1:1 THE PROVERBS (truths obscurely expressed, maxims, and parables) of Solomon son of David, king of Israel: |
1:2 That people may know skillful {and} godly Wisdom and instruction, discern {and} comprehend the words of understanding {and} insight, |
1:3 Receive instruction in wise dealing {and} the discipline of wise thoughtfulness, righteousness, justice, and integrity, |
1:4 That prudence may be given to the simple, and knowledge, discretion, {and} discernment to the youth-- |
1:5 The wise also will hear and increase in learning, and the person of understanding will acquire skill {and} attain to sound counsel [so that he may be able to steer his course rightly]-- |
1:6 That people may understand a proverb and a figure of speech {or} an enigma with its interpretation, and the words of the wise and their dark sayings {or} riddles. |
1:7 The reverent {and} worshipful fear of the Lord is the beginning {and} the principal {and} choice part of knowledge [its starting point and its essence]; but fools despise skillful {and} godly Wisdom, instruction, {and} discipline. |
1:8 My son, hear the instruction of your father; reject not {nor} forsake the teaching of your mother. |
1:9 For they are a [victor's] chaplet (garland) of grace upon your head and chains {and} pendants [of gold worn by kings] for 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 [to shed] blood, let us ambush the innocent without cause [and show that his piety is in vain]; |
1:12 Let us swallow them up alive as does Sheol (the place of the dead), and whole, as those who go down into the pit [of the dead]; |
1:13 We shall find {and} take all kinds of precious goods [when our victims are put out of the way], we shall fill our houses with plunder; |
1:14 Throw in your lot with us [they insist] {and} be a sworn brother {and} comrade; let us all have one purse in common-- |
1:15 My son, do not walk in the way with them; restrain your foot from their path; |
1:16 For their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood. |
1:17 For in vain is the net spread in the sight of any bird! |
1:18 But [when these men set a trap for others] they are lying in wait for their own blood; they set an ambush for their own lives. |
1:19 So are the ways of everyone who is greedy of gain; such [greed for plunder] takes away the lives of its possessors. |
1:20 Wisdom cries aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the markets; |
1:21 She cries at the head of the noisy intersections [in the chief gathering places]; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks: |
1:22 How long, O simple ones [open to evil], will you love being simple? And the scoffers delight in scoffing and [self-confident] fools hate knowledge? |
1:23 If you will turn (repent) {and} give heed to my reproof, behold, I [Wisdom] will pour out my spirit upon you, I will make my words known to you. |
1:24 Because I have called and you have refused [to answer], have stretched out my hand and no man has heeded it, |
1:25 And you treated as nothing all my counsel and would accept none of my reproof, |
1:26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when the thing comes that shall cause you terror {and} panic-- |
1:27 When your panic comes as a storm {and} desolation and your calamity comes on as a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you. |
1:28 Then will they call upon me [Wisdom] but I will not answer; they will seek me early {and} diligently but they will not find me. |
1:29 Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the reverent {and} worshipful fear of the Lord, |
1:30 Would accept none of my counsel, and despised all my reproof, |
1:31 Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way and be satiated with their own devices. |
1:32 For the backsliding of the simple shall slay them, and the careless ease of [self-confident] fools shall destroy them. |
1:33 But whoso hearkens to me [Wisdom] shall dwell securely {and} in confident trust and shall be quiet, without fear {or} dread of evil. |