1:1 The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel:
1:2 To know wisdom and instruction,
To discern the sayings of understanding,
1:3 To receive instruction in wise behavior,
Righteousness, justice, and integrity;
1:4 To give prudence to the naive,
To the youth knowledge and discretion,
1:5 A wise person will hear and increase in learning,
And a person of understanding will acquire wise counsel,
1:6 To understand a proverb and a saying,
The words of the wise and their riddles.
1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge;
Fools despise wisdom and instruction.
1:8 Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction,
And do not ignore your mother’s teaching;
1:9 For they are a graceful wreath for your head
And necklaces for your neck.
1:10 My son, if sinners entice you,
Do not consent.
1:11 If they say, “Come with us,
Let’s lie in wait for blood,
Let’s ambush the innocent without cause;
1:12 Let’s swallow them alive like Sheol,
Even whole, like those who go down to the pit;
1:13 We will find all kinds of precious wealth,
We will fill our houses with plunder;
1:14 Throw in your lot ①with us;
We will all have one money bag,”
▷ ①Lit in the midst of us
1:15 My son, do not walk on the way with them.
Keep your feet from their path,
1:16 For their feet run to evil,
And they are quick to shed blood.
1:17 Indeed, it is ①useless to spread the baited net
In the sight of any ②bird;
▷ ①Lit in vain ②Lit possessor of wing
1:18 But they lie in wait for their own blood;
They ambush their own lives.
1:19 Such are the ways of everyone who makes unjust gain;
It takes away the life of its possessors.
1:20 Wisdom shouts in the street,
She ①raises her voice in the public square;
▷ ①Lit gives
1:21 At the head of the noisy streets she cries out;
At the entrance of the gates in the city she declares her sayings:
1:22 “How long, you naive ones, will you love simplistic thinking?
And how long will scoffers delight themselves in scoffing
And fools hate knowledge?
1:23 Turn to my rebuke,
Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you;
I will make my words known to you.
1:24 Because I called and you refused,
I stretched out my hand and no one paid attention;
1:25 And you neglected all my advice
And did not want my rebuke;
1:26 I will also laugh at your disaster;
I will mock when your dread comes,
1:27 When your dread comes like a storm
And your disaster comes like a whirlwind,
When distress and anguish come upon you.
1:28 Then they will call on me, but I will not answer;
They will seek me diligently but will not find me,
1:29 Because they hated knowledge
And did not choose the fear of the LORD.
1:30 They did not accept my advice,
They disdainfully rejected every rebuke from me.
1:31 So they shall eat of the fruit of their own way,
And be filled with their own schemes.
1:32 For the faithlessness of the naive will kill them,
And the complacency of fools will destroy them.
1:33 But whoever listens to me will live securely
And will be at ease from the dread of evil.”