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