Proverbs 1

¹ The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:

²To know wisdom and instruction,
to understand words of insight,

³to receive instruction in wise dealing,
in righteousness, justice, and equity;

⁴to give prudence to the simple,
knowledge and discretion to the youth—

⁵Let the wise hear and increase in learning,
and the one who understands obtain guidance,

⁶to understand a proverb and a saying,
the words of the wise and their riddles.

⁷ The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction.

⁸ Hear, my son, your father’s instruction,
and forsake not your mother’s teaching,

⁹for they are a graceful garland for your head
and pendants for your neck.

¹⁰My son, if sinners entice you,
do not consent.

¹¹If they say, “Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood;
let us ambush the innocent without reason;

¹²like Sheol let us swallow them alive,
and whole, like those who go down to the pit;

¹³we shall find all precious goods,
we shall fill our houses with plunder;

¹⁴throw in your lot among us;
we will all have one purse”—

¹⁵my son, do not walk in the way with them;
hold back your foot from their paths,

¹⁶for their feet run to evil,
and they make haste to shed blood.

¹⁷ For in vain is a net spread
in the sight of any bird,

¹⁸but these men lie in wait for their own blood;
they set an ambush for their own lives.

¹⁹ Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain;
it takes away the life of its possessors.

²⁰ Wisdom cries aloud in the street,
in the markets she raises her voice;

²¹at the head of the noisy streets she cries out;
at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:

²²“How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?
How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing
and fools hate knowledge?

²³If you turn at my reproof,
behold, I will pour out my spirit to you;
I will make my words known to you.

²⁴ Because I have called and you refused to listen,
have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded,

²⁵because you have ignored all my counsel
and would have none of my reproof,

²⁶I also will laugh at your calamity;
I will mock when terror strikes you,

²⁷when terror strikes you like a storm
and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,
when distress and anguish come upon you.

²⁸ Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer;
they will seek me diligently but will not find me.

²⁹Because they hated knowledge
and did not choose the fear of the Lord,

₃₀ would have none of my counsel
and despised all my reproof,

³¹therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way,
and have their fill of their own devices.

³²For the simple are killed by their turning away,
and the complacency of fools destroys them;

³³but whoever listens to me will dwell secure
and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.”

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