21 My son, do not lose sight of these—
keep sound wisdom and discretion,
22 and they will be life for your soul
and adornment for your neck.
23 Then you will walk on your way securely,
and your foot will not stumble.
24 If you lie down, you will not be afraid;
when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.
25 Do not be afraid of sudden terror
or of the ruin[d] of the wicked, when it comes,
26 for the Lord will be your confidence
and will keep your foot from being caught.
27 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,[e]
when it is in your power to do it.
28 Do not say to your neighbour, “Go, and come again,
tomorrow I will give it”—when you have it with you.
29 Do not plan evil against your neighbour,
who dwells trustingly beside you.
30 Do not contend with a man for no reason,
when he has done you no harm.
31 Do not envy a man of violence
and do not choose any of his ways,
32 for the devious person is an abomination to the Lord,
but the upright are in his confidence.
33 The Lord's curse is on the house of the wicked,
but he blesses the dwelling of the righteous.
34 Towards the scorners he is scornful,
but to the humble he gives favour.[f]
35 The wise will inherit honour,
but fools get[g] disgrace.
The 'them' in 21 refers back to the 'wisdom, understanding and knowledge' in 19, 20, which speak of 'cosmic wisdom'. There is an important association of ideas here. Wisdom is 'walking with God' (23, 26) and this wisdom, or shrewdness, is something that comes from Him Who founded the earth. It is that cosmic wisdom that comes to us in walking with Him, mediated and distilled through the fellowship of the Spirit, to take possession of our hearts and souls. The fruit of this will be life and grace (22), that is, vi- tality and adornment. The combination of ideas here is significant. Sometimes in human experience the two qualities become divorced from one another. There is a kind of 'gra- ciousness' that is almost flabby and 'wet'; it tends to 'drip', but this is not the biblical brand and should not be mistaken for it. True biblical graciousness or adornment has a strong and living quality about it, a pulse of vitality. It needs to be strong, because as 23 suggests and implies, the believer walks in the midst of difficulty. One does not speak of safety except in the context of danger, or of stumbling except in the context of the pres- ence of obstacles. Life is no bed of roses, the writer implies, there are hazards and dan- gers at many points, but the man who walks in wisdom walks safely and his foot does not stumble, however many obstacles there may be.