1:1 The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel: |
1:2 To know wisdom and instruction, To discern the sayings of understanding, |
1:3 To receive instruction in wise behavior, Righteousness, justice and equity; |
1:4 To give prudence to the naive, To the youth knowledge and discretion, |
1:5 A wise man will hear and increase in learning, And a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel, |
1:6 To understand a proverb and a figure, The words of the wise and their riddles. |
1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction. |
1:8 Hear, my son, your father's instruction And do not forsake your mother's teaching; |
1:9 Indeed, they are a graceful wreath to your head And ornaments about your neck. |
1:10 My son, if sinners entice you, Do not consent. |
1:11 If they say, "Come with us, Let us lie in wait for blood, Let us ambush the innocent without cause; |
1:12 Let us swallow them alive like Sheol, Even whole, as those who go down to the pit; |
1:13 We will find all {kinds} of precious wealth, We will fill our houses with spoil; |
1:14 Throw in your lot with us, We shall all have one purse," |
1:15 My son, do not walk in the way with them. Keep your feet from their path, |
1:16 For their feet run to evil And they hasten to shed blood. |
1:17 Indeed, it is useless to spread the {baited} net In the sight of any bird; |
1:18 But they lie in wait for their own blood; They ambush their own lives. |
1:19 So are the ways of everyone who gains by violence; It takes away the life of its possessors. |
1:20 Wisdom shouts in the street, She lifts her voice in the square; |
1:21 At the head of the noisy {streets} she cries out; At the entrance of the gates in the city she utters her sayings: |
1:22 "How long, O naive ones, will you love being simple-minded? And scoffers delight themselves in scoffing And fools hate knowledge? |
1:23 "Turn to my reproof, Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you. |
1:24 "Because I called and you refused, I stretched out my hand and no one paid attention; |
1:25 And you neglected all my counsel And did not want my reproof; |
1:26 I will also laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your dread comes, |
1:27 When your dread comes like a storm And your calamity comes like a whirlwind, When distress and anguish come upon you. |
1:28 "Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently but they will not find me, |
1:29 Because they hated knowledge And did not choose the fear of the LORD. |
1:30 "They would not accept my counsel, They spurned all my reproof. |
1:31 "So they shall eat of the fruit of their own way And be satiated with their own devices. |
1:32 "For the waywardness of the naive will kill them, And the complacency of fools will destroy them. |
1:33 "But he who listens to me shall live securely And will be at ease from the dread of evil." |