Proverbs 1
1 Proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:
The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, the king of Israel:
2 For knowing wisdom and instruction, For understanding sayings of intelligence,
To know wisdom and instruction; to comprehend the sayings of understanding;
3 For receiving the instruction of wisdom, Righteousness, judgment, and uprightness,
To accept the instruction of intelligence, righteousness, and justice, and equity;
4 For giving to simple ones—prudence, To a youth—knowledge and discretion.
To give to the simple prudence, to the youth knowledge and discretion.
5 (The wise hear and increase learning, And the intelligent obtain counsels.)
The wise will hear, and will increase [his] information; and the man of understanding will obtain wise counsels:
6 For understanding a proverb and its sweetness, Words of the wise and their acute sayings.
To understand a proverb, and a sage sentence; the words of the wise, and their riddles.
7 Fear of YHWH [is the] beginning of knowledge, Fools have despised wisdom and instruction!
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: wisdom and instruction fools [alone] despise.
8 Hear, my son, the instruction of your father, And do not leave the law of your mother,
Hear, my son, the instruction of thy father, and cast not off the teaching of thy mother;
9 For they [are] a graceful wreath to your head, And chains to your neck.
For a wreath of grace are they unto thy head, and chains for thy throat.
10 My son, if sinners entice you, do not be willing.
My son, if sinners wish to entice thee, consent thou not.
11 If they say, “Come with us, we lay wait for blood, We watch secretly for the innocent without cause,
If they should say, Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood, let us watch in concealment for the uselessly innocent;
We will swallow them up like the grave alive; and the men of integrity, as those that go down into the pit; (Sheol h7585)
13 We find every precious substance, We fill our houses [with] spoil,
We shall find all [kinds of] precious wealth, we will fill our houses with booty;
14 You cast your lot among us, One purse is—to all of us.”
Thy lot must thou cast in our midst; one purse shall be for us all:
15 My son! Do not go in the way with them, Withhold your foot from their path,
My son, walk not thou on the way with them; withhold thy foot from their path;
16 For their feet run to evil, And they hurry to shed blood.
For their feet run after evil, and they make haste to shed blood.
17 Surely in vain is the net spread out before the eyes of any bird.
For uselessly is the net spread out before the eyes of every winged bird:
18 And they lay wait for their own blood, They watch secretly for their own lives.
While they lie in wait for their [own] blood; they watch in concealment for their [own] lives.
19 So [are] the paths of every gainer of dishonest gain, It takes the life of its owners.
So are the paths of every one that is greedy after [unlawful] gain; it taketh away the life of those that own it.
20 Wisdom cries aloud in an out-place, She gives forth her voice in broad places,
Wisdom crieth loudly without; in the public places she uttereth her voice;
21 She calls at the head of the multitudes, In the openings of the gates, In the city she says her sayings:
At the corner of noisy streets she calleth, at the entrances of gates; in the city she sayeth her speeches:
22 “Until when, you simple, do you love simplicity? And have scorners desired their scorning? And do fools hate knowledge?
How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners take their delight in scorning, and fools hate knowledge?
23 Turn back at my reproof, behold, I pour forth my spirit to you, I make known my words with you.
Turn back to my admonition: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.
24 Because I have called, and you refuse, I stretched out my hand, and none is attending,
Whereas I called, and ye refused; I stretched out my hand, and no man was attentive;
25 And you slight all my counsel, And you have not desired my reproof.
And ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would not accept my admonition:
26 I also laugh in your calamity, I deride when your fear comes,
[Therefore] I also will truly laugh at your calamity; I will deride [you] when your terror cometh;
27 When your fear comes as destruction, And your calamity comes as a windstorm, When adversity and distress come on you.
When your terror cometh like the tempest-cloud, and your calamity hasteneth like a whirlwind; when there come upon you distress and affliction.
28 Then they call me, and I do not answer, They seek me earnestly, and do not find me.
Then will they call me, but I will not answer; they will seek me earnestly, but they shall not find me;
29 Because that they have hated knowledge, And have not chosen the fear of YHWH.
For the reason that they hated knowledge, and the fear of the Lord they did not choose;
30 They have not consented to my counsel, They have despised all my reproof,
[That] they would not attend to my counsel: [that] they rejected all my admonition.
31 And they eat of the fruit of their way, And they are filled from their own counsels.
Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and from their own counsels shall they be satisfied.
32 For the turning of the simple slays them, And the security of the foolish destroys them.
For the defection of the simple will slay them, and the prosperity of fools will cause them to be lost.
33 And whoever is listening to me dwells confidently, And [is] quiet from fear of evil!”
But he that hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be at rest from the dread of evil.
