The Lord will save people who live in the right way
1The Lord hates dishonest balance-scales,
but He is pleased with weights
that are honest and right.
2People who are proud will be humiliated,
but wise people are always humble.
3Honest people always live in the right way,
but unfaithful people will die
because they are dishonest.
4Money will not help anyone
when he dies and the Lord judges him,
but the Lord will save people who live in the right way.
5People who don't do what is wrong
have better and easier lives,
but the lives of sinful people
are full of trouble because of the sin they do.
6People who live in the right way will be saved
because they are righteous,
but the wrong desires
of unfaithful people will catch them.
7When sinful people die,
everything that they have hoped for
dies with them.
Bad people don't have any hope
that things will become better for them.
8God saves righteous people from trouble,
but sinful people get all those troubles.
9Someone who does not serve the Lord
says bad things about other people,
and he doesn't care about their lives,
but a righteous person knows
how to live in the right way and it saves him.
10When righteous people succeed,
all the people in the city are happy,
but when sinful people die, they rejoice.
11When the Lord blesses the people
who live in the right way, the city
becomes stronger and greater,
but sinful people
can destroy the city with their words.
Wise and foolish people
12A foolish person says
that someone else is not important.
13Someone who gossips
says things that other people should not know,
but someone that you can trust
keeps a secret to himself, and he keeps quiet.
14If a nation does not get good advice,
they will never win in a war,
but if there are a lot of advisors,
they will be safe.
15Someone who promises to pay
the debt of his friend will suffer,
but someone who does not
make promises like that is safe.
16People respect a good woman,
but cruel people only want to become rich.
17A faithful person will get his reward,
but a cruel man brings trouble
on himself, and he will suffer.
18Sinful people think they will get a reward,
but they will get nothing.
Someone who does what is right
will get a wonderful reward.
19Someone who always does what is right
will keep on living, but people
who look for bad things to do will die.
20The Lord hates bad and cunning people,
but He loves people who live in the right way.
21You must know this for sure:
The Lord will punish sinful people
but He will save the people
who do right, and also their descendants.
22A beautiful woman
who can not think wisely
is like a golden ring in a pig's nose.
23People who live in the right way
always hope that good things will happen,
but sinful people must know
that God will punish them.
Be good to other people
24People who give a lot
to poor people receive even more,
but those who don't want to give
to other people become poor.
25If someone wishes for good things
to happen to other people,
God will bless him.
If you give water to other people,
someone will give you water
when you are thirsty.
26If someone has a lot of wheat
but he does not want to sell it,
the people will curse him.
If someone wants to sell his wheat,
people will bless him.
27If someone tries to do good things,
people will respect him,
but if someone tries to do bad things,
then bad things will happen to him.
28Someone who thinks
it will help him to be rich
will fall like the leaves of a tree in autumn,
but righteous people will be healthy
like a green leaf.
29Someone who causes bad things
to happen to his family
will lose everything.
A foolish man will become
the slave of a wise man.
30Someone who lives in the right way
gives real_life to other people.
A wise person teaches other people
how to do what is right.
31Righteous people
will get their reward on earth,
but sinful people will get their punishment.
