--- title: "Book of Proverbs: Summary & All 31 Chapters · Bless" url: https://blessbible.app/bible/proverbs/ description: "The Book of Proverbs, a book of wisdom sayings in 31 chapters. Bp. Challoner’s summary of 12 of its 31 chapters, and the full text free." --- 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. [Start reading: Proverbs 1](https://blessbible.app/bible/proverbs/1/) Chapters 1–31: [1](https://blessbible.app/bible/proverbs/1/) … [31](https://blessbible.app/bible/proverbs/31/) ## 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. *Proverbs in Bless* | | | |---|---| | 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. 1. ### [Proverbs 1](https://blessbible.app/bible/proverbs/1/) 33 verses The use and end of the proverbs. An exhortation to flee the company of the wicked: and to hearken to the voice of wisdom. 2. ### [Proverbs 2](https://blessbible.app/bible/proverbs/2/) 22 verses The advantages of wisdom: and the evils from which it delivers. 3. ### [Proverbs 3](https://blessbible.app/bible/proverbs/3/) 35 verses An exhortation to the practice of virtue. 4. ### [Proverbs 4](https://blessbible.app/bible/proverbs/4/) 27 verses A further exhortation to seek after wisdom. 5. ### [Proverbs 5](https://blessbible.app/bible/proverbs/5/) 23 verses An exhortation to fly unlawful lust, and the occasions of it. 6. ### [Proverbs 6](https://blessbible.app/bible/proverbs/6/) 35 verses Documents on several heads. 7. ### [Proverbs 7](https://blessbible.app/bible/proverbs/7/) 27 verses The love of wisdom is the best preservative from being led astray by temptation. 8. ### [Proverbs 8](https://blessbible.app/bible/proverbs/8/) 36 verses The preaching of wisdom. Her excellence. 9. ### [Proverbs 9](https://blessbible.app/bible/proverbs/9/) 18 verses Wisdom invites all to her feast. Folly calls another way. 10. ### [Proverbs 10](https://blessbible.app/bible/proverbs/10/) 32 verses In the twenty following chapters are contained many wise sayings and axioms, relating to wisdom and folly, virtue and vice. 11. ### [Proverbs 11](https://blessbible.app/bible/proverbs/11/) 31 verses No summary from Challoner. 12. ### [Proverbs 12](https://blessbible.app/bible/proverbs/12/) 28 verses No summary from Challoner. 13. ### [Proverbs 13](https://blessbible.app/bible/proverbs/13/) 25 verses No summary from Challoner. 14. ### [Proverbs 14](https://blessbible.app/bible/proverbs/14/) 35 verses No summary from Challoner. 15. ### [Proverbs 15](https://blessbible.app/bible/proverbs/15/) 33 verses No summary from Challoner. 16. ### [Proverbs 16](https://blessbible.app/bible/proverbs/16/) 33 verses No summary from Challoner. 17. ### [Proverbs 17](https://blessbible.app/bible/proverbs/17/) 28 verses No summary from Challoner. 18. ### [Proverbs 18](https://blessbible.app/bible/proverbs/18/) 24 verses No summary from Challoner. 19. ### [Proverbs 19](https://blessbible.app/bible/proverbs/19/) 29 verses No summary from Challoner. 20. ### [Proverbs 20](https://blessbible.app/bible/proverbs/20/) 30 verses No summary from Challoner. 21. ### [Proverbs 21](https://blessbible.app/bible/proverbs/21/) 31 verses No summary from Challoner. 22. ### [Proverbs 22](https://blessbible.app/bible/proverbs/22/) 29 verses No summary from Challoner. 23. ### [Proverbs 23](https://blessbible.app/bible/proverbs/23/) 35 verses No summary from Challoner. 24. ### [Proverbs 24](https://blessbible.app/bible/proverbs/24/) 34 verses No summary from Challoner. 25. ### [Proverbs 25](https://blessbible.app/bible/proverbs/25/) 28 verses No summary from Challoner. 26. ### [Proverbs 26](https://blessbible.app/bible/proverbs/26/) 28 verses No summary from Challoner. 27. ### [Proverbs 27](https://blessbible.app/bible/proverbs/27/) 27 verses No summary from Challoner. 28. ### [Proverbs 28](https://blessbible.app/bible/proverbs/28/) 28 verses No summary from Challoner. 29. ### [Proverbs 29](https://blessbible.app/bible/proverbs/29/) 27 verses No summary from Challoner. 30. ### [Proverbs 30](https://blessbible.app/bible/proverbs/30/) 33 verses The wise man thinketh humbly of himself. His prayer and sentiments upon certain virtues and vices. 31. ### [Proverbs 31](https://blessbible.app/bible/proverbs/31/) 31 verses An 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](https://blessbible.app/saints/st-bede-the-venerable/) · on [Proverbs 3:5](https://blessbible.app/bible/proverbs/3/#v5) Attributed > Unfurl the sails, and let God steer us where He will. Popular saying, source unconfirmed [St. Benedict of Nursia](https://blessbible.app/saints/st-benedict-of-nursia/) · on [Proverbs 4:20](https://blessbible.app/bible/proverbs/4/#v20) 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](https://blessbible.app/saints/st-philip-neri/) · on [Proverbs 17:22](https://blessbible.app/bible/proverbs/17/#v22) On this theme > A joyful heart is more easily made perfect than a downcast one. Maxims, 16th c. [St. Ambrose](https://blessbible.app/saints/st-ambrose/) · on [Proverbs 19:17](https://blessbible.app/bible/proverbs/19/#v17) 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 | |---|---|---|---| | [Sun, Nov 15, 2026](https://blessbible.app/calendar/2026/11/15/) | Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time | First Reading | [Proverbs 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31](https://blessbible.app/bible/proverbs/31/) | | [Sun, Jun 11, 2028](https://blessbible.app/calendar/2028/06/11/) computed | The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity | First Reading | [Proverbs 8:22-31](https://blessbible.app/bible/proverbs/8/) | | [Mon, Sep 25, 2028](https://blessbible.app/calendar/2028/09/25/) computed | Monday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time | First Reading | [Proverbs 3:27-34](https://blessbible.app/bible/proverbs/3/) | | [Tue, Sep 26, 2028](https://blessbible.app/calendar/2028/09/26/) computed | Tuesday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time | First Reading | [Proverbs 21:1-6, 10-13](https://blessbible.app/bible/proverbs/21/) | | [Wed, Sep 27, 2028](https://blessbible.app/calendar/2028/09/27/) computed | St. Vincent de Paul, Priest | First Reading | [Proverbs 30:5-9](https://blessbible.app/bible/proverbs/30/) | 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. [Previous book The Psalms](https://blessbible.app/bible/psalms/) [Next book The Book of Ecclesiastes](https://blessbible.app/bible/ecclesiastes/)