| 1. | The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel: |
| 2. | That men may know wisdom and instruction, understand words of insight, |
| 3. | receive instruction in wise dealing, righteousness, justice, and equity; |
| 4. | that prudence may be given to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth -- |
| 5. | the wise man also may hear and increase in learning, and the man of understanding acquire skill, |
| 6. | to understand a proverb and a figure, the words of the wise and their riddles. |
| 7. | The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. |
| 8. | Hear, my son, your father's instruction, and reject not your mother's teaching; |
| 9. | for they are a fair garland for your head, and pendants for your neck. |
| 10. | My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent. |
| 11. | If they say, "Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood, let us wantonly ambush the innocent; |
| 12. | like Sheol let us swallow them alive and whole, like those who go down to the Pit; |
| 13. | we shall find all precious goods, we shall fill our houses with spoil; |
| 14. | throw in your lot among us, we will all have one purse" -- |
| 15. | my son, do not walk in the way with them, hold back your foot from their paths; |
| 16. | for their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood. |
| 17. | For in vain is a net spread in the sight of any bird; |
| 18. | but these men lie in wait for their own blood, they set an ambush for their own lives. |
| 19. | Such are the ways of all who get gain by violence; it takes away the life of its possessors. |
| 20. | Wisdom cries aloud in the street; in the markets she raises her voice; |
| 21. | on the top of the walls she cries out; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks: |
| 22. | "How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge? |
| 23. | Give heed to my reproof; behold, I will pour out my thoughts to you; I will make my words known to you. |
| 24. | Because I have called and you refused to listen, have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded, |
| 25. | and you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof, |
| 26. | I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when panic strikes you, |
| 27. | when panic strikes you like a storm, and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you. |
| 28. | Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me. |
| 29. | Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD, |
| 30. | would have none of my counsel, and despised all my reproof, |
| 31. | therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way and be sated with their own devices. |
| 32. | For the simple are killed by their turning away, and the complacence of fools destroys them; |
| 33. | but he who listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of evil." |
