Proverbs 1

The Beginning of Knowledge

¹The 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.

⁷The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;

fools despise wisdom and instruction.

The Enticement of Sinners

⁸Hear, 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.

¹⁷For 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.

¹⁹Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain;

it takes away the life of its possessors.

The Call of Wisdom

²⁰Wisdom 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.

²⁴Because 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.

²⁸Then 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,

³⁰would 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.”