To Know Wisdom

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

2To know wisdom and discipline,

To understand the sayings of understanding,

3To receive discipline [†]that leads to insight,

Righteousness, justice, and equity,

4To give prudence to the [†]simple,

To the youth knowledge and discretion;

5Let the wise man hear and increase in learning,

And a man of understanding will acquire guidance,

6To understand a proverb and an enigma,

The words of the wise and their riddles.

7The fear of [†]Yahweh is the beginning of knowledge;

[†]Ignorant fools despise wisdom and discipline.

The Enticement of Sinners

8Hear, my son, your father’s discipline

And do not abandon your mother’s [†]instruction;

9For they are a garland of grace for your head

And [†]ornaments about your neck.

10My son, if sinners entice you,

Do not be willing.

11If they say, “Come with us,

Let us lie in wait for blood,

Let us ambush the innocent without cause;

12Let us swallow them alive like Sheol,

And whole, as those who go down to the pit;

13We will find all kinds of precious wealth,

We will fill our houses with spoil;

14Cast in your lot [†]with us,

We shall all have one purse,”

15My son, do not walk in the way with them.

Withhold your feet from their pathway,

16For their feet run to evil

And they hasten to shed blood.

17For it is [†]no use that a net is spread

In the sight of any [†]bird;

18But they lie in wait for their own blood;

They ambush their own [†]lives.

19So are the paths of everyone who is greedy for gain;

It takes away the [†]life of its possessors.

The Call of Wisdom

20Wisdom shouts in the street,

She gives forth her voice in the square;

21At the head of the noisy streets she calls out;

At the entrance of the gates in the city she utters her sayings:

22“How long, O simple ones, will you love simplicity?

And scoffers delight in scoffing

And [†]fools hate knowledge?

23Turn to my reproof,

Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you;

I will make my words known to you.

24Because I called and you refused,

I stretched out my hand and no one paid attention;

25And you neglected all my counsel

And were not willing to accept my reproof;

26I will also laugh at your disaster;

I will mock when your dread comes,

27When your dread comes like a storm

And your disaster comes like a whirlwind,

When distress and anguish come upon you.

28Then they will call on me, but I will not answer;

They will seek me earnestly but they will not find me,

29Because they hated knowledge

And did not choose the fear of Yahweh.

30They were not willing to accept my counsel,

They spurned all my reproof.

31So they shall eat of the fruit of their way

And be satisfied with their own devices.

32For the turning away of the simple will kill them,

And the complacency of fools will destroy them.

33But he who listens to me shall dwell securely

And will be at ease from the dread of evil.”