Proverbs 1
1 The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, the king of Israel:
The Proverbs of Solomon son of David, who reigned in Israel;
2 To know wisdom and instruction; to comprehend the sayings of understanding;
to know wisdom and instruction, and to perceive words of understanding;
3 To accept the instruction of intelligence, righteousness, and justice, and equity;
to receive also hard saying, and to understand true justice, and [how] to direct judgement;
4 To give to the simple prudence, to the youth knowledge and discretion.
that he might give subtlety to the simple, and to the young man discernment and understanding.
5 The wise will hear, and will increase [his] information; and the man of understanding will obtain wise counsels:
For by the hearing of these a wise man will be wiser, and man of understanding will gain direction;
6 To understand a proverb, and a sage sentence; the words of the wise, and their riddles.
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 beginning of knowledge: wisdom and instruction fools [alone] despise.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; and [there is] good understanding to all that practise it: and piety towards God is the beginning of discernment; but the ungodly will set at nothing wisdom and instruction.
8 Hear, my son, the instruction of thy father, and cast not off the teaching of thy mother;
Hear, [my] son, the instruction of your father, and reject not the rules of your mother.
9 For a wreath of grace are they unto thy head, and chains for thy throat.
For you shall receive for your head a crown of graces, and a chain of gold round your neck.
10 My son, if sinners wish to entice thee, consent thou not.
[My] son, let not ungodly men lead you astray, neither consent you [to them].
11 If they should say, Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood, let us watch in concealment for the uselessly innocent;
If they should exhort you, saying, Come with us, partake in blood, and let us unjustly hide the just man in the earth:
12 We will swallow them up like the grave alive; and the men of integrity, as those that go down into the pit; (Sheol h7585)
and let us swallow him alive, as Hades [would], and remove the memorial of him from the earth: (Sheol h7585)
13 We shall find all [kinds of] precious wealth, we will fill our houses with booty;
let us seize on his valuable property, and let us fill our houses with spoils:
14 Thy lot must thou cast in our midst; one purse shall be for us all:
but do you cast in your lot with us, and let us all provide a common purse, and let us have one pouch:
15 My son, walk not thou on the way with them; withhold thy foot from their path;
go not in the way with them, but turn aside your foot from their paths:
16 For their feet run after evil, and they make haste to shed blood.
[For their feet run to do evil, and are swift to shed blood. ]
17 For uselessly is the net spread out before the eyes of every winged bird:
for nets are not without cause spread for birds.
18 While they lie in wait for their [own] blood; they watch in concealment for their [own] lives.
For they that are concerned in murder store up evils for themselves; and the overthrow of transgressors is evil.
19 So are the paths of every one that is greedy after [unlawful] gain; it taketh away the life of those that own it.
These are the ways of all that perform lawless deeds; for by ungodliness they destroy their own life.
20 Wisdom crieth loudly without; in the public places she uttereth her voice;
Wisdom sings aloud in passages, and in the broad places speaks boldly.
21 At the corner of noisy streets she calleth, at the entrances of gates; in the city she sayeth her speeches:
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, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners take their delight in scorning, and fools hate 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 Turn back to my admonition: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.
Behold, I will bring forth to you the utterance of my breath, and I will instruct you in my speech.
24 Whereas I called, and ye refused; I stretched out my hand, and no man was attentive;
Since I called, and you did not listen; and I spoke at length, and you gave no heed;
25 And ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would not accept my admonition:
but you set at nothing my counsels, and disregarded my reproofs;
26 [Therefore] I also will truly laugh at your calamity; I will deride [you] when your terror cometh;
therefore I also will laugh at your destruction; and I will rejoice against [you] when ruin comes upon you:
27 When your terror cometh like the tempest-cloud, and your calamity hasteneth like a whirlwind; when there come upon you distress and affliction.
yes 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 will they call me, but I will not answer; they will seek me earnestly, but they shall not find me;
For it shall be that when you call upon me, I will not listen to you: wicked men shall seek me, but shall not find [me].
29 For the reason that they hated knowledge, and the fear of the Lord they did not choose;
For they hated wisdom, and did not choose the word of the Lord:
30 [That] they would not attend to my counsel: [that] they rejected all my admonition.
neither would they attend to my counsels, but derided my reproofs.
31 Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and from their own counsels shall they be satisfied.
Therefore shall they eat the fruits of their own way, and shall be filled with their own ungodliness.
32 For the defection of the simple will slay them, and the prosperity of fools will cause them to be lost.
For because they wronged the simple, they shall be slain; and an inquisition shall ruin the ungodly.
33 But he that hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be at rest from the dread of evil.
But he that hearkens to me shall dwell in confidence, and shall rest securely from all evil.
