This wisdom literature is built in structured language. All such writing is, in English, bulked under the often misunderstood title poetry. Most young guys hear “romance” and “rhyming” when that word comes up. But that is not what they were thinking, nor how they structured this wisdom.

Instead you’ll see wisdom grouped, usually paired up – “Hear, my son, the instruction of your father, And leave not the law of your mother”. These not only help to identify each nugget of wisdom, but will often bring extra clarity to the thought. (Chapter and verse numbering was added later for ease in finding a reference, but sometimes confuses the thought.) An attempt has been made to capitalize the first letter of the first word of each half of a proverb, first and second.