Proverbs 1:28
New International Version
“Then they will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me,

New Living Translation
“When they cry for help, I will not answer. Though they anxiously search for me, they will not find me.

English Standard Version
Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me.

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

King James Bible
Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:

New King James Version
“Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me.

New American Standard Bible
“Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently but will not find me,

NASB 1995
“Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently but they will not find me,

NASB 1977
“Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently, but they shall not find me,

Legacy Standard Bible
Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me earnestly but they will not find me,

Amplified Bible
“Then they will call upon me (Wisdom), but I will not answer; They will seek me eagerly but they will not find me,

Christian Standard Bible
Then they will call me, but I won’t answer; they will search for me, but won’t find me.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Then they will call me, but I won’t answer; they will search for me, but won’t find me.

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

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Then they will call on me and I shall not answer them, and they will come early to my presence and they will not find me

Brenton Septuagint Translation
For it shall be that when ye call upon me, I will not hearken to you: wicked men shall seek me, but shall not find me.

Contemporary English Version
You will ask for my help, but I won't listen; you will search, but you won't find me.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Then shall they call upon me, and I will not hear: they shall rise in the morning and shall not find me:

English Revised Version
Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me diligently, but they shall not find me:

GOD'S WORD® Translation
"They will call to me at that time, but I will not answer. They will look for me, but they will not find me,

Good News Translation
Then you will call for wisdom, but I will not answer. You may look for me everywhere, but you will not find me.

International Standard Version
"Then they will call out to me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently, but they will not find me.

JPS Tanakh 1917
Then will they call me, but I will not answer, They will seek me earnestly, but they shall not find me.

Literal Standard Version
Then they call me, and I do not answer, | They seek me earnestly, and do not find me.

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

New American Bible
Then they will call me, but I will not answer; they will seek me, but will not find me,

NET Bible
Then they will call to me, but I will not answer; they will diligently seek me, but they will not find me.

New Revised Standard Version
Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently, but will not find me.

New Heart English Bible
Then will they call on me, but I will not answer. They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me;

Webster's Bible Translation
Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:

World English Bible
Then they will call on me, but I will not answer. They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me,

Young's Literal Translation
Then they call me, and I do not answer, They seek me earnestly, and find me not.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Wisdom Calls Aloud
27when your dread comes like a storm, and your destruction like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish overwhelm you. 28Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; they will earnestly seek me, but will not find me. 29For they hated knowledge and chose not to fear the LORD.…

Cross References
James 4:3
And when you do ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may squander it on your pleasures.

1 Samuel 8:18
When that day comes, you will beg for relief from the king you have chosen, but the LORD will not answer you on that day."

Job 27:9
Will God hear his cry when distress comes upon him?

Job 35:12
There they cry out, but He does not answer, because of the pride of evil men.

Psalm 18:41
They cried for help, but there was no one to save them--to the LORD, but He did not answer.

Psalm 66:18
If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.

Proverbs 8:17
I love those who love me, and those who seek me early shall find me.


Treasury of Scripture

Then shall they call on me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:

shall they

Genesis 6:3
And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.

Job 27:9
Will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him?

Job 35:12
There they cry, but none giveth answer, because of the pride of evil men.

they shall seek

Psalm 78:34-36
When he slew them, then they sought him: and they returned and inquired early after God…

Hosea 5:15
I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.

Hosea 6:1-4
Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up…

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Proverbs 1
1. The use of the proverbs
7. An exhortation to fear God, and believe his word
10. to avoid the enticing of sinners
20. Wisdom complains of her contempt
24. She threatens her contemners














(28) Then shall they call upon me.--They did not call upon Him in an "acceptable time," in "a day of salvation" (Isaiah 49:8), while He was "near" (Isaiah 55:6); so at last the master of the house has "risen up, and shut-to the door" (Luke 13:25), and will not listen to their cries.

They shall seek me early.--As God had done, "daily rising up early," and sending the prophets unto them (Jeremiah 7:25).

Verse 28. - The phase which the address now enters upon continues to the thirty-first verse. The change in this verse from the second to the third person is striking. It implies that Wisdom thinks fools no longer worthy of being addressed personally - "Quasi stultos indignos censunt ulteriori alloquio" (Gejerus and Michaelis). The declaration is the embodiment of the laughter and scorn of ver. 26. The three verbs, "they shall call," "they shall seek," "they shall find," occur in uncommon and emphatic forms in the original. They are some out of the few instances where the future terminations are inserted fully before the pronominal suffix. I will not answer. The distress and anguish consequent upon their calamity and fear lead them to pray, but there will be no answer nor heed given to their cry. They are not heard, because they do not cry rightly nor in the time of grace (Lapide). See the striking parallel to the tenor of this passage in Luke 13:24-28. They shall seek me early; i.e. diligently. The verb שָׁחַר (shakhar) is the denominative from the substantive שַׁחַר (shakar), "the dawn, morning," and signifies to go out and seek something in the obscurity of the morning twilight (Delitzsch, Zockler), and hence indicates diligence and earnestness in the search. Gesenius gives the same derivation, but connects it with the dawn in the sense of the light breaking forth, and thus, as it were, seeking (see also Proverbs 2:27; 7:15; 8:17; Hosea 5:15).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Then
אָ֣ז (’āz)
Adverb
Strong's 227: At that time, place, therefore

they will call on me,
יִ֭קְרָאֻנְנִי (yiq·rā·’un·nî)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine plural | first person common singular, Paragogic nun
Strong's 7121: To call, proclaim, read

but I will not
וְלֹ֣א (wə·lō)
Conjunctive waw | Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

answer;
אֶֽעֱנֶ֑ה (’e·‘ĕ·neh)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - first person common singular
Strong's 6030: To answer, respond

they {will} earnestly seek me,
יְ֝שַׁחֲרֻ֗נְנִי (yə·ša·ḥă·run·nî)
Verb - Piel - Imperfect - third person masculine plural | first person common singular, Paragogic nun
Strong's 7836: To dawn, be, early at any task, to search for

but {will} not
וְלֹ֣א (wə·lō)
Conjunctive waw | Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

find me.
יִמְצָאֻֽנְנִי׃ (yim·ṣā·’un·nî)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine plural | first person common singular, Paragogic nun
Strong's 4672: To come forth to, appear, exist, to attain, find, acquire, to occur, meet, be present


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OT Poetry: Proverbs 1:28 Then will they call on me (Prov. Pro Pr)
Proverbs 1:27
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