Proverbs 1

¹The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel:

²To know wisdom and instruction; To discern the words of understanding;

³To receive instruction in wise dealing, In righteousness and justice and equity;

⁴To give prudence to the simple, To the young man knowledge and discretion:

⁵That the wise man may hear, and increase in learning; And that the man of understanding may attain unto sound counsels:

⁶To understand a proverb, and a figure, The words of the wise, and their dark sayings.

⁷The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of knowledge; Butthe foolish despise wisdom and instruction.

⁸My son, hear the instruction of thy father, And forsake not the law of thy mother:

⁹For they shall be a chaplet of grace unto thy head, And chains about thy neck.

¹⁰My son, if sinners entice thee, Consent thou not.

¹¹If they say, Come with us, Let us lay wait for blood; Let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause;

¹²Let us swallow them up alive as Sheol, And whole, as those that go down into the pit;

¹³We shall find all precious substance; We shall fill our houses with spoil;

¹⁴Thou shalt cast thy lot among us; We will all have one purse:

¹⁵My son, walk not thou in the way with them; Refrain thy foot from their path:

¹⁶For their feet run to evil, And they make haste to shed blood.

¹⁷For in vain is the net spread In the sight of any bird:

¹⁸And these lay wait for their own blood; They lurk privily for their own lives.

¹⁹So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; It taketh away the life of the owners thereof.

²⁰Wisdom crieth aloud in the street; She uttereth her voice in the broad places;

²¹She crieth in the chief place of concourse; At the entrance of the gates, In the city, she uttereth her words:

²²How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? And scoffers delight them in scoffing, And fools hate knowledge?

²³Turn you at my reproof: Behold, I will pour out my spirit upon you; I will make known my words unto you.

²⁴Because I have called, and ye have refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man hath regarded;

²⁵But ye have set at nought all my counsel, And would none of my reproof:

²⁶I also will laugh inthe day ofyour calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;

²⁷When your fear cometh as a storm, And your calamity cometh on as a whirlwind; When distress and anguish come upon you.

²⁸Then will they call upon me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently, but they shall not find me:

²⁹For that they hated knowledge, And did not choose the fear of Jehovah,

³⁰They would none of my counsel, They despised all my reproof.

³¹Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, And be filled with their own devices.

³²For the backsliding of the simple shall slay them, And the careless ease of fools shall destroy them.

³³But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell securely, And shall be quiet without fear of evil.

Proverbs 1

¹Proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:

²to know wisdom and instruction; to discern the words of understanding;

³to receive the instruction of wisdom, righteousness and judgment, and equity;

⁴to give prudence to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.

⁵He that is wise will hear, and will increase learning; and the intelligent will gain wise counsels:

⁶to understand a proverb and an allegory, the words of the wise and their enigmas.

⁷The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of knowledge: fools despise wisdom and instruction.

⁸Hear, my son, the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the teaching of thy mother;

⁹for they shall be a garland of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.

¹⁰My son, if sinners entice thee, consent not.

¹¹If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause;

¹²let us swallow them up alive as Sheol, and whole, as those that go down into the pit;

¹³we shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil:

¹⁴cast in thy lot among us; we will all have one purse:

¹⁵— my son, walk not in the way with them, keep back thy foot from their path;

¹⁶for their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood.

¹⁷For in vain the net is spread in the sight of anything which hath wings.

¹⁸And these lay wait for their own blood; they lurk secretly for their own lives.

¹⁹So are the paths of every one that is greedy of gain: it taketh away the life of its possessors.

²⁰Wisdom crieth without; she raiseth her voice in the broadways;

²¹she calleth in the chief [place] of concourse, in the entry of the gates; in the city she uttereth her words:

²²How long, simple ones, will ye love simpleness, and scorners take pleasure in their scorning, and the foolish hate knowledge?

²³Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour forth my spirit unto you, I will make known to you my words.

²⁴Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no one regarded;

²⁵and ye have rejected all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:

²⁶I also will laugh in your calamity, I will mock when your fear cometh;

²⁷when your fear cometh as sudden destruction, and your calamity cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish come upon you:

²⁸— then will they call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me early, and shall not find me.

²⁹Because they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of Jehovah;

³⁰they would none of my counsel, they despised all my reproof:

³¹therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their way, and be filled with their own devices.

³²For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of the foolish shall cause them to perish.

³³But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be at rest from fear of evil.