Proverbs 1
1 The wise sayings of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel.
The Proverbs of Solomon son of David, who reigned in Israel;
2 To have knowledge of wise teaching; to be clear about the words of reason:
to know wisdom and instruction, and to perceive words of understanding;
3 To be trained in the ways of wisdom, in righteousness and judging truly and straight behaviour:
to receive also hard saying, and to understand true justice, and [how] to direct judgment;
4 To make the simple-minded sharp, and to give the young man knowledge, and serious purpose:
that he might give subtlety to the simple, and to the young man discernment and understanding.
5 (The wise man, hearing, will get greater learning, and the acts of the man of good sense will be wisely guided: )
For by the hearing of these a wise man will be wiser, and man of understanding will gain direction;
6 To get the sense of wise sayings and secrets, and of the words of the wise and their dark sayings.
and will understand a parable, and a dark speech; the saying of the wise also, and riddles.
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 wisdom; and [there is] good understanding to all that practise it: and piety toward God is the beginning of discernment; but the ungodly will set at nought wisdom and instruction.
8 My son, give ear to the training of your father, and do not give up the teaching of your mother:
Hear, [my] son, the instruction of thy father, and reject not the rules of thy mother.
9 For they will be a crown of grace for your head, and chain-ornaments about your neck.
For thou shalt receive for thine head a crown of graces, and a chain of gold round thy neck.
10 My son, if sinners would take you out of the right way, do not go with them.
[My] son, let not ungodly men lead thee astray, neither consent thou [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 should exhort thee, saying, Come with us, partake in blood, and let us unjustly hide the just man in the earth:
12 Let us overcome them living, like the underworld, and in their strength, as those who go down to death; (Sheol h7585)
and let us swallow him alive, as Hades [would], and remove the memorial of him from the earth: (Sheol h7585)
13 Goods of great price will be ours, our houses will be full of wealth;
let us seize on his valuable property, and let us fill our houses with spoils:
14 Take your chance with us, and we will all have one money-bag:
but do thou cast in thy lot with us, and let us all provide a common purse, and let us have one pouch:
15 My son, do not go with them; keep your feet from their ways:
go not in the way with them, but turn aside thy foot from their paths:
16 For their feet are running after evil, and they are quick to take a man's life.
[For their feet run to do evil, and are swift to shed blood. ]
17 Truly, to no purpose is the net stretched out before the eyes of the bird:
for nets are not without cause spread for birds.
18 And they are secretly waiting for their blood and making ready destruction for themselves.
For they that are concerned in murder store up evils for themselves; and the overthrow of transgressors is evil.
19 Such is the fate of everyone who goes in search of profit; it takes away the life of its owners.
These are the ways of all that perform lawless deeds; for by ungodliness they destroy their own life.
20 Wisdom is crying out in the street; her voice is loud in the open places;
Wisdom sings aloud in passages, and in the broad places speaks boldly.
21 Her words are sounding in the meeting-places, and in the doorways of the town:
And she makes proclamation on the top of the walls, and sits by the gates of princes; and at the gates of the city boldly says,
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?
So long as the simple cleave to justice, they shall not be ashamed: but the foolish being lovers of haughtiness, having become ungodly have hated knowledge, and are become subject to reproofs.
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.
Behold, I will bring forth to you the utterance of my breath, and I will instruct you in my speech.
24 Because your ears were shut to my voice; no one gave attention to my out-stretched hand;
Since I called, and ye did not hearken; and I spoke at length, and ye gave no heed;
25 You were not controlled by my guiding, and would have nothing to do with my sharp words:
but ye set at nought my counsels, and disregarded my reproofs;
26 So in the day of your trouble I will be laughing; I will make sport of your fear;
therefore I also will laugh at your destruction; and I will rejoice against [you] when ruin comes upon 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.
yea when dismay suddenly comes upon you, and [your] overthrow shall arrive like a tempest; and when tribulation and distress shall come upon you, or when ruin shall come upon you.
28 Then I will give no answer to their cries; searching for me early, they will not see me:
For it shall be that when ye call upon me, I will not hearken to you: wicked men shall seek me, but shall 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 wisdom, and did not choose the word of the Lord:
30 They had no desire for my teaching, and my words of protest were as nothing to them.
neither would they attend to my counsels, but derided my reproofs.
31 So the fruit of their way will be their food, and with the designs of their hearts they will be made full.
Therefore shall they eat the fruits of their own way, and shall be filled with their own ungodliness.
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 because they wronged the simple, they shall be slain; and an inquisition shall ruin the ungodly.
33 But whoever gives ear to me will take his rest safely, living in peace without fear of evil.
But he that hearkens to me shall dwell in confidence, and shall rest securely from all evil.
