Proverbs 1
1 The Proverbs of Solomon son of David, who reigned in Israel;
THE proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel;
2 to know wisdom and instruction, and to perceive words of understanding;
To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;
3 to receive also hard saying, and to understand true justice, and [how] to direct judgment;
To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity;
4 that he might give subtlety to the simple, and to the young man discernment and understanding.
To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.
5 For by the hearing of these a wise man will be wiser, and man of understanding will gain direction;
A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:
6 and will understand a parable, and a dark speech; the saying of the wise also, and riddles.
To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; and [there is] good understanding to all that practise it: and piety toward God is the beginning of discernment; but the ungodly will set at nothing wisdom and instruction.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
8 Hear, [my] son, the instruction of your father, and reject not the rules of your mother.
My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
9 For you shall receive for your head a crown of graces, and a chain of gold round your neck.
For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.
10 [My] son, let not ungodly men lead you astray, neither consent you [to them].
My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.
11 If they should exhort you, saying, Come with us, partake in blood, and let us unjustly hide the just man in the earth:
If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:
12 and let us swallow him alive, as Hades [would], and remove the memorial of him from the earth: (Sheol h7585)
Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit: (Sheol h7585)
13 let us seize on his valuable property, and let us fill our houses with spoils:
We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil:
14 but do you cast in your lot with us, and let us all provide a common purse, and let us have one pouch:
Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse:
15 go not in the way with them, but turn aside your foot from their paths:
My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path:
16 [For their feet run to do evil, and are swift to shed blood. ]
For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.
17 for nets are not without cause spread for birds.
Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.
18 For they that are concerned in murder store up evils for themselves; and the overthrow of transgressors is evil.
And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives.
19 These are the ways of all that perform lawless deeds; for by ungodliness they destroy their own life.
So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.
20 Wisdom sings aloud in passages, and in the broad places speaks boldly.
Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets:
21 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,
She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying,
22 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.
How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?
23 Behold, I will bring forth to you the utterance of my breath, and I will instruct you in my speech.
Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.
24 Since I called, and you did not listen; and I spoke at length, and you gave no heed;
Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;
25 but you set at nothing my counsels, and disregarded my reproofs;
But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:
26 therefore I also will laugh at your destruction; and I will rejoice against [you] when ruin comes upon you:
I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;
27 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.
When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.
28 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].
Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:
29 For they hated wisdom, and did not choose the word of the Lord:
For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord:
30 neither would they attend to my counsels, but derided my reproofs.
They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.
31 Therefore shall they eat the fruits of their own way, and shall be filled with their own ungodliness.
Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
32 For because they wronged the simple, they shall be slain; and an inquisition shall ruin the ungodly.
For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.
33 But he that hearkens to me shall dwell in confidence, and shall rest securely from all evil.
But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.
