| 1. | The Proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel: |
| 2. | That men may appreciate wisdom and discipline, may understand words of intelligence; |
| 3. | May receive training in wise conduct, in what is right, just and honest; |
| 4. | That resourcefulness may be imparted to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion. |
| 5. | A wise man by hearing them will advance in learning, an intelligent man will gain sound guidance, |
| 6. | That he may comprehend proverb and parable, the words of the wise and their riddles. |
| 7. | The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; wisdom and instruction fools despise. |
| 8. | Hear, my son, your father's instruction, and reject not your mother's teaching; |
| 9. | A graceful diadem will they be for your head; a torque for your neck. |
| 10. | My son, should sinners entice you, |
| 11. | and say, "Come along with us! Let us lie in wait for the honest man, let us, unprovoked, set a trap for the innocent; |
| 12. | Let us swallow them up, as the nether world does, alive, in the prime of life, like those who go down to the pit! |
| 13. | All kinds of precious wealth shall we gain, we shall fill our houses with booty; |
| 14. | Cast in your lot with us, we shall all have one purse!"-- |
| 15. | My son, walk not in the way with them, hold back your foot from their path! |
| 16. | (For their feet run to evil, they hasten to shed blood.) |
| 17. | It is in vain that a net is spread before the eyes of any bird-- |
| 18. | These men lie in wait for their own blood, they set a trap for their own lives. |
| 19. | This is the fate of everyone greedy of loot: unlawful gain takes away the life of him who acquires it. |
| 20. | Wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the open squares she raises her voice; |
| 21. | Down the crowded ways she calls out, at the city gates she utters her words: |
| 22. | "How long, you simple ones, will you love inanity, |
| 23. | how long will you turn away at my reproof? Lo! I will pour out to you my spirit, I will acquaint you with my words. |
| 24. | "Because I called and you refused, I extended my hand and no one took notice; |
| 25. | Because you disdained all my counsel, and my reproof you ignored-- |
| 26. | I, in my turn, will laugh at your doom; I will mock when terror overtakes you; |
| 27. | When terror comes upon you like a storm, and your doom approaches like a whirlwind; when distress and anguish befall you. |
| 28. | "Then they call me, but I answer not; they seek me, but find me not; |
| 29. | Because they hated knowledge, and chose not the fear of the LORD; |
| 30. | They ignored my counsel, they spurned all my reproof; And in their arrogance they preferred arrogance, and like fools they hated knowledge: |
| 31. | "Now they must eat the fruit of their own way, and with their own devices be glutted. |
| 32. | For the self-will of the simple kills them, the smugness of fools destroys them. |
| 33. | But he who obeys me dwells in security, in peace, without fear of harm." |
