[1] The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel:
[2] To know wisdom and instruction, To perceive the words of understanding,
[3] To receive the instruction of wisdom, Justice, judgment, and equity;
[4] To give prudence to the simple, To the young man knowledge and discretion—
[5] A wise man will hear and increase learning, And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel,
[6] To understand a proverb and an enigma, The words of the wise and their riddles.
[7] The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction.
[8] My son, hear the instruction of your father, And do not forsake the law of your mother;
[9] For they will be a graceful ornament on your head, And chains about your neck.
[10] My son, if sinners entice you, Do not consent.
[11] If they say, “Come with us, Let us lie in wait to shed blood; Let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause;
[12] Let us swallow them alive like Sheol, And whole, like those who go down to the Pit;
[13] We shall find all kinds of precious possessions, We shall fill our houses with spoil;
[14] Cast in your lot among us, Let us all have one purse”—
[15] My son, do not walk in the way with them, Keep your foot from their path;
[16] For their feet run to evil, And they make haste to shed blood.
[17] Surely, in vain the net is spread In the sight of any bird;
[18] But they lie in wait for their own blood, They lurk secretly for their own lives.
[19] So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain; It takes away the life of its owners.
[20] Wisdom calls aloud outside; She raises her voice in the open squares.
[21] She cries out in the chief concourses, At the openings of the gates in the city She speaks her words:
[22] “How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? For scorners delight in their scorning, And fools hate knowledge.
[23] Turn at my rebuke; Surely I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you.
[24] Because I have called and you refused, I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded,
[25] Because you disdained all my counsel, And would have none of my rebuke,
[26] I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your terror comes,
[27] When your terror comes like a storm, And your destruction comes like a whirlwind, When distress and anguish come upon you.
[28] “Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me.
[29] Because they hated knowledge And did not choose the fear of the Lord,
[30] They would have none of my counsel And despised my every rebuke.
[31] Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way, And be filled to the full with their own fancies.
[32] For the turning away of the simple will slay them, And the complacency of fools will destroy them;
[33] But whoever listens to me will dwell safely, And will be secure, without fear of evil.”