THE proverbs
1 The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel:
2 To know wisdom and instruction;
To discern the words of understanding;
3 To receive instruction in wise dealing,
In righteousness and justice and equity;
4 To give prudence to the simple,
To the young man knowledge and discretion:
5 That the wise man may hear, and increase in learning;
And that the man of understanding may acquire sound counsels:
6 To understand a proverb, and a figure,
The words of the wise, and their dark sayings.
7 The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of knowledge;
But the foolish despise wisdom and instruction.
8 My son, hear the instruction of your father,
And do not forsake the law of your mother:
9 For they shall be a garland of grace to your head,
And chains about your neck.
10 My son, if sinners entice you,
Do not consent.
11 If they say, Come with us,
Let us lie in wait for blood;
Let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause;
12 Let us swallow them up alive as Sheol,
And whole, as those who go down into the pit;
13 We shall find all precious substance;
We shall fill our houses with spoil;
14 You shall cast your lot among us;
We will all have one purse:
15 My son, do not walk in the way with them;
Refrain your foot from their path:
16 For their feet run to evil,
And they make haste to shed blood.
17 For in vain is the net spread
In the sight of any bird:
18 And these lie in wait for their own blood;
They lurk secretly for their own lives.
19 So are the ways of everyone who is greedy of gain;
It takes away the life of its owners.
20 Wisdom cries aloud in the street;
She utters her voice in the broad places;
21 She cries in the chief place of concourse;
At the entrance of the gates,
In the city, she utters her words:
22 How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity?
And scoffers delight themselves in scoffing,
And fools hate knowledge?
23 Turn at my reproof:
Behold, I will pour out my spirit upon you;
I will make known my words to you.
24 Because I have called, and you have refused;
I have stretched out my hand, and no man has regarded;
25 But you have neglected all my counsel,
And would have none of my reproof:
26 I also will laugh in the day of your calamity;
I will mock when your fear comes;
27 When your fear comes as a storm,
And your calamity comes on as a whirlwind;
When distress and anguish come upon you.
28 Then they will call on me, but I will not answer;
They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me:
29 Because they hated knowledge,
And did not choose the fear of Jehovah:
30 They would have none of my counsel;
They despised all my reproof.
31 Therefore they shall eat of the fruit of their own way,
And be filled with their own devices.
32 For the backsliding of the simple will slay them,
And the careless ease of fools will destroy them.
33 But whoever listens to me will dwell securely,
And will be at ease without fear of evil.