Proverbs 1

1The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:

²For learning about wisdom and instruction,
for understanding words of insight,
³for gaining instruction in wise dealing,
righteousness, justice, and equity;
⁴to teach shrewdness to the simple,
knowledge and prudence to the young—
⁵let the wise also hear and gain in learning,
and the discerning acquire skill,
⁶to understand a proverb and a figure,
the words of the wise and their riddles. ⁷The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction. ⁸Hear, my child, your father’s instruction,
and do not reject your mother’s teaching;
⁹for they are a fair garland for your head,
and pendants for your neck.
¹⁰My child, if sinners entice you,
do not consent.
¹¹If they say, “Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood;
let us wantonly ambush the innocent;
¹²like Sheol let us swallow them alive
and whole, like those who go down to the Pit.
¹³We shall find all kinds of costly things;
we shall fill our houses with booty.
¹⁴Throw in your lot among us;
we will all have one purse”—
¹⁵my child, do not walk in their way,
keep your foot from their paths;
¹⁶for their feet run to evil,
and they hurry to shed blood.
¹⁷For in vain is the net baited
while the bird is looking on;
¹⁸yet they lie in wait—to kill themselves!
and set an ambush—for their own lives!
¹⁹Such is the end of all who are greedy for gain;
it takes away the life of its possessors. ²⁰Wisdom cries out in the street;
in the squares she raises her voice.
²¹At the busiest corner 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?
²³Give heed to my reproof;
I will pour out my thoughts to you;
I will make my words known to you.
²⁴Because I have called and you refused,
have stretched out my hand and no one heeded,
²⁵and because you have ignored all my counsel
and would have none of my reproof,
²⁶I also will laugh at your calamity;
I will mock when panic strikes you,
²⁷when panic 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 be sated with their own devices.
³²For waywardness kills the simple,
and the complacency of fools destroys them;
³³but those who listen to me will be secure
and will live at ease, without dread of disaster.”

From the oremus Bible Browser https://bible.oremus.org v2.9.2 30 June 2021.