Chapter Text
1:1 The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel:
1:2 To know wisdom and discipline, To understand the sayings of understanding,
1:3 To receive discipline that leads to insight, Righteousness, justice, and equity,
1:4 To give prudence to the simple, To the youth knowledge and discretion;
1:5 Let the wise man hear and increase in learning, And a man of understanding will acquire guidance,
1:6 To understand a proverb and an enigma, The words of the wise and their riddles.
1:7 The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of knowledge; Ignorant fools despise wisdom and discipline.
1:8 Hear, my son, your father’s discipline And do not abandon your mother’s instruction;
1:9 For they are a garland of grace for your head And ornaments about your neck.
1:10 My son, if sinners entice you, Do not be willing.
1:11 If they say, “Come with us, Let us lie in wait for blood, Let us ambush the innocent without cause;
1:12 Let us swallow them alive like Sheol, And whole, as those who go down to the pit;
1:13 We will find all kinds of precious wealth, We will fill our houses with spoil;
1:14 Cast in your lot with us, We shall all have one purse,”
1:15 My son, do not walk in the way with them. Withhold your feet from their pathway,
1:16 For their feet run to evil And they hasten to shed blood.
1:17 For it is no use that a net is spread In the sight of any bird;
1:18 But they lie in wait for their own blood; They ambush their own lives.
1:19 So are the paths of everyone who is greedy for gain; It takes away the life of its possessors.
1:20 Wisdom shouts in the street, She gives forth her voice in the square;
1:21 At the head of the noisy streets she calls out; At the entrance of the gates in the city she utters her sayings:
1:22 “How long, O simple ones, will you love simplicity? And scoffers delight in scoffing And fools hate knowledge?
1:23 Turn to my reproof, Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you.
1:24 Because I called and you refused, I stretched out my hand and no one paid attention;
1:25 And you neglected all my counsel And were not willing to accept my reproof;
1:26 I will also laugh at your disaster; I will mock when your dread comes,
1:27 When your dread comes like a storm And your disaster 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 earnestly but they will not find me,
1:29 Because they hated knowledge And did not choose the fear of Yahweh.
1:30 They were not willing to accept my counsel, They spurned all my reproof.
1:31 So they shall eat of the fruit of their way And be satisfied with their own devices.
1:32 For the turning away of the simple will kill them, And the complacency of fools will destroy them.
1:33 But he who listens to me shall dwell securely And will be at ease from the dread of evil.”