| Prov. 1:1 |
The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, the king of Israel: |
| Prov. 1:2 |
For knowing wisdom and instruction; / For discerning words of understanding; |
| Prov. 1:3 |
For receiving instruction in wise conduct, / Righteousness, justice, and equity; |
| Prov. 1:4 |
For giving prudence to the simple, / Knowledge and discretion to the young man; |
| Prov. 1:5 |
That the wise man may hear and increase in learning, / And he who has understanding may acquire sound counsel; |
| Prov. 1:6 |
For understanding proverb and figure, / The words of the wise and their difficult sayings. |
| Prov. 1:7 |
The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of knowledge; / Fools despise wisdom and instruction. |
| Prov. 1:8 |
Hear, my son, the instruction of your father, / And do not reject the teaching of your mother; |
| Prov. 1:9 |
For they will be a wreath of grace for your head / And ornaments for your neck. |
| Prov. 1:10 |
My son, if sinners entice you, / Do not consent. |
| Prov. 1:11 |
If they say, Come with us; let us lie in wait for blood; / Let us ambush the innocent without cause; |
| Prov. 1:12 |
Let us swallow them alive like Sheol, / And whole, like those who go down into the pit. |
| Prov. 1:13 |
We will find all [manner] of precious goods; / We will fill our houses with booty; |
| Prov. 1:14 |
Throw in your lot with us; / We will all have one purse-- |
| Prov. 1:15 |
My son, do not walk with them on [this] way; / Keep your foot from their path. |
| Prov. 1:16 |
For their feet run toward evil, / And they hasten to shed blood. |
| Prov. 1:17 |
For in vain is the net spread / In the eyes of any bird; |
| Prov. 1:18 |
Yet they lie in wait for their own blood; / They ambush their own lives! |
| Prov. 1:19 |
Such are the ways of everyone greedy for gain; / It takes away the life of its owners. |
| Prov. 1:20 |
Wisdom cries out in the street; / She utters her voice in the open squares. |
| Prov. 1:21 |
At the head of the tumultuous [street] she cries; / At the entrance of the gates in the city she utters her sayings: |
| Prov. 1:22 |
How long, O simple ones, will you love simpleness, / And will scoffers delight themselves in scoffing, / And will fools hate knowledge? |
| Prov. 1:23 |
Turn yourselves at my reproof-- / Immediately I will pour out my spirit on you; / I will make my words known to you. |
| Prov. 1:24 |
Because I called and you refused; / I stretched out my hand and no one heeded, |
| Prov. 1:25 |
And you neglected all my counsel / And would have none of my reproof; |
| Prov. 1:26 |
I also will laugh at your calamity; / I will mock when what you dread comes, |
| Prov. 1:27 |
When what you dread comes like a storm, / And your calamity comes like a whirlwind, / When distress and anguish come upon you. |
| Prov. 1:28 |
Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; / They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me. |
| Prov. 1:29 |
Because they hated knowledge / And did not choose the fear of Jehovah, |
| Prov. 1:30 |
[And] would have none of my counsel / [And] despised all my reproof; |
| Prov. 1:31 |
They shall eat of the fruit of their own way / And be filled with their own devices. |
| Prov. 1:32 |
For the turning away of the simple will kill them, / And the prosperity of the foolish will cause them to perish; |
| Prov. 1:33 |
But he who listens to me will dwell securely / And will live at ease, without the dread of evil. |