Proverbs 22:18 (WEB)

Passage

For it is a pleasant thing if you keep them within you, if all of them are ready on your lips.

Nearby Context

Proverbs 22:16 Whoever oppresses the poor for his own increase and whoever gives to the rich, both come to poverty.

Proverbs 22:17 Turn your ear, and listen to the words of the wise. Apply your heart to my teaching.

Proverbs 22:18 For it is a pleasant thing if you keep them within you, if all of them are ready on your lips.

Proverbs 22:19 I teach you today, even you, So that your trust may be in Yahweh.

Proverbs 22:20 Haven’t I written to you thirty excellent things of counsel and knowledge,

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "pleasant", "keep", "within", "ready", and "lips". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "pleasant" and "keep", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 17's "Turn your ear and listen to the..." into verse 19's "I teach you today even you So...", so "pleasant" and "keep" belong inside that flow. In Proverbs context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "pleasant" and "keep" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.