Proverbs 9

¹Wisdom has built her house;

she has carved its seven columns.

²She has prepared a great banquet,

mixed the wines, and set the table.

³She has sent her servants to invite everyone to come.

She calls out from the heights overlooking the city.

⁴“Come in with me,” she urges the simple.

To those who lack good judgment, she says,

⁵“Come, eat my food,

and drink the wine I have mixed.

⁶Leave your simple ways behind, and begin to live;

learn to use good judgment.”

⁷Anyone who rebukes a mocker will get an insult in return.

Anyone who corrects the wicked will get hurt.

⁸So don’t bother correcting mockers;

they will only hate you.

But correct the wise,

and they will love you.

⁹Instruct the wise,

and they will be even wiser.

Teach the righteous,

and they will learn even more.

¹⁰Fear of the Lord is the foundation of wisdom.

Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgment.

¹¹Wisdom will multiply your days

and add years to your life.

¹²If you become wise, you will be the one to benefit.

If you scorn wisdom, you will be the one to suffer.

Folly Calls for a Hearing

¹³The woman named Folly is brash.

She is ignorant and doesn’t know it.

¹⁴She sits in her doorway

on the heights overlooking the city.

¹⁵She calls out to men going by

who are minding their own business.

¹⁶“Come in with me,” she urges the simple.

To those who lack good judgment, she says,

¹⁷“Stolen water is refreshing;

food eaten in secret tastes the best!”

¹⁸But little do they know that the dead are there.

Her guests are in the depths of the grave.^a