不要为明日夸口，因为一日要发生何事，你尚且不能知道。
Do not boast about tomorrow, / For you do not know what a day may bring forth.

让别人夸奖你，不可用口自夸；让外人称赞你，不可用嘴自赞。
Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; / A foreigner, and not your own lips.

石头重，沙土沉，愚妄人的恼怒比这两样更重。
A stone is heavy, and the sand weighty, / But a fool's vexation is heavier than both of them.

忿怒为残忍，怒气为狂澜，惟有嫉妒，谁能敌得住呢？
Wrath is cruel, and anger is overwhelming, / But who can stand before jealousy?

公开的责备强如暗中的爱。
Open rebuke is better / Than love that is hidden.

朋友加的伤痕是出于忠诚，仇敌却与你连连亲嘴。
Faithful are the wounds of a friend, / But the kisses of an enemy are profuse.

吃饱的人，厌恶蜂房的蜜；饥饿的人，一切苦物都觉甘甜。
The full soul loathes a honeycomb, / But to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.

人离本处飘流，好像雀鸟离窝游飞。
Like a bird that wanders from her nest, / So is a man who wanders from his place.

膏油与香料使人心喜乐；人的劝戒，对他朋友也是如此甘美。
Oil and perfume rejoice the heart; / So a man's counsel is sweet to his friend.

你不可撇开自己的朋友和父亲的朋友，而在遭难的日子上你弟兄的家去：相近的邻舍，强如远方的弟兄。
Do not forsake your own friend or your father's friend / To go to your brother's house in the day of your calamity: / Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother far away.

我儿，你要作智慧人，好叫我的心快乐，使我可以回答那辱骂我的人。
My son, be wise, and make my heart glad, / That I may answer him who reproaches me.

灵巧人见祸藏躲，愚蒙人却前往受罚。
A prudent man sees evil and hides himself; / But the simple pass on and suffer punishment for it.

谁为生人作保，就拿谁的衣服；谁为外女作保，就向谁取抵押。
Take the garment of him who is surety for a stranger, / And hold one in pledge who is surety for a foreign woman.

清晨吵醒朋友，大声给他祝福的，就算是咒诅他。
He who blesses his friend with a loud voice, / Arousing him early in the morning, / It will be reckoned as a curse to him.

大雨之日连连滴漏，和争吵的妇人一样；
A continual dripping on a very rainy day / And a contentious woman are alike;

想拦阻她的，便是拦阻风，也是右手抓油。
He who would restrain her restrains the wind, / And grasps oil with his right hand.

铁磨铁，使铁锋利；人与朋友互相砥砺，也是如此。
Iron sharpens iron; / So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.

看守无花果树的，必吃树上的果子；看护主人的，必得尊荣。
Whoever tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, / And he who takes care of his master will be honored.

水怎样映照人面，人心也照样反映其人。
As in water face reflects face, / So the heart of man reflects man.

阴间和灭亡总不满足，人的眼目也总不满足。
Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, / And the eyes of man are never satisfied.

鼎为炼银，炉为炼金，人的称赞也试炼人。
The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, / And a man is tried by the praise given him.

你虽用杵将愚妄人与打碎的麦子一同捣在臼中，他的愚妄还是离不了他。
Though you pound a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain, / His folly will not depart from him.

你要详细知道你羊群的景况，留心料理你的牛群──
Know well the condition of your flocks, / And pay attention to your herds —

因为财富不能永有，冠冕也不能代代常存。
For riches are not forever, / Nor does a crown endure from generation to generation —

干草割去，嫩草出现，山上的菜蔬也被收取时，
Then when the grass has disappeared, and the tender grass is seen, / And the herbs of the mountains have been gathered in,

有羊羔的毛为作你衣服，山羊作田地的价值；
The lambs will be for your clothing, / And the goats will bring the price of a field;

并有母山羊奶够你吃，也够你的家眷吃，且够你的婢女养生。
And there will be goats' milk enough for your food, / For the food of your household, / And for the sustenance for your maidens.