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 To know wisdom and instruction; to discern the words of understanding;
to know wisdom and instruction, and to perceive words of understanding;
3 To receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness and judgment and equity;
to receive also hard saying, and to understand true justice, and [how] to direct judgment;
4 To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion:
that he might give subtlety to the simple, and to the young man discernment and understanding.
5 That the wise man may hear, and increase in learning; and that the man of understanding may attain unto sound 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 figure; 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: [but] the foolish 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 My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law 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 chaplet of grace unto thy head, and chains about 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 lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent 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 swallow them up alive as Sheol, and whole, 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 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 not thou in the way with them; 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 they make haste to shed blood.
[For their feet run to do evil, and are swift to shed blood. ]
17 For in vain is the net spread, in the eyes of any bird:
for nets are not without cause spread for birds.
18 And these lay wait for their own blood, they lurk privily 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 ways of every one that is greedy of gain; it taketh away the life of the owners thereof.
These are the ways of all that perform lawless deeds; for by ungodliness they destroy their own life.
20 Wisdom crieth aloud in the street; she uttereth her voice in the broad places;
Wisdom sings aloud in passages, and in the broad places speaks boldly.
21 She crieth in the chief place of concourse; at the entering in of the gates, in the city, she uttereth her words:
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 scorners delight them 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 you at my reproof: 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 Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;
Since I called, and ye did not hearken; and I spoke at length, and ye gave no heed;
25 But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:
but ye set at nought my counsels, and disregarded my reproofs;
26 I also will laugh in [the day of] 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 as a storm, and your calamity cometh on as 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 shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me diligently, 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 For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:
For they hated wisdom, and did not choose the word of the Lord:
30 They would none of my counsel; they 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 with their own devices.
Therefore shall they eat the fruits of their own way, and shall be filled with their own ungodliness.
32 For the backsliding of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity 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 unto me shall dwell securely, and shall be quiet without fear of evil.
But he that hearkens to me shall dwell in confidence, and shall rest securely from all evil.
