Proverbs 1

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These are the proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel,

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

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

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To impart prudence to the simple and knowledge and discretion to the young,

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let the wise listen and gain instruction, and the discerning acquire wise counsel

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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If 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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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