Proverbs 1
1 The wise sayings of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel.
These are the proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel,
2 To have knowledge of wise teaching; to be clear about the words of reason:
for gaining wisdom and discipline, for comprehending words of insight,
3 To be trained in the ways of wisdom, in righteousness and judging truly and straight behaviour:
and for receiving instruction in wise living and in righteousness, justice, and equity.
4 To make the simple-minded sharp, and to give the young man knowledge, and serious purpose:
To impart prudence to the simple and knowledge and discretion to the young,
5 (The wise man, hearing, will get greater learning, and the acts of the man of good sense will be wisely guided: )
let the wise listen and gain instruction, and the discerning acquire wise counsel
6 To get the sense of wise sayings and secrets, and of the words of the wise and their dark sayings.
by understanding the proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise.
7 The fear of the Lord is the start of knowledge: but the foolish have no use for wisdom and teaching.
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.
8 My son, give ear to the training of your father, and do not give up the teaching of your mother:
Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction, and do not forsake the teaching of your mother.
9 For they will be a crown of grace for your head, and chain-ornaments about your neck.
For they are a garland of grace on your head and a pendant around your neck.
10 My son, if sinners would take you out of the right way, do not go with them.
My son, if sinners entice you, do not yield to them.
11 If they say, Come with us; let us make designs against the good, waiting secretly for the upright, without cause;
If they say, “Come along, let us lie in wait for blood, let us ambush the innocent without cause,
12 Let us overcome them living, like the underworld, and in their strength, as those who go down to death; (Sheol h7585)
let us swallow them alive like Sheol, and whole like those descending into the Pit. (Sheol h7585)
13 Goods of great price will be ours, our houses will be full of wealth;
We will find all manner of precious goods; we will fill our houses with plunder.
14 Take your chance with us, and we will all have one money-bag:
Throw in your lot with us; let us all share one purse”—
15 My son, do not go with them; keep your feet from their ways:
my son, do not walk the road with them or set foot upon their path.
16 For their feet are running after evil, and they are quick to take a man's life.
For their feet run to evil, and they are swift to shed blood.
17 Truly, to no purpose is the net stretched out before the eyes of the bird:
How futile it is to spread the net where any bird can see it!
18 And they are secretly waiting for their blood and making ready destruction for themselves.
But they lie in wait for their own blood; they ambush their own lives.
19 Such is the fate of everyone who goes in search of profit; it takes away the life of its owners.
Such is the fate of all who are greedy, whose unjust gain takes the lives of its possessors.
20 Wisdom is crying out in the street; her voice is loud in the open places;
Wisdom calls out in the street, she lifts her voice in the square;
21 Her words are sounding in the meeting-places, and in the doorways of the town:
in the main concourse she cries aloud, at the city gates she makes her speech:
22 How long, you simple ones, will foolish things be dear to you? and pride a delight to the haters of authority? how long will the foolish go on hating knowledge?
“How long, O simple ones, will you love your simple ways? How long will scoffers delight in their scorn and fools hate knowledge?
23 Be turned again by my sharp words: see, I will send the flow of my spirit on you, and make my words clear to you.
If you had repented at my rebuke, then surely I would have poured out my spirit on you; I would have made my words known to you.
24 Because your ears were shut to my voice; no one gave attention to my out-stretched hand;
Because you refused my call, and no one took my outstretched hand,
25 You were not controlled by my guiding, and would have nothing to do with my sharp words:
because you neglected all my counsel, and wanted none of my correction,
26 So in the day of your trouble I will be laughing; I will make sport of your fear;
in turn I will mock your calamity; I will sneer when terror strikes you,
27 When your fear comes on you like a storm, and your trouble like a rushing wind; when pain and sorrow come on you.
when your dread comes like a storm, and your destruction like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish overwhelm you.
28 Then I will give no answer to their cries; searching for me early, they will not see me:
Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; they will earnestly seek me, but will not find me.
29 For they were haters of knowledge, and did not give their hearts to the fear of the Lord:
For they hated knowledge and chose not to fear the LORD.
30 They had no desire for my teaching, and my words of protest were as nothing to them.
They accepted none of my counsel; they despised all my reproof.
31 So the fruit of their way will be their food, and with the designs of their hearts they will be made full.
So they will eat the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
32 For the turning back of the simple from teaching will be the cause of their death, and the peace of the foolish will be their destruction.
For the waywardness of the simple will slay them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them.
33 But whoever gives ear to me will take his rest safely, living in peace without fear of evil.
But whoever listens to me will dwell in safety, secure from the fear of evil.”
