Pro1:1 The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel:
Pro1:2 To know wisdom and instruction, To discern the sayings of understanding,
Pro1:3 To receive instruction in wise behavior, Righteousness, justice and equity;
Pro1:4 To give prudence to the naive, To the youth knowledge and discretion,
Pro1:5 A wise man will hear and increase in learning, And a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel,
Pro1:6 To understand a proverb and a figure, The words of the wise and their riddles.
Pro1:7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Pro1:8 Hear, my son, your father's instruction And do not forsake your mother's teaching;
Pro1:9 Indeed, they are a graceful wreath to your head And ornaments about your neck.
Pro1:10 My son, if sinners entice you, Do not consent.
Pro1:11 If they say, "Come with us, Let us lie in wait for blood, Let us ambush the innocent without cause;
Pro1:12 Let us swallow them alive like Sheol, Even whole, as those who go down to the pit;
Pro1:13 We will find all kinds of precious wealth, We will fill our houses with spoil;
Pro1:14 Throw in your lot with us, We shall all have one purse,"
Pro1:15 My son, do not walk in the way with them. Keep your feet from their path,
Pro1:16 For their feet run to evil And they hasten to shed blood.
Pro1:17 Indeed, it is useless to spread the baited net In the sight of any bird;
Pro1:18 But they lie in wait for their own blood; They ambush their own lives.
Pro1:19 So are the ways of everyone who gains by violence; It takes away the life of its possessors.
Pro1:20 Wisdom shouts in the street, She lifts her voice in the square;
Pro1:21 At the head of the noisy streets she cries out; At the entrance of the gates in the city she utters her sayings:
Pro1:22 "How long, O naive ones, will you love being simple-minded? And scoffers delight themselves in scoffing And fools hate knowledge?
Pro1:23 "Turn to my reproof, Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you.
Pro1:24 "Because I called and you refused, I stretched out my hand and no one paid attention;
Pro1:25 And you neglected all my counsel And did not want my reproof;
Pro1:26 I will also laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your dread comes,
Pro1:27 When your dread comes like a storm And your calamity comes like a whirlwind, When distress and anguish come upon you.
Pro1:28 "Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently but they will not find me,
Pro1:29 Because they hated knowledge And did not choose the fear of the Lord.
Pro1:30 "They would not accept my counsel, They spurned all my reproof.
Pro1:31 "So they shall eat of the fruit of their own way And be satiated with their own devices.
Pro1:32 "For the waywardness of the naive will kill them, And the complacency of fools will destroy them.
Pro1:33 "But he who listens to me shall live securely And will be at ease from the dread of evil."