1 The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel: | |
2 To know wisdom and instruction,
To discern the sayings of understanding, | |
3 To receive instruction in wise behavior,
Righteousness, justice and equity; | |
4 To give prudence to thea Lit simple onesnaive,
To the youth knowledge and discretion, | |
5 A wise man will hear and increase in learning,
And a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel, | |
6 To understand a proverb and a figure,
The words of the wise and their riddles. | |
7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge;
Fools despise wisdom and instruction. | |
8 Hear, my son, your father’s instruction
And do not forsake your mother’s teaching; | |
9 Indeed, they are a graceful wreath to your head
Andb Lit necklacesornaments 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 ambush the innocent without cause; | |
12 Let us swallow them alive like Sheol,
Even whole, as those who go down to the pit; | |
13 We will find all kinds of precious wealth,
We will fill our houses with spoil; | |
14 Throw in your lotc Lit in the midst of uswith us,
We shall all have one purse,” | |
15 My son, do not walk in the way with them.
Keep your feet from their path, | |
16 For their feet run to evil
And they hasten to shed blood. | |
17 Indeed, it isd Lit in vainuseless to spread the baited net
In the sight of anye Lit possessor of wingbird; | |
18 But they lie in wait for their own blood;
They ambush their own lives. | |
19 So are the ways of everyone who gains by violence;
It takes away the life of its possessors. | |
20 Wisdom shouts in the street,
Shef Lit giveslifts her voice in the square; | |
21 At the head of the noisy streets she cries out;
At the entrance of the gates in the city she utters her sayings: | |
22 “How long, Og Lit simple onesnaive ones, will you loveh Or naivetebeing simple-minded?
And scoffers delight themselves in scoffing
And fools hate knowledge? | |
23 “Turn to my reproof,
Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you;
I will make my words known to you. | |
24 “Because I called and you refused,
I stretched out my hand and no one paid attention; | |
25 And you neglected all my counsel
And did not want my reproof; | |
26 I will also laugh at your calamity;
I will mock when your dread comes, | |
27 When your dread comes like a storm
And your calamity comes like 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 the LORD. | |
30 “They would not accept my counsel,
They spurned all my reproof. | |
31 “So they shall eat of the fruit of their own way
And be satiated with their own devices. | |
32 “For the waywardness of thei Lit simple onesnaive will kill them,
And the complacency of fools will destroy them. | |
33 “But he who listens to me shallj Lit dwelllive securely
And will be at ease from the dread of evil.” | |
