Proverbs 11

1The LORD hates dishonest scales, but accurate weights please the LORD.

2When pride comes, shame follows, but wisdom is with the humble.

3The honesty of honest people guides those honest people, but the crookedness of dishonest people destroys those dishonest people.

4Riches do not help on the day of judgment, but doing what is right saves you from death.

5The righteousness of a blameless person makes their path straight, but the wicked fall because of their own wickedness.

6The righteousness of honest people saves them, but dishonest people are trapped by their own greed.

7When a wicked person dies, their hope dies with them; everything they expected from their power comes to nothing.

8The righteous person is rescued from trouble, and it falls on the wicked instead.

9With their mouth, a godless person destroys their neighbor, but righteous people are saved through knowledge.

10When the righteous succeed, the city celebrates; when the wicked die, there is shouting for joy.

11Through the blessing of honest people, a city is built up, but through the mouth of the wicked, it is torn down.

12Whoever has no sense looks down on their neighbor, but someone with understanding stays quiet.

13A gossip goes around revealing secrets, but a trustworthy person keeps a confidence.

14Where there is no guidance, a nation falls, but many advisers bring safety.

15Whoever promises to pay a stranger's debt will suffer for it, but whoever refuses to guarantee a debt is safe.

16A kind woman gains respect, and ruthless men gain only riches.

17A merciful person helps himself, but a cruel person brings trouble on himself.

18A wicked person earns deceptive wages, but whoever plants righteousness reaps a true reward.

19Righteousness leads to life, but whoever chases after evil chases after death.

20The LORD hates those with twisted hearts, but the LORD delights in those whose ways are honest.

21Be sure of this: the wicked will not go unpunished, but those who are righteous will be kept safe.

22Like a gold ring in a pig's snout is a beautiful woman with no sense.

23What the righteous want leads only to good; what the wicked expect leads to anger.

24One person gives freely and yet grows richer; another withholds more than is right, and it leads only to poverty.

25A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.

26People curse the one who hoards grain, but blessing crowns the one who sells it.

27Whoever searches for good finds favor, but whoever looks for trouble finds it.

28Whoever trusts in their riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf.

29Whoever brings trouble on their own family inherits only wind, and a fool becomes a servant to someone wise.

30The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and whoever wins souls is wise.

31If the righteous are repaid on earth, how much more the wicked and the sinner!