and Wisdom personified calling aloud in the street, with Folly calling from her own doorway on the same street.
Proverbs are not promises. They are observations about how life generally runs, which is exactly the claim Job and Ecclesiastes push back against. The three are best read as one argument inside a single tradition rather than three unrelated answers.
31 Chapters
Wisdom Calls in the Street
The purpose stated, then the first warning — an invitation from those who lie in wait for blood, and the reason to refuse it. Wisdom herself cries out publicly and is ignored.
Search as for Silver
If you seek it like buried treasure. The promise that understanding guards a person, and the first of the warnings about the house that sinks down to death.
Trust and Do Not Withhold
Trust with all your heart; do not lean on your own understanding. Then the practical edge: do not withhold good from those to whom it is due when it is in your power to do it.
What a Father Was Taught
A grandfather’s instruction passed down twice. Get wisdom; guard your heart, for out of it are the issues of life. The path of the righteous as a light that grows brighter.
The Strange Woman
The first extended warning about adultery — honey at the beginning and wormwood at the end — and the counter-instruction to rejoice in the wife of your youth.
Sureties, Ants, and Seven Things
Do not stand surety for a neighbour’s debt. Go to the ant. Then the list of six things the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination — ending with the one who sows discord among brothers.
The Young Man at the Corner
A scene watched through a lattice: a youth passing the corner at twilight and being taken in step by step. The most narrative chapter in the book.
Wisdom Before the World
Wisdom speaking in her own voice — present before the mountains were settled, rejoicing in the inhabited world and delighting in the sons of men.
Two Houses, One Street
Wisdom builds her house and sends out her servants; Folly sits at her door and calls to the same passers-by with almost the same words. The fear of the LORD as the beginning of wisdom.
The Proverbs of Solomon Begin
The shift to self-contained two-line sayings built on contrast. The mouth of the righteous is a spring of life; hatred stirs up strife, and love covers all sins.
False Balances
A false balance is an abomination; a just weight is his delight. The generous soul made rich, and the one who withholds more than is right coming to poverty.
Roots and Fruit
The righteous cares for the life of his animal; the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel. Truthful lips endure forever, and a lying tongue is only for a moment.
Hope Deferred
Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when longing is fulfilled it is a tree of life. Wealth from vanity diminishes; the one who gathers by labour increases.
The One Who Mocks the Poor
He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for his Maker; he who is kind to the needy honours him. Even in laughter the heart may ache.
A Soft Answer
A soft answer turns away wrath. Better a dinner of herbs where love is than a fattened calf with hatred. The eyes of the LORD are everywhere, keeping watch.
The Plans of the Heart
A man plans his course, but the LORD directs his steps. Better a little with righteousness than great revenue with injustice. Pride before destruction.
The Crucible
The refining pot for silver, the furnace for gold, and the LORD for hearts. Whoever mocks the poor reproaches his Maker; a friend loves at all times.
The First to Plead
The one who states his case first seems right until his neighbour comes and examines him — the closest thing in Scripture to a rule of cross-examination. The name of the LORD as a strong tower.
Lending to the LORD
He who has pity on the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him. Better the poor who walks in integrity than the one who is perverse in speech and a fool.
Differing Weights
Differing weights and differing measures — both alike an abomination. Wine is a mocker. Every man’s way seems right to him, but the LORD weighs the hearts.
Justice Before Sacrifice
To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice. Whoever stops his ears at the cry of the poor will cry himself and not be heard.
A Good Name, and the Boundary Stone
A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches. Train up a child in the way he should go. Do not move the ancient boundary stone, and do not rob the poor because he is poor.
Words of the Wise
The second collection opens. Do not eat the bread of a miser. Do not labour to be rich. Do not move the widow’s boundary or enter the fields of the fatherless — their Redeemer is strong.
Rescue Those Being Taken Away
Deliver those who are being led to death, and hold back those stumbling toward slaughter — and the refusal of the excuse “we did not know.” Do not rejoice when your enemy falls.
Copied Out by Hezekiah’s Men
A second Solomonic collection, noted as transcribed two and a half centuries later. A word fitly spoken; coals of fire on an enemy’s head; the sated soul and the honeycomb.
The Fool, the Sluggard, the Gossip
Answer a fool according to his folly — immediately after being told not to. The sluggard turning on his bed like a door on its hinges. Where there is no wood, the fire goes out.
Iron Sharpens Iron
Do not boast about tomorrow. Faithful are the wounds of a friend; the kisses of an enemy are profuse. Know well the condition of your flocks.
The Righteous Are Bold
The wicked flee when no one pursues. A ruler who oppresses the poor is like a driving rain that leaves no food. Whoever covers his sins will not prosper.
The Poor and the Oppressor Meet
The righteous care about justice for the poor; the wicked have no such concern. Where there is no vision the people cast off restraint. The poor man and the oppressor have this in common — the LORD gives light to the eyes of both.
Agur’s Numbers
A different voice: a man who says he has not learned wisdom, asking only for neither poverty nor riches. Then the numerical sayings — three things, four things — and the four small creatures that are exceedingly wise.
Lemuel’s Mother, and the Woman of Valor
A mother’s warning to a king about drink and about judging — open your mouth for the mute, and serve justice to the poor and needy. Then the acrostic that closes the book, twenty-two verses, aleph to tav.