Bible Text & Cross-references:
Dangers of sin from several heads: the fear of God is the
best preservative. He that diggeth a pit, shall fall into it.
1 Through poverty many have sinned: and he that seeketh to be enriched,
turneth away his eye.
2 As a stake sticketh fast in the midst of the joining of stones, so also
in the midst of selling and buying, sin shall stick fast.
3 Sin shall be destroyed with the sinner.
4 Unless thou hold thyself diligently in the fear of the Lord, thy house
shall quickly be overthrown.
5 As when one sifteth with a sieve, the dust will remain: so will the perplexity
of a man in his thoughts.
6 The furnace trieth the potter's vessels, and the trial of affliction
just men.
7 As the dressing of a tree sheweth the fruit thereof, so a word out of
the thought of the heart of man.
8 Praise not a man before he speaketh, for this is the trial of men.
9 If thou followest justice, thou shalt obtain her: and shalt put her on
as a long robe of honour, and thou shalt dwell with her: and she shall protect thee for ever, and in the day of acknowledgment
thou shalt find a strong foundation.
10 Birds resort unto their like: so truth will return to them that practise
her.
11 The lion always lieth in wait for prey: so do sins for them that work
iniquities.
12 A holy man continueth in wisdom as the sun: but a fool is changed as
the moon.
13 In the midst of the unwise keep in the word till its time: but be continually
among men that think.
14 The discourse of sinners is hateful, and their laughter is at the pleasures
of sin.
15 The speech that sweareth much shall make the hair of the head stand
upright: and its irreverence shall make one stop his ears.
16 In the quarrels of the proud is the shedding of blood: and their cursing
is a grievous hearing.
17 He that discloseth the secret of a friend, loseth his credit, and shall
never find a friend to his mind.
18 Love thy neighbour, and be joined to him with fidelity.
19 But if thou discover his secrets, follow no more after him.
20 For as a man that destroyeth his friend, so also is he that destroyeth
the friendship of his neighbour.
21 And as one that letteth a bird go out of his hand, so hast thou let
thy neighbour go, and thou shalt not get him again.
22 Follow after him no more, for he is gone afar off, he is fled, as a
roe escaped out of the snare: because his soul is wounded.
23 Thou canst no more bind him up. And of a curse there is reconciliation:
24 But to disclose the secrets of a friend leaveth no hope to an unhappy
soul.
25 He that winketh with the eye forgeth wicked things, and no man will
cast him off:
26 In the sight of thy eyes he will sweeten his mouth, and will admire
thy words: but at the last he will writhe his mouth, and on thy words he will lay a stumbling-block.
27 I have hated many things, but not like him, and the Lord will hate him.
28 If one cast a stone on high, it will fall upon his own head: and the
deceitful stroke will wound the deceitful.
29 He that diggeth a pit, shall fall into it: and he that setteth a stone
for his neighbour, shall stumble upon it: and he that layeth a snare for another, shall perish in it.
30 A mischievous counsel shall be rolled back upon the author, and he shall
not know from whence it cometh to him.
31 Mockery and reproach are of the proud, and vengeance as a lion shall
lie in wait for him.
32 They shall perish in a snare that are delighted with the fall of the
just: and sorrow shall consume them before they die.
33 Anger and fury are both of them abominable, and the sinful man shall
be subject to them.