1:1  The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel:

1:2  To know wisdom and instruction,
To perceive the words of understanding,

1:3  To receive the instruction of wisdom,
Justice, judgment, and equity;

1:4  To give prudence to the simple,
To the young man knowledge and discretion—

1:5  A wise man will hear and increase learning,
And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel,

1:6  To understand a proverb and an enigma,
The words of the wise and their riddles.

1:7  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,
But fools despise wisdom and instruction.

1:8  My son, hear the instruction of your father,
And do not forsake the law of your mother;

1:9  For they will be a graceful ornament on your head,
And chains 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 to shed blood;
Let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause;

1:12  Let us swallow them alive like Sheol,
And whole, like those who go down to the Pit;

1:13  We shall find all kinds of precious possessions,
We shall fill our houses with spoil;

1:14  Cast in your lot among us,
Let us all have one purse"

1:15  My son, do not walk in the way with them,
Keep your foot from their path;

1:16  For their feet run to evil,
And they make haste to shed blood.

1:17  Surely, in vain the net is spread
In the sight of any bird;

1:18  But they lie in wait for their own blood,
They lurk secretly for their own lives.

1:19  So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain;
It takes away the life of its owners.

1:20  Wisdom calls aloud outside;
She raises her voice in the open squares.

1:21  She cries out in the chief concourses,
At the openings of the gates in the city
She speaks her words:

1:22  " How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity?
For scorners delight in their scorning,
And fools hate knowledge.

1:23  Turn at my rebuke;
Surely I will pour out my spirit on you;
I will make my words known to you.

1:24  Because I have called and you refused,
I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded,

1:25  Because you disdained all my counsel,
And would have none of my rebuke,

1:26  I also will laugh at your calamity;
I will mock when your terror comes,

1:27  When your terror comes like a storm,
And your destruction 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 have none of my counsel
And despised my every rebuke.

1:31  Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way,
And be filled to the full with their own fancies.

1:32  For the turning away of the simple will slay them,
And the complacency of fools will destroy them;

1:33  But whoever listens to me will dwell safely,
And will be secure, without fear of evil.”