Proverbs

The Beginning of Knowledge

1These are the proverbs of Solomon son of David,king of Israel,

2for gaining wisdom and discipline,for comprehending words of insight,

3and for receiving instruction in wise livingand in righteousness, justice, and equity.

4To impart prudence to the simpleand knowledge and discretion to the young,

5let the wise listen and gain instruction,and the discerning acquire wise counsel

6by understanding the proverbs and parables,the sayings and riddles of the wise.

7The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,but foolsdespise wisdom and discipline.

The Enticement of Sin

8Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction,and do not forsake the teaching of your mother.

9For they are a garland of grace on your headand a pendant around your neck.

10My son, if sinners entice you,do not yield to them.

11If they say, “Come along, let us lie in wait for blood,let us ambush the innocent without cause,

12let us swallow them alive like Sheol,and whole like those descending into the Pit.

13We will find all manner of precious goods;we will fill our houses with plunder.

14Throw in your lot with us;let us all share one purse”—

15my son, do not walk the road with themor set foot upon their path.

16For their feet run to evil,and they are swift to shed blood.

17How futile it is to spread the netwhere any bird can see it!

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

19Such is the fate of all who are greedy,whose unjust gain takes the lives of its possessors.

Wisdom Calls Aloud

20Wisdom calls out in the street,she lifts her voice in the square;

21in the main concourseshe cries aloud,at the city gates she makes her speech:

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

23If you had repented at my rebuke,then surely I would have poured out my spirit on you; I would have made my words known to you.

24Because you refused my call,and no one took my outstretched hand,

25because you neglected all my counsel,and wanted none of my correction,

26in turn I will mock your calamity;I will sneer when terror strikes you,

27when your dread comes like a storm,and your destruction like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish overwhelm you.

28Then they will call on me, but I will not answer;they will earnestly seek me, but will not find me.

29For they hated knowledgeand chose not to fear the LORD.

30They accepted none of my counsel;they despised all my reproof.

31So they will eat the fruit of their own way,and be filled with their own devices.

32For the waywardness of the simple will slay them,and the complacency of fools will destroy them.

33But whoever listens to me will dwell in safety,secure from the fear of evil.”

1The parables of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel.

2To know wisdom, and instruction:

3To understand the words of prudence: and to receive the instruction of doctrine, justice, and judgment, and equity:

4To give subtilty to little ones, to the young man knowledge and understanding.

5A wise man shall hear and shall be wiser: and he that understandeth, shall possess governments.

6He shall understand a parable, and the interpretation, the words of the wise, and their mysterious sayings.

7The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Fools despise wisdom and instruction.

8My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:

9That grace may be added to thy head, and a chain of gold to thy neck.

10My son, if sinners shall entice thee, consent not to them.

11If they shall say: Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood, let us hide snares for the innocent without cause:

12Let us swallow him up alive like hell, and whole as one that goeth down into the pit.

13We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoils.

14Cast in thy lot with us, let us all have one purse.

15My son, walk not thou with them, restrain thy foot from their paths.

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

17But a net is spread in vain before the eyes of them that have wings.

18And they themselves lie in wait for their own blood, and practise deceits against their own souls.

19So the wage of every covetous man destroy the souls of the possessors.

20Wisdom preacheth abroad, she uttereth her voice in the streets:

21At the head of multitudes she crieth out, in the entrance of the gates of the city she uttereth her words, saying:

22O children, how long will you love childishness, and fools covet those things which are hurtful to themselves, and the unwise hate knowledge?

23Turn ye at my reproof: behold I will utter my spirit to you, and will shew you my words.

24Because I called, and you refused: I stretched out my hand, and there was none that regarded.

25You have despised all my counsel, and have neglected my reprehensions.

26I also will laugh in your destruction, and will mock when that shall come to you which you feared.

27When sudden calamity shall fall on you, and destruction, as a tempest, shall be at hand: when tribulation and distress shall come upon you:

28Then shall they call upon me, and I will not hear: they shall rise in the morning and shall not find me:

29Because they have hated instruction and received not the fear of the Lord,

30Nor consented to my counsel, but despised all my reproof.

31Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way, and shall be filled with their own devices.

32The turning away of little ones shall kill them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.

33But he that shall hear me, shall rest without terror, and shall enjoy abundance, without fear of evils.