1:1 | The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel: |
1:2 | for attaining wisdom and discipline; for understanding words of insight; |
1:3 | for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair; |
1:4 | for giving prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young-- |
1:5 | let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance-- |
1:6 | for understanding proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise. |
1:7 | The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline. |
1:8 | Listen, my son, to your father's instruction and do not forsake your mother's teaching. |
1:9 | They will be a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck. |
1:10 | My son, if sinners entice you, do not give in to them. |
1:11 | If they say, "Come along with us; let's lie in wait for someone's blood, let's waylay some harmless soul; |
1:12 | let's swallow them alive, like the grave, and whole, like those who go down to the pit; |
1:13 | we will get all sorts of valuable things and fill our houses with plunder; |
1:14 | throw in your lot with us, and we will share a common purse"-- |
1:15 | my son, do not go along with them, do not set foot on their paths; |
1:16 | for their feet rush into sin, they are swift to shed blood. |
1:17 | How useless to spread a net in full view of all the birds! |
1:18 | These men lie in wait for their own blood; they waylay only themselves! |
1:19 | Such is the end of all who go after ill-gotten gain; it takes away the lives of those who get it. |
1:20 | Wisdom calls aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the public squares; |
1:21 | at the head of the noisy streets she cries out, in the gateways of the city she makes her speech: |
1:22 | "How long will you simple ones love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge? |
1:23 | If you had responded to my rebuke, I would have poured out my heart to you and made my thoughts known to you. |
1:24 | But since you rejected me when I called and no one gave heed when I stretched out my hand, |
1:25 | since you ignored all my advice and would not accept my rebuke, |
1:26 | I in turn will laugh at your disaster; I will mock when calamity overtakes you-- |
1:27 | when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind, when distress and trouble overwhelm you. |
1:28 | "Then they will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me. |
1:29 | Since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the LORD, |
1:30 | since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke, |
1:31 | they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes. |
1:32 | For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them; |
1:33 | but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm." |
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