Proverbs 1

¹ The proverbs of Solomon son of David,
king of Israel:

² For learning wisdom and discipline,
for understanding words of insight,

³ for receiving discipline that brings prudence—
righteousness, justice, and uprightness,

⁴ for giving shrewdness to the naive,
knowledge and discretion to the young—

⁵ let the wise listen and add to their learning,
and the discerning acquire guidance,

⁶ for understanding a proverb and a puzzle,
the words of the wise and their riddles.

⁷ The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and discipline.

⁸ Listen, my son, to your father's discipline,
and do not forsake your mother's teaching,

⁹ for they are a graceful 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 ambush the innocent without cause;

¹² let us swallow them alive like Sheol,
whole, like those who go down to the pit;

¹³ we will find all kinds of precious wealth,
we will fill our houses with plunder;

¹⁴ throw in your lot with us—
we will all share one purse"—

¹⁵ my son, do not walk in the way with them;
hold back your foot from their path,

¹⁶ for their feet run toward evil,
and they hurry to shed blood.

¹⁷ How useless to spread a net
in the sight of any bird!

¹⁸ But they lie in wait for their own blood;
they ambush their own lives.

¹⁹ Such are the paths of all who profit by violence;
it takes the life of those who gain it.

²⁰ Wisdom cries aloud in the street;
in the public squares she raises her voice.

²¹ At the head of the noisy streets she calls out;
at the entrances of the gates in the city she speaks her words:

²² "How long, O naive ones, will you love naivety?
How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing
and fools hate knowledge?

²³ Turn back at my rebuke!
Look—I will pour out my spirit on you;
I will make my words known to you.

²⁴ Because I called and you refused,
I stretched out my hand and no one paid attention,

²⁵ and you neglected all my counsel
and would not accept my rebuke—

²⁶ I also will laugh at your calamity;
I will mock when dread comes upon you,

²⁷ when dread comes upon you like a storm
and your calamity arrives like a whirlwind,
when distress and anguish come upon you.

²⁸ Then they will call to 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 did not accept my counsel,
and spurned all my rebuke.

³¹ So they will eat the fruit of their own way
and be filled with their own schemes.

³² For the waywardness of the naive will kill them,
and the complacency of fools will destroy them.

³³ But whoever listens to me will dwell secure
and will be at ease from the dread of evil."