Proverbs 1
1 The parables of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel.
The Proverbs of Solomon son of David, who reigned in Israel;
2 To know wisdom, and instruction:
to know wisdom and instruction, and to perceive words of understanding;
3 To understand the words of prudence: and to receive the instruction of doctrine, justice, and judgment, and equity:
to receive also hard saying, and to understand true justice, and [how] to direct judgement;
4 To give subtilty to little ones, to the young man knowledge and understanding.
that he might give subtlety to the simple, and to the young man discernment and understanding.
5 A wise man shall hear and shall be wiser: and he that understandeth, shall possess governments.
For by the hearing of these a wise man will be wiser, and man of understanding will gain direction;
6 He shall understand a parable, and the interpretation, the words of the wise, and their mysterious sayings.
and will understand a parable, and a dark speech; the saying of the wise also, and riddles.
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Fools despise wisdom and instruction.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; and [there is] good understanding to all that practise it: and piety towards God is the beginning of discernment; but the ungodly will set at nothing wisdom and instruction.
8 My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
Hear, [my] son, the instruction of your father, and reject not the rules of your mother.
9 That grace may be added to thy head, and a chain of gold to thy neck.
For you shall receive for your head a crown of graces, and a chain of gold round your neck.
10 My son, if sinners shall entice thee, consent not to them.
[My] son, let not ungodly men lead you astray, neither consent you [to them].
11 If they shall say: Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood, let us hide snares for the innocent without cause:
If they should exhort you, saying, Come with us, partake in blood, and let us unjustly hide the just man in the earth:
12 Let us swallow him up alive like hell, and whole as one that goeth down into the pit. (Sheol h7585)
and let us swallow him alive, as Hades [would], and remove the memorial of him from the earth: (Sheol h7585)
13 We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoils.
let us seize on his valuable property, and let us fill our houses with spoils:
14 Cast in thy lot with us, let us all have one purse.
but do you cast in your lot with us, and let us all provide a common purse, and let us have one pouch:
15 My son, walk not thou with them, restrain thy foot from their paths.
go not in the way with them, but turn aside your foot from their paths:
16 For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.
[For their feet run to do evil, and are swift to shed blood. ]
17 But a net is spread in vain before the eyes of them that have wings.
for nets are not without cause spread for birds.
18 And they themselves lie in wait for their own blood, and practise deceits against their own souls.
For they that are concerned in murder store up evils for themselves; and the overthrow of transgressors is evil.
19 So the wage of every covetous man destroy the souls of the possessors.
These are the ways of all that perform lawless deeds; for by ungodliness they destroy their own life.
20 Wisdom preacheth abroad, she uttereth her voice in the streets:
Wisdom sings aloud in passages, and in the broad places speaks boldly.
21 At the head of multitudes she crieth out, in the entrance of the gates of the city she uttereth her words, saying:
And she makes proclamation on the top of the walls, and sits by the gates of princes; and at the gates of the city boldly says,
22 O children, how long will you love childishness, and fools covet those things which are hurtful to themselves, and the unwise hate knowledge?
So long as the simple cleave to justice, they shall not be ashamed: but the foolish being lovers of haughtiness, having become ungodly have hated knowledge, and are become subject to reproofs.
23 Turn ye at my reproof: behold I will utter my spirit to you, and will shew you my words.
Behold, I will bring forth to you the utterance of my breath, and I will instruct you in my speech.
24 Because I called, and you refused: I stretched out my hand, and there was none that regarded.
Since I called, and you did not listen; and I spoke at length, and you gave no heed;
25 You have despised all my counsel, and have neglected my reprehensions.
but you set at nothing my counsels, and disregarded my reproofs;
26 I also will laugh in your destruction, and will mock when that shall come to you which you feared.
therefore I also will laugh at your destruction; and I will rejoice against [you] when ruin comes upon you:
27 When sudden calamity shall fall on you, and destruction, as a tempest, shall be at hand: when tribulation and distress shall come upon you:
yes when dismay suddenly comes upon you, and [your] overthrow shall arrive like a tempest; and when tribulation and distress shall come upon you, or when ruin shall come upon you.
28 Then shall they call upon me, and I will not hear: they shall rise in the morning and shall not find me:
For it shall be that when you call upon me, I will not listen to you: wicked men shall seek me, but shall not find [me].
29 Because they have hated instruction and received not the fear of the Lord,
For they hated wisdom, and did not choose the word of the Lord:
30 Nor consented to my counsel, but despised all my reproof.
neither would they attend to my counsels, but derided my reproofs.
31 Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way, and shall be filled with their own devices.
Therefore shall they eat the fruits of their own way, and shall be filled with their own ungodliness.
32 The turning away of little ones shall kill them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.
For because they wronged the simple, they shall be slain; and an inquisition shall ruin the ungodly.
33 But he that shall hear me, shall rest without terror, and shall enjoy abundance, without fear of evils.
But he that hearkens to me shall dwell in confidence, and shall rest securely from all evil.
