Proverbs 1

¹[These are] the proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel,

²for gaining wisdom and discipline, for comprehending words of insight,

³[and] for receiving instruction in wise living and in righteousness, justice, and equity.

⁴To impart prudence to the simple [and] knowledge and discretion to the young,

⁵{let} the wise listen and gain instruction, and the discerning acquire wise counsel

⁶by understanding the proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise.

⁷The fear of the LORD [is] the beginning of knowledge, [but] fools despise wisdom and discipline.

⁸Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction, and do not forsake the teaching of your mother.

⁹For they [are] a garland of grace on your head and a pendant around your neck.

¹⁰My son, if sinners entice you, do not yield [to them].

¹¹If they say, “Come along, let us lie in wait for blood, let us ambush the innocent without cause,

¹²let us swallow them alive like Sheol, and whole like those descending into the Pit.

¹³We {will} find all manner of precious goods; we {will} fill our houses with plunder.

¹⁴Throw in your lot with us; let us all share one purse” —

¹⁵my son, do not walk the road with them or set foot upon their path.

¹⁶For their feet run to evil, and they are swift to shed blood.

¹⁷How futile [it is] to spread the net where any bird can see it!

¹⁸But they lie in wait for their [own] blood; they ambush their [own] lives.

¹⁹Such [is] the fate of all who are greedy, whose unjust gain takes the lives of its possessors.

²⁰Wisdom calls out in the street, she lifts her voice in the square;

²¹in the main concourse she cries aloud, at the city gates she makes her speech:

²²“How long, O simple ones, will you love your simple [ways]? How long will scoffers delight in their scorn and fools hate knowledge?

²³If you had repented at my rebuke, then surely I would have poured out my spirit on you; I would have made my words known to you.

²⁴Because you refused my call, and no one took my outstretched hand,

²⁵because you neglected all my counsel, and wanted none of my correction,

²⁶in turn I will mock your calamity; I will sneer when terror strikes you,

²⁷when your dread comes like a storm, and your destruction like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish overwhelm you.

²⁸Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; they {will} earnestly seek me, but {will} not find me.

²⁹For they hated knowledge and chose not to fear the LORD.

³⁰They accepted none of my counsel; they despised all my reproof.

³¹So they {will} eat the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.

³²For the waywardness of the simple will slay them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them.

³³But whoever listens to me {will} dwell in safety, secure from the fear of evil.”