Pro 1 | LSB | STEP | The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel:

Proverbs 1

To Know Wisdom

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

2 To know wisdom and discipline,
To understand the sayings of understanding,
3 To receive discipline ^{▼▼Lit of}that leads to insight,
Righteousness, justice, and equity,
4 To give prudence to the ^{▼▼Or naive}simple,
To the youth knowledge and discretion;
5 Let the wise man hear and increase in learning,
And a man of understanding will acquire guidance,
6 To understand a proverb and an enigma,
The words of the wise and their riddles.
7 The fear of ^{▼▼The personal covenant name of God, a form of I AM WHO I AM, cf. Ex 3:14-15}Yahweh is the beginning of knowledge;
^{▼▼ One who lacks wisdom due to negligence or carelessness; so in Prov}Ignorant fools despise wisdom and discipline.

The Enticement of Sinners

8 Hear, my son, your father’s discipline
And do not abandon your mother’s ^{▼▼Or law}instruction;
9 For they are a garland of grace for your head
And ^{▼▼Lit necklaces}ornaments about your neck.
10 My son, if sinners entice you,
Do not be willing.
11 If they say, “Come with us,
Let us lie in wait for blood,
Let us ambush the innocent without cause;
12 Let us swallow them alive like Sheol,
And whole, as those who go down to the pit;
13 We will find all kinds of precious wealth,
We will fill our houses with spoil;
14 Cast in your lot ^{▼▼Lit in the midst of us}with us,
We shall all have one purse,”
15 My son, do not walk in the way with them.
Withhold your feet from their pathway,
16 For their feet run to evil
And they hasten to shed blood.
17 For it is ^{▼▼Lit in vain}no use that a net is spread
In the sight of any ^{▼▼Lit possessor of wing}bird;
18 But they lie in wait for their own blood;
They ambush their own ^{▼▼Lit souls}lives.
19 So are the paths of everyone who is greedy for gain;
It takes away the ^{▼▼Lit soul}life of its possessors.

The Call of Wisdom

20 Wisdom shouts in the street,
She gives forth her voice in the square;
21 At the head of the noisy streets she calls out;
At the entrance of the gates in the city she utters her sayings:
22 “How long, O simple ones, will you love simplicity?
And scoffers delight in scoffing
And ^{▼▼One who fails in wisdom due to willful sin}fools hate knowledge?
23 “Turn to my reproof,
Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you;
I will make my words known to you.
24 “Because I called and you refused,
I stretched out my hand and no one paid attention;
25 And you neglected all my counsel
And were not willing to accept my reproof;
26 I will also laugh at your disaster;
I will mock when your dread comes,
27 When your dread comes like a storm
And your disaster comes like a whirlwind,
When distress and anguish come upon you.
28 “Then they will call on me, but I will not answer;
They will seek me earnestly but they will not find me,
29 Because they hated knowledge
And did not choose the fear of Yahweh.
30 “They were not willing to accept my counsel,
They spurned all my reproof.
31 “So they shall eat of the fruit of their way
And be satisfied with their own devices.
32 “For the turning away of the simple will kill them,
And the complacency of fools will destroy them.
33 “But he who listens to me shall dwell securely
And will be at ease from the dread of evil.”