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1 A wise judge will instruct his people.
The government of a man of understanding will be well ordered.
2 As is the judge of his people, so are his officials.
As the city’s ruler is, so are all those who dwell in it.
3 An undisciplined king will destroy his people.
A city will be established through the understanding of the powerful.
4 The government of the earth is in the Lord’s hand.
In due time, he will raise up over it the right person at the right time.
5 A man’s prosperity is in the Lord’s hand.
He will lay his honour upon the person of the scribe.
6 Don’t be angry with your neighbour for every wrong.
Do nothing by works of violence.
7 Pride is hateful before the Lord and men.
Arrogance is abhorrent in the judgement of both.
8 Sovereignty is transferred from nation to nation
because of injustice, violence, and greed for money.
9 Why are dirt and ashes proud?
Because in life, my body decays.
10 A long disease mocks the physician.
The king of today will die tomorrow.
11 For when a man is dead,
he will inherit maggots, vermin, and worms.
12 It is the beginning of pride when a man departs from the Lord.
His heart has departed from him who made him.
13 For the beginning of pride is sin.
He who keeps it will pour out abomination.
For this cause the Lord brought upon them strange calamities
and utterly overthrew them.
14 The Lord cast down the thrones of rulers
and set the lowly in their place.
15 The Lord plucked up the roots of nations
and planted the lowly in their place.
16 The Lord overthrew the lands of nations
and destroyed them to the foundations of the earth.
17 He took some of them away and destroyed them,
and made their memory to cease from the earth.
18 Pride has not been created for men,
nor wrathful anger for the offspring of women.
19 Whose offspring has honour?
Human offspring who fear the Lord.
Whose offspring has no honour?
Human offspring who break the commandments.
20 In the midst of kindred he who rules them has honour.
Those who fear the Lord have honour in his eyes.
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22 The rich man, the honourable, and the poor
all glory in the fear of the Lord.
23 It is not right to dishonour a poor man who has understanding.
It is not fitting to glorify a man who is a sinner.
24 The prince, the judge, and the mighty man will be honoured.
There is not one of them greater than he who fears the Lord.
25 Free men will minister to a wise servant.
A man who has knowledge will not complain.
26 Don’t flaunt your wisdom in doing your work.
Don’t boast in the time of your distress.
27 Better is he who labours and abounds in all things,
than he who boasts and lacks bread.
28 My son, glorify your soul in humility,
and ascribe to yourself honour according to your worthiness.
29 Who will justify him who sins against his own soul?
Who will honour him who dishonours his own life?
30 A poor man is honoured for his knowledge.
A rich man is honoured for his riches.
31 But he who is honoured in poverty, how much more in riches?
He who is dishonoured in riches, how much more in poverty?