Proverbs 1
1 The proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel:
The Proverbs of Solomon son of David, who reigned in Israel;
2 That one may learn wisdom and instruction, And receive words of understanding;
to know wisdom and instruction, and to perceive words of understanding;
3 That one may gain the instruction of prudence, Justice, equity, and uprightness;
to receive also hard saying, and to understand true justice, and [how] to direct judgment;
4 Which will give caution to the simple, To the young man wisdom and discretion;
that he might give subtlety to the simple, and to the young man discernment and understanding.
5 Let the wise man hear, and he will increase his knowledge, And the man of understanding will gain wise counsels;
For by the hearing of these a wise man will be wiser, and man of understanding will gain direction;
6 So as to understand a proverb and a deep maxim, 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 beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.
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 Hear, O my son! the instruction of thy father, And neglect not the teaching of thy mother!
Hear, [my] son, the instruction of thy father, and reject not the rules of thy mother.
9 For they shall be a graceful wreath for thy head, And a chain around thy 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 entice thee, Consent thou not!
[My] son, let not ungodly men lead thee astray, neither consent thou [to them].
11 If they say, “Come with us, Let us lie in wait for blood, Let us lurk secretly for him who is innocent in vain;
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 swallow them up alive, like the underworld, Yea, in full health, 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 substance, We shall fill our houses with spoil;
let us seize on his valuable property, and let us fill our houses with spoils:
14 Thou shalt cast thy lot among us; We will all have one purse;”—
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, walk thou not in their way, Refrain thy foot from their path!
go not in the way with them, but turn aside thy foot from their paths:
16 For their feet run to evil, And make haste to shed blood.
[For their feet run to do evil, and are swift to shed blood. ]
17 For as the net is spread in vain Before the eyes of any bird,
for nets are not without cause spread for birds.
18 So they lie in wait for their own blood; They lurk secretly for their own lives.
For they that are concerned in murder store up evils for themselves; and the overthrow of transgressors is evil.
19 Such are the ways of every one greedy of unjust gain; It taketh away the life of the possessor thereof.
These are the ways of all that perform lawless deeds; for by ungodliness they destroy their own life.
20 Wisdom crieth out in the highway; In the market-place she uttereth her voice;
Wisdom sings aloud in passages, and in the broad places speaks boldly.
21 At the head of the noisy streets she crieth aloud; At the entrances of the gates, throughout the city, she proclaimeth her words [[saying]]:
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? How long will scoffers delight themselves in scoffing, 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 ye at my reproof! Behold, I will pour out my spirit to you; I will make known my words to you!
Behold, I will bring forth to you the utterance of my breath, and I will instruct you in my speech.
24 “Because I have called, and ye have refused, —Because I have stretched out my hand, and no one hath regarded.
Since I called, and ye did not hearken; and I spoke at length, and ye gave no heed;
25 Because ye have rejected all my counsel, And have slighted my rebuke, —
but ye set at nought my counsels, and disregarded my reproofs;
26 I also will laugh at your calamity, I will mock when your fear cometh;
therefore I also will laugh at your destruction; and I will rejoice against [you] when ruin comes upon you:
27 When your fear cometh upon you like a storm. And destruction overtaketh you like a whirlwind, When distress and anguish come upon 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 will they call upon me, but I will not answer! They will seek me early, But they shall not find 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 Because they have hated knowledge, And have not chosen the fear of the LORD, —
For they hated wisdom, and did not choose the word of the Lord:
30 Because they would not attend to my counsel, And have despised all my reproof, —
neither would they attend to my counsels, but derided my reproofs.
31 Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, And be filled to the full with their own devices;
Therefore shall they eat the fruits of their own way, and shall be filled with their own ungodliness.
32 Yea, the turning away of the simple shall slay them, And the carelessness of fools shall destroy them.
For because they wronged the simple, they shall be slain; and an inquisition shall ruin the ungodly.
33 But whoso hearkeneth to me shall dwell securely, And shall not be disquieted with the fear of evil.”
But he that hearkens to me shall dwell in confidence, and shall rest securely from all evil.
