Proverbs — Chapter 1

1The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel;

2To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;

3To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity;

4To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.

5A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:

6To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.

7The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

8My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:

9For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.

10My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.

11If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:

12Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit:

13We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil:

14Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse:

15My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path:

16For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.

17Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.

18And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives.

19So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.

20Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets:

21She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying,

22How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?

23Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.

24Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;

25But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:

26I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;

27When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.

28Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:

29For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:

30They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.

31Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.

32For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.

33But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.

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

2To know wisdom and instruction; To discern the words of understanding;

3To receive instruction in wise dealing, In righteousness and justice and equity;

4To give prudence to the simple, To the young man knowledge and discretion:

5That the wise man may hear, and increase in learning; And that the man of understanding may attain unto sound counsels:

6To understand a proverb, and a figure, The words of the wise, and their dark sayings.

7The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of knowledge; [But] the foolish despise wisdom and instruction.

8My son, hear the instruction of thy father, And forsake not the law of thy mother:

9For they shall be a chaplet of grace unto thy head, And chains about thy neck.

10My son, if sinners entice thee, Consent thou not.

11If they say, Come with us, Let us lay wait for blood; Let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause;

12Let us swallow them up alive as Sheol, And whole, as those that go down into the pit;

13We shall find all precious substance; We shall fill our houses with spoil;

14Thou shalt cast thy lot among us; We will all have one purse:

15My son, walk not thou in the way with them; Refrain thy foot from their path:

16For their feet run to evil, And they make haste to shed blood.

17For in vain is the net spread In the sight of any bird:

18And these lay wait for their own blood; They lurk privily for their own lives.

19So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; It taketh away the life of the owners thereof.

20Wisdom crieth aloud in the street; She uttereth her voice in the broad places;

21She crieth in the chief place of concourse; At the entrance of the gates, In the city, she uttereth her words:

22How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? And scoffers delight them in scoffing, And fools hate knowledge?

23Turn you at my reproof: Behold, I will pour out my spirit upon you; I will make known my words unto you.

24Because I have called, and ye have refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man hath regarded;

25But ye have set at nought all my counsel, And would none of my reproof:

26I also will laugh in [the day of] your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;

27When your fear cometh as a storm, And your calamity cometh on as a whirlwind; When distress and anguish come upon you.

28Then will they call upon me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently, but they shall not find me:

29For that they hated knowledge, And did not choose the fear of Jehovah:

30They would none of my counsel; They despised all my reproof.

31Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, And be filled with their own devices.

32For the backsliding of the simple shall slay them, And the careless ease of fools shall destroy them.

33But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell securely, And shall be quiet without fear of evil.

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

2To learn wisdom and moral instruction, to discern wise counsel.

3To receive moral instruction in skillful living, with righteousness, justice, and equity.

4To impart shrewdness to the morally naive, a discerning plan to the young person.

5(Let the wise also hear and gain instruction, and let the discerning acquire guidance!)

6To discern the meaning of a proverb and a parable, the sayings of the wise and their riddles.

7Fearing the Lord is the beginning of discernment, but fools have despised wisdom and moral instruction.

8Listen, my child, to the instruction from your father, and do not forsake the teaching from your mother.

9For they will be like an elegant garland on your head, and like pendants around your neck.

10My child, if sinners try to entice you, do not consent!

11If they say, “Come with us! We will lie in wait to shed blood; we will ambush an innocent person capriciously.

12We will swallow them alive like Sheol, those full of vigor like those going down to the Pit.

13We will seize all kinds of precious wealth; we will fill our houses with plunder.

14Join with us! We will all share equally in what we steal.”

15My child, do not go down their way, withhold yourself from their path;

16for they are eager to inflict harm, and they hasten to shed blood.

17Surely it is futile to spread a net in plain sight of any bird,

18but these men lie in wait for their own blood; they ambush their own lives!

19Such are the ways of all who gain profit unjustly; it takes away the life of those who obtain it!

20Wisdom calls out in the street, she shouts loudly in the plazas;

21at the head of the noisy streets she calls, in the entrances of the gates in the city she utters her words:

22“How long will you simpletons love naiveté? How long have mockers delighted in mockery? And how long will fools hate knowledge?

23You should respond to my rebuke. Then I would pour out my thoughts to you; I would make my words known to you.

24However, because I called but you refused to listen, because I stretched out my hand but no one was paying attention,

25and you neglected all my advice, and did not comply with my rebuke,

26so I myself will laugh when disaster strikes you; I will mock when what you dread comes,

27when what you dread comes like a whirlwind, and disaster strikes you like a devastating storm, when distressing trouble comes on you.

28Then they will call to me, but I will not answer; they will diligently seek me, but they will not find me.

29Because they hated moral knowledge and did not choose to fear the Lord,

30they did not comply with my advice; they spurned all my rebuke.

31Therefore they will eat from the fruit of their way, and they will be stuffed full of their own counsel.

32For the waywardness of the simpletons will kill them, and the careless ease of fools will destroy them.

33But the one who listens to me will live in security and will be at ease from the dread of harm.”

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

2to know wisdom and instruction; to discern the words of understanding;

3to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity;

4to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young man:

5that the wise man may hear, and increase in learning; that the man of understanding may attain to sound counsel:

6to understand a proverb, and parables, the words and riddles of the wise.

7The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of knowledge; but the foolish despise wisdom and instruction.

8My son, listen to your father’s instruction, and don’t forsake your mother’s teaching:

9for they will be a garland to grace your head, and chains around your neck.

10My son, if sinners entice you, don’t consent.

11If they say, “Come with us. Let’s lay in wait for blood. Let’s lurk secretly for the innocent without cause.

12Let’s swallow them up alive like Sheol, and whole, like those who go down into the pit.

13We’ll find all valuable wealth. We’ll fill our houses with plunder.

14You shall cast your lot among us. We’ll all have one purse.”

15My son, don’t walk on the path with them. Keep your foot from their path,

16for their feet run to evil. They hurry to shed blood.

17For in vain is the net spread in the sight of any bird:

18but these lay wait for their own blood. They lurk secretly for their own lives.

19So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain. It takes away the life of its owners.

20Wisdom calls aloud in the street. She utters her voice in the public squares.

21She calls at the head of noisy places. At the entrance of the city gates, she utters her words:

22“How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? How long will mockers delight themselves in mockery, and fools hate knowledge?

23Turn at my reproof. Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you. I will make known my words to you.

24Because I have called, and you have refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no one has paid attention;

25but you have ignored all my counsel, and wanted none of my reproof;

26I also will laugh at your disaster. I will mock when calamity overtakes you;

27when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when your disaster comes on like a whirlwind; when distress and anguish come on you.

28Then will they call on me, but I will not answer. They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me;

29because they hated knowledge, and didn’t choose the fear of Yahweh.

30They wanted none of my counsel. They despised all my reproof.

31Therefore they will eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own schemes.

32For the backsliding of the simple will kill them. The careless ease of fools will destroy them.

33But whoever listens to me will dwell securely, and will be at ease, without fear of harm.”