1 The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel: |
2 To know wisdom and instruction, To perceive the words of understanding, |
3 To receive the instruction of wisdom, Justice, judgment, and equity; |
4 To give prudence to the simple, To the young man knowledge and discretion-- |
5 A wise man will hear and increase learning, And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel, |
6 To understand a proverb and an enigma, The words of the wise and their riddles. |
7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, But fools 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 will be a graceful ornament on 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 to shed blood; Let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause; |
12 Let us swallow them alive like Sheol, And whole, like those who go down to the Pit; |
13 We shall find all kinds of precious possessions, We shall fill our houses with spoil; |
14 Cast in your lot among us, Let us all have one purse"-- |
15 My son, do not walk in the way with them, Keep your foot from their path; |
16 For their feet run to evil, And they make haste to shed blood. |
17 Surely, in vain the net is spread In the sight of any bird; |
18 But they lie in wait for their own blood, They lurk secretly for their own lives. |
19 So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain; It takes away the life of its owners. |
20 Wisdom calls aloud outside; She raises her voice in the open squares. |
21 She cries out in the chief concourses, At the openings of the gates in the city She speaks her words: |
22 "How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? For scorners delight in their scorning, And fools hate knowledge. |
23 Turn at my rebuke; Surely I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you. |
24 Because I have called and you refused, I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded, |
25 Because you disdained all my counsel, And would have none of my rebuke, |
26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your terror comes, |
27 When your terror comes like a storm, And your destruction 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 have none of my counsel And despised my every rebuke. |
31 Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way, And be filled to the full with their own fancies. |
32 For the turning away of the simple will slay them, And the complacency of fools will destroy them; |
33 But whoever listens to me will dwell safely, And will be secure, without fear of evil." |