Old Testament
The Book of Proverbs
The Book of Proverbs is the twenty-second of the 46 books of the Old Testament: 31 chapters and 915 verses.
About Proverbs
About Proverbs · Wisdom sayings
Proverbs is a training manual in practical wisdom: short sayings about speech, money, work, anger, friendship, and the fear of the Lord that begins all understanding. Tradition places Solomon at its head, and the book itself gathers several named collections compiled over a long period. It was written to form the young — its opening chapters are a father pleading with a son — on the conviction that daily choices, repeated, become a life. Its portrait of Wisdom calling in the streets prepared the Church to recognize Christ as the Wisdom of God.
| Testament | Old Testament — book 22 of 46, 22 of 73 in the Bible |
|---|---|
| Canon | Protocanonical (in every Christian canon) |
| Chapters | 31 |
| Verses | 915, as Bless numbers them |
| Latin | Clementine Vulgate, every chapter |
| Bp. Challoner | Summaries of 12 of 31 chapters · 11 notes |
| Catechism | 11 paragraphs cite it |
Chapter by chapter
All 31 chapters, in brief.
Bishop Richard Challoner’s summary of each chapter, from his revision of the Douay-Rheims (1749–52). Open a chapter for the full text.
Proverbs 1
33 versesThe use and end of the proverbs. An exhortation to flee the company of the wicked: and to hearken to the voice of wisdom.
Proverbs 2
22 versesThe advantages of wisdom: and the evils from which it delivers.
Proverbs 3
35 versesAn exhortation to the practice of virtue.
Proverbs 4
27 versesA further exhortation to seek after wisdom.
Proverbs 5
23 versesAn exhortation to fly unlawful lust, and the occasions of it.
Proverbs 6
35 versesDocuments on several heads.
Proverbs 7
27 versesThe love of wisdom is the best preservative from being led astray by temptation.
Proverbs 8
36 versesThe preaching of wisdom. Her excellence.
Proverbs 9
18 versesWisdom invites all to her feast. Folly calls another way.
Proverbs 10
32 versesIn the twenty following chapters are contained many wise sayings and axioms, relating to wisdom and folly, virtue and vice.
Proverbs 11
31 versesNo summary from Challoner.
Proverbs 12
28 versesNo summary from Challoner.
Proverbs 13
25 versesNo summary from Challoner.
Proverbs 14
35 versesNo summary from Challoner.
Proverbs 15
33 versesNo summary from Challoner.
Proverbs 16
33 versesNo summary from Challoner.
Proverbs 17
28 versesNo summary from Challoner.
Proverbs 18
24 versesNo summary from Challoner.
Proverbs 19
29 versesNo summary from Challoner.
Proverbs 20
30 versesNo summary from Challoner.
Proverbs 21
31 versesNo summary from Challoner.
Proverbs 22
29 versesNo summary from Challoner.
Proverbs 23
35 versesNo summary from Challoner.
Proverbs 24
34 versesNo summary from Challoner.
Proverbs 25
28 versesNo summary from Challoner.
Proverbs 26
28 versesNo summary from Challoner.
Proverbs 27
27 versesNo summary from Challoner.
Proverbs 28
28 versesNo summary from Challoner.
Proverbs 29
27 versesNo summary from Challoner.
Proverbs 30
33 versesThe wise man thinketh humbly of himself. His prayer and sentiments upon certain virtues and vices.
Proverbs 31
31 versesAn exhortation to chastity, temperance, and works of mercy; with the praise of a wise woman.
Bp. Richard Challoner · chapter summaries
In the comments
What the saints said.
4 quotations from 4 saints linked to passages of Proverbs in Bless. Each names the work it comes from.
St. Bede the Venerable · on Proverbs 3:5
Attributed
Unfurl the sails, and let God steer us where He will.
Popular saying, source unconfirmed
St. Benedict of Nursia · on Proverbs 4:20
On this theme
Listen, my son, to the precepts of your master, and incline the ear of your heart.
Rule of St. Benedict, prologue, c. 530
St. Philip Neri · on Proverbs 17:22
On this theme
A joyful heart is more easily made perfect than a downcast one.
Maxims, 16th c.
St. Ambrose · on Proverbs 19:17
On this theme
You are not making a gift of your possessions to the poor person. You are handing over to him what is his.
On Naboth, 12, c. 389
Coming up
Read at Mass.
From October 29, 2026 to October 28, 2027, Proverbs is read at the principal Mass on 1 day in the US calendar. The next 5 readings:
| Date | Celebration | Reading | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time | First Reading | Proverbs 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31 | |
| computed | The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity | First Reading | Proverbs 8:22-31 |
| computed | Monday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time | First Reading | Proverbs 3:27-34 |
| computed | Tuesday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time | First Reading | Proverbs 21:1-6, 10-13 |
| computed | St. Vincent de Paul, Priest | First Reading | Proverbs 30:5-9 |
No more readings are listed here; the liturgical calendar has every date through December 31, 2028.
Citations as published in the USCCB liturgical calendar (principal Mass, first option). Dates after May 31, 2027 are computed by Bless from the US Lectionary cycle — confirm with your parish.