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Proverbs 1

Amplified Bible, 2015 (AMP)

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Introduction

¹ There is no end to all the people; to all who were before them. Yet those who come later will not be happy with him. Surely this also is vanity (emptiness) and chasing after the wind.

² Guard your steps and focus on what you are doing as you go to the house of God and draw near to listen rather than to offer the [careless or irreverent] sacrifice of fools; for they are too ignorant to know they are doing evil.

³ Do not be hasty with your mouth [speaking careless words or vows] or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter before God. For God is in heaven and you are on earth; therefore let your words be few.

⁴ For the dream comes through much effort, and the voice of the fool through many words.

⁵ When you make a vow or a pledge to God, do not put off paying it; for God takes no pleasure in fools [who thoughtlessly mock Him]. Pay what you vow.

⁶ It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay.

⁷ Do not allow your speech to cause you to sin, and do not say before the messenger (priest) of God that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry because of your voice (words) and destroy the work of your hands?

⁸ For in a multitude of dreams and in a flood of words there is worthlessness. Rather [reverently] fear God [and worship Him with awe-filled respect, knowing who He is].

⁹ If you see the oppression of the poor and the denial of justice and righteousness in the province, do not be shocked at the sight [of corruption]; for a higher official watches over another official, and there are higher ones over them [looking out for one another].

¹⁰ After all, a king who cultivates the field is an advantage to the land.

¹¹ He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its gain. This too is vanity (emptiness).

¹² When good things increase, those who consume them increase. So what advantage is there to their owners except to see them with their eyes?

¹³ The sleep of a working man is sweet, whether he eats little or much; but the full stomach (greed) of the rich [who hungers for even more] will not let him sleep.

¹⁴ There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: riches being kept and hoarded by their owner to his own misery.

¹⁵ For when those riches are lost in bad investments and he becomes the father of a son, then there is nothing in his hand [for the support of the child].

¹⁶ As he came naked from his mother's womb, so he will return as he came; and he will take away nothing from all his labor that he can carry in his hand.

¹⁷ This also is a grievous evil—exactly as he was born, so he shall die. So what advantage has he who labors for the wind?

¹⁸ All of his life he also eats in darkness [cheerlessly, without sweetness and light], with great frustration, sickness, and anger.

¹⁹ Behold, here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat and drink, and to find enjoyment in all the labor in which he labors under the sun during the few days of his life which God gives him—for this is his [allotted] reward.

²⁰ Also, every man to whom God has given riches and possessions, He has also given the power and ability to enjoy them and to receive [this as] his [allotted] portion and to rejoice in his labor—this is the gift of God [to him].

²¹ For he will not often consider the [troubled] days of his life, because God keeps him occupied and focused on the joy of his heart [and the tranquility of God indwells him].

²² There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it weighs heavily on men:

²³ a man to whom God has given riches and wealth and honor, so that he lacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God has not given him the power or capacity to enjoy them [all those things which are gifts from God], but a stranger [in whom he has no interest succeeds him and] enjoys them. This is vanity and it is a [cause of] great distress.

²⁴ If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, however many they may be, but his soul is not satisfied with good things and he is not respected and is not given a proper burial [he is not laid to rest in the sepulcher of his fathers], then I say, "Better the miscarriage than he,

²⁵ for the miscarriage comes in futility (in vain) and passes into obscurity; and its name is covered in obscurity.

²⁶ It has not seen the sun nor had any knowledge; yet it has more rest and is better off than he.

²⁷ Even if the other man lives a thousand years twice over and yet has seen no good and experienced no enjoyment—do not both go to one place [the grave]?"

²⁸ All the labor of man is for his mouth [for self-preservation and enjoyment], and yet the desire [of his soul] is not satisfied.

²⁹ For what advantage has the wise man over the fool [for being worldly-wise is not the secret to happiness]? What advantage has the poor man who has learned how to walk [publicly] among the living [with men's eyes on him; for being poor is not the secret to happiness either]?

³⁰ What the eyes see [enjoying what is available] is better than [craving] what the soul desires. This too is futility and chasing after the wind.

³¹ Whatever exists has already been named [long ago], and it is known what [a frail being] man is; for he cannot dispute with Him who is mightier than he.

³² For there are many other words that increase futility. What then is the advantage for a man?

³³ For who [[1] limited by human wisdom] knows what is good for man during his lifetime, during the few days of his futile life? He spends them like a shadow [staying busy, but achieving nothing of lasting value]. For who can tell a man what will happen after him [to his work, his treasure, his plans] under the sun [after his life is over]?

#	AMP
1	There is no end to all the people; to all who were before them. Yet those who come later will not be happy with him. Surely this also is vanity (emptiness) and chasing after the wind.
2	Guard your steps and focus on what you are doing as you go to the house of God and draw near to listen rather than to offer the [careless or irreverent] sacrifice of fools; for they are too ignorant to know they are doing evil.
3	Do not be hasty with your mouth [speaking careless words or vows] or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter before God. For God is in heaven and you are on earth; therefore let your words be few.
4	For the dream comes through much effort, and the voice of the fool through many words.
5	When you make a vow or a pledge to God, do not put off paying it; for God takes no pleasure in fools [who thoughtlessly mock Him]. Pay what you vow.
6	It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay.
7	Do not allow your speech to cause you to sin, and do not say before the messenger (priest) of God that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry because of your voice (words) and destroy the work of your hands?
8	For in a multitude of dreams and in a flood of words there is worthlessness. Rather [reverently] fear God [and worship Him with awe-filled respect, knowing who He is].
9	If you see the oppression of the poor and the denial of justice and righteousness in the province, do not be shocked at the sight [of corruption]; for a higher official watches over another official, and there are higher ones over them [looking out for one another].
10	After all, a king who cultivates the field is an advantage to the land.
11	He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its gain. This too is vanity (emptiness).
12	When good things increase, those who consume them increase. So what advantage is there to their owners except to see them with their eyes?
13	The sleep of a working man is sweet, whether he eats little or much; but the full stomach (greed) of the rich [who hungers for even more] will not let him sleep.
14	There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: riches being kept and hoarded by their owner to his own misery.
15	For when those riches are lost in bad investments and he becomes the father of a son, then there is nothing in his hand [for the support of the child].
16	As he came naked from his mother's womb, so he will return as he came; and he will take away nothing from all his labor that he can carry in his hand.
17	This also is a grievous evil—exactly as he was born, so he shall die. So what advantage has he who labors for the wind?
18	All of his life he also eats in darkness [cheerlessly, without sweetness and light], with great frustration, sickness, and anger.
19	Behold, here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat and drink, and to find enjoyment in all the labor in which he labors under the sun during the few days of his life which God gives him—for this is his [allotted] reward.
20	Also, every man to whom God has given riches and possessions, He has also given the power and ability to enjoy them and to receive [this as] his [allotted] portion and to rejoice in his labor—this is the gift of God [to him].
21	For he will not often consider the [troubled] days of his life, because God keeps him occupied and focused on the joy of his heart [and the tranquility of God indwells him].
22	There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it weighs heavily on men:
23	a man to whom God has given riches and wealth and honor, so that he lacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God has not given him the power or capacity to enjoy them [all those things which are gifts from God], but a stranger [in whom he has no interest succeeds him and] enjoys them. This is vanity and it is a [cause of] great distress.
24	If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, however many they may be, but his soul is not satisfied with good things and he is not respected and is not given a proper burial [he is not laid to rest in the sepulcher of his fathers], then I say, "Better the miscarriage than he,
25	for the miscarriage comes in futility (in vain) and passes into obscurity; and its name is covered in obscurity.
26	It has not seen the sun nor had any knowledge; yet it has more rest and is better off than he.
27	Even if the other man lives a thousand years twice over and yet has seen no good and experienced no enjoyment—do not both go to one place [the grave]?"
28	All the labor of man is for his mouth [for self-preservation and enjoyment], and yet the desire [of his soul] is not satisfied.
29	For what advantage has the wise man over the fool [for being worldly-wise is not the secret to happiness]? What advantage has the poor man who has learned how to walk [publicly] among the living [with men's eyes on him; for being poor is not the secret to happiness either]?
30	What the eyes see [enjoying what is available] is better than [craving] what the soul desires. This too is futility and chasing after the wind.
31	Whatever exists has already been named [long ago], and it is known what [a frail being] man is; for he cannot dispute with Him who is mightier than he.
32	For there are many other words that increase futility. What then is the advantage for a man?
33	For who [[1] limited by human wisdom] knows what is good for man during his lifetime, during the few days of his futile life? He spends them like a shadow [staying busy, but achieving nothing of lasting value]. For who can tell a man what will happen after him [to his work, his treasure, his plans] under the sun [after his life is over]?

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