Proverbs 1
1 These are the (proverbs/wise sayings) that come from Solomon, the King of Israel, who was the son of [King] David.
The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel:
2 (These proverbs [PRS] can teach people/By studying these proverbs, people can learn) how to be wise and how to obey what these proverbs teach them. They will [also] help people to understand which teachings are wise.
To know wisdom and instruction; To discern the words of understanding;
3 These proverbs [PRS] will teach you how to discipline/control yourselves, how to conduct your lives, and how to do what is right and just [DOU].
To receive instruction in wise dealing, In righteousness and justice and equity;
4 They will show [people] who do not [yet] know much how to do things that are smart. They will show young people how to become wise and how to make good plans/decisions.
To give prudence to the simple, To the young man knowledge and discretion:
5 Those who are wise should also pay attention [to these proverbs], in order to become more wise, and those who understand [these teachings] will receive good advice/guidance.
That the wise man may hear, and increase in learning; And that the man of understanding may attain unto sound counsels:
6 Then they will be able to understand the meaning of proverbs and parables/metaphors, these wise sayings and (riddles/sayings that are difficult to understand).
To understand a proverb, and a figure, The words of the wise, and their dark sayings.
7 If [you want to be] wise, you must begin by revering Yahweh. [Only] foolish people despise wisdom and good advice/discipline.
The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of knowledge; [But] the foolish despise wisdom and instruction.
8 My son, pay attention to what [I], your father, am teaching you. And do not reject what your mother teaches you.
My son, hear the instruction of thy father, And forsake not the law of thy mother:
9 What we teach you [will make you respected like having] a lovely turban around your head and [like] a [beautiful] necklace to put around your neck.
For they shall be a chaplet of grace unto thy head, And chains about thy neck.
10 My son, if sinners tempt/entice you [to do what is wrong], say “No” to them.
My son, if sinners entice thee, Consent thou not.
11 They may say, “Come with us! Join us! We will hide and then kill [MTY] someone [who passes by]. We will ambush some helpless/innocent people.
If they say, Come with us, Let us lay wait for blood; Let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause;
12 We will kill them [HYP] and get rid of them completely, [just] like [people who are buried in] graves are gone forever. While they are in good health, we will send them to the place where dead people are. (Sheol h7585)
Let us swallow them up alive as Sheol, And whole, as those that go down into the pit; (Sheol h7585)
13 And we will seize all the things that they own. We will fill our houses with these things!
We shall find all precious substance; We shall fill our houses with spoil;
14 [So], come with us! Join our group! We will share with you the things that we steal.”
Thou shalt cast thy lot among us; We will all have one purse:
15 My son, do not accompany them! Do not walk on the roads with them!
My son, walk not thou in the way with them; Refrain thy foot from their path:
16 They rush to do evil deeds! They hurry to murder [MTY] people.
For their feet run to evil, And they make haste to shed blood.
17 It is useless to put out a (trap/net to catch a bird) because when a bird sees it, [it stays away from it].
For in vain is the net spread In the sight of any bird:
18 But those wicked people are not like the birds, [because they do not realize] that when they prepare to ambush someone to kill him, they will be killed themselves!
And these lay wait for their own blood; They lurk privily for their own lives.
19 That is what happens to people who eagerly try to get things [by violently attacking others]. They will only destroy themselves!
So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; It taketh away the life of the owners thereof.
20 Wisdom [PRS] shouts to people in the streets, and calls out to people in the (plazas/town squares).
Wisdom crieth aloud in the street; She uttereth her voice in the broad places;
21 Wisdom calls out in noisy places, and at the entrances to cities.
She crieth in the chief place of concourse; At the entrance of the gates, In the city, she uttereth her words:
22 [Wisdom says], “How long will you stupid people continue to enjoy doing foolish things [RHQ]? How long will you people who ridicule God enjoy doing that [RHQ]? How long will you foolish people refuse to know [what things are right] [RHQ]?
How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? And scoffers delight them in scoffing, And fools hate knowledge?
23 If you pay attention to me when I rebuke you, I will tell you what I am thinking in my inner being; I will give you some good advice.
Turn you at my reproof: Behold, I will pour out my spirit upon you; I will make known my words unto you.
24 But when I called to you, you refused to listen. I beckoned to you to come to me, but you ignored me.
Because I have called, and ye have refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man hath regarded;
25 I tried to advise you, but you refused to listen to me. I tried to correct you, but you rejected what I told you.
But ye have set at nought all my counsel, And would none of my reproof:
26 So [now], when you are experiencing troubles/disasters, I will laugh at you. When things happen that cause you to be afraid, I will make fun of you.
I also will laugh in [the day of] your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;
27 When calamities strike you like a big storm, when disasters hit you like a violent wind, when [all kinds of things] distress you and give you trouble, [I will ridicule you!]
When your fear cometh as a storm, And your calamity cometh on as a whirlwind; When distress and anguish come upon you.
28 [Wisdom also says], “When foolish people call to me [to help them], I will not answer them. They will search for me diligently/everywhere, but they will not find me.
Then will they call upon me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently, but they shall not find me:
29 They refused to know [what things are right], and they decided not to revere Yahweh.
For that they hated knowledge, And did not choose the fear of Jehovah,
30 They would not accept my advice, and they did not pay attention when I tried to correct them.
They would none of my counsel, They despised all my reproof.
31 So they will endure what will result [MET, DOU] from the evil way they have lived/behaved and the evil things they have planned to do.
Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, And be filled with their own devices.
32 Those who turn away from me are stupid/foolish; they will die because of doing that.
For the backsliding of the simple shall slay them, And the careless ease of fools shall destroy them.
33 But those who pay attention to me will live peacefully and safely, and they will not be afraid that something will harm them.”
But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell securely, And shall be quiet without fear of evil.
