‏ Proverbs 1

The Usefulness of Proverbs

1 The aproverbs of Solomon bthe son of David, king of Israel:
2 To know cwisdom and instruction,
To discern the sayings of dunderstanding,

3 To ereceive instruction in wise behavior,
fRighteousness, justice, and integrity;

4 To give gprudence to the naive,
To the youth hknowledge and discretion,

5 A wise person will hear and iincrease in learning,
And a jperson of understanding will acquire wise counsel,

6 To understand a proverb and a saying,
The words of the wise and their kriddles.


7 lThe fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
Fools despise wisdom and instruction.

The Enticement of Sinners



8 mListen, my son, to your father’s instruction,
And ndo not ignore your mother’s teaching;

9 For they are a ograceful wreath for your head
And pnecklaces for your neck.

10 My son, if sinners qentice you,
rDo not consent.

11 If they say, “Come with us,
Let’s slie in wait for blood,
Let’s tambush the innocent without cause;

12 Let’s uswallow them alive like Sheol,
Even whole, like those who vgo down to the pit;

13 We will find all kinds of precious wealth,
We will fill our houses with plunder;

14 Throw in your lot
Lit in the midst of us
with us;
We will all have one money bag,”

15 My son, xdo not walk on the way with them.
yKeep your feet from their path,

16 For ztheir feet run to evil,
And they are quick to shed blood.

17 Indeed, it is
Lit in vain
useless to spread the baited net
In the sight of any
Lit possessor of wing
bird;

18 But they aclie in wait for their own blood;
They ambush their own lives.

19 Such are the ways of everyone who admakes unjust gain;
It takes away the life of its possessors.

Wisdom Warns



20 aeWisdom shouts in the street,
She
Lit gives
raises her voice in the public square;

21 At the head of the noisy streets she cries out;
At the entrance of the gates in the city she declares her sayings:

22 “How long, you agnaive ones, will you love simplistic thinking?
And how long will ahscoffers delight themselves in scoffing
And fools aihate knowledge?

23 “Turn to my rebuke,
Behold, I will ajpour out my spirit on you;
I will make my words known to you.

24 “Because akI called and you alrefused,
I amstretched out my hand and no one paid attention;

25 And you anneglected all my advice
And did not aowant my rebuke;

26 I will also aplaugh at your aqdisaster;
I will mock when your ardread comes,

27 When your dread comes like a storm
And your disaster comes like a aswhirlwind,
When distress and anguish come upon you.

28 “Then they will atcall on me, but I will not answer;
They will auseek me diligently but will not find me,

29 Because they avhated knowledge
And did not choose the fear of the Lord.

30 “They awdid not accept my advice,
They disdainfully rejected every rebuke from me.

31 “So they shall axeat of the fruit of their own way,
And be ayfilled with their own schemes.

32 “For the azfaithlessness of the naive will kill them,
And the complacency of fools will destroy them.

33 “But bawhoever listens to me will live securely
And will be at ease from the dread of evil.”
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