If people listen to God, He will bless them
1If you often tell someone
how he must live,
but he stays stubborn,
he will soon fall,
and he will not be able to get up.
2If a good person rules,
all the people are happy,
but if a bad and sinful person rules,
everyone complains and moans.
3A father is pleased
if his child loves wisdom,
but a child who loves to go
to prostitutes will lose everything.
4A king who is fair
makes his land strong,
but a king who wants people to pay
more and more taxes destroys his land.
5A person who says good things
to his friend just to please him
wants to catch him in a trap.
6Sinful people who want to do
bad things to other people
fall into their own traps,
but people who live in the right way
sing and rejoice.
7A righteous person knows
how to help poor people,
but a sinful person does not
want to know how to help them.
8People who laugh at wisdom
make the people in a city angry,
but wise people bring back the peace.
9If a wise man argues with a fool,
the fool shouts and laughs,
and he goes on and never stops.
10Murderers hate people
who are honest, but righteous people
try to protect them.
11When fools become angry,
they say anything that they think of,
but wise people stay calm and keep quiet.
12If a king likes to listen
to people who tell lies,
then all his officials will do wrong.
13A poor man and the person
who oppresses him
are together in this world.
The Lord gave life to both of them.
14A king who is fair
when he judges poor people
will be king for a long time.
15If you punish your child
and tell him how to live,
you are teaching him wisdom,
but if you don't punish him,
he will do what he wants and
his mother will be ashamed of him.
16If sinful people
become important and rule,
everyone will sin more and more,
but people who live in the right way
will see how those people fall.
17If you teach your children
how to live in the right way,
you will be pleased and proud of them
and they will make you happy.
18If the Lord does not talk
to the prophets and show
the people what they must do,
the people will do any sinful thing
that they want to do,
but God will bless the people
who do what He wants them to do.
19It does not help just to talk to a slave.
He won't understand what you tell him
or do what you want.
20There are people who talk
before they think what they are going to say,
and they are worse than fools.
21If you give your slave
everything that he wants when he is young,
he will rebel when he grows up.
22A person who gets angry quickly
makes other people fight,
and someone who is not patient
makes a lot of people sin.
23The Lord will humiliate people who are proud,
but He will honour people who are humble.
24Anyone who takes some of
the things that thieves have stolen
does not love his own life.
25If you are afraid of people,
you can get into trouble,
but if you fear the Lord,
you will be safe.
26A lot of people try to please the ruler
and ask him to help them,
but it is only the Lord who can help us
and who judges us fairly.
27Good people hate people
who are dishonest,
and sinful people don't love people
who live in the right way.
