| 1 | The proverbs (truths obscurely expressed, maxims, and parables) of Solomon son of David, king of Israel: |
| 2 |
[a]That people may know skillful
and
godly
[b]Wisdom and instruction, discern
and
comprehend the words of understanding
and
insight, |
| 3 | Receive instruction in wise dealing
and
the discipline of wise thoughtfulness, righteousness, justice, and integrity, |
| 4 | That prudence may be given to the simple, and knowledge, discretion,
and
discernment to the youth— |
| 5 | The wise also will hear and increase in learning, and the person of understanding will acquire skill
and
attain to sound counsel [so that he may be able to steer his course rightly]— |
| 6 | That people may understand a proverb and a figure of speech
or
an enigma with its interpretation, and the words of the wise and their dark sayings
or
riddles. |
| 7 | The reverent
and
worshipful fear of the Lord is the beginning
and
the principal
and
choice part of knowledge [its starting point and its essence]; but fools despise skillful
and
godly Wisdom, instruction,
and
discipline. |
| 8 | My son, hear the instruction of your father; reject not
nor
forsake the teaching of your mother. |
| 9 | For they are a [victor’s] chaplet (garland) of grace upon your head and chains
and
pendants [of gold worn by kings] 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 [to shed] blood, let us ambush the innocent without cause [and show that his piety is in vain]; |
| 12 | Let us swallow them up alive as does Sheol (the place of the dead), and whole, as those who go down into the pit [of the dead]; |
| 13 | We shall find
and
take all kinds of precious goods [when our victims are put out of the way], we shall fill our houses with plunder; |
| 14 | Throw in your lot with us [they insist]
and
be a sworn brother
and
comrade; let us all have one purse in common— |
| 15 | My son, do not walk in the way with them; restrain your foot from their path; |
| 16 | For their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood. |
| 17 | For in vain is the net spread in the sight of any bird! |
| 18 | But [when these men set a trap for others] they are lying in wait for their own blood; they set an ambush for their own lives. |
| 19 | So are the ways of everyone who is greedy of gain; such [greed for plunder] takes away the lives of its possessors. |
| 20 |
[c]Wisdom cries aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the markets; |
| 21 | She cries at the head of the noisy intersections [in the chief gathering places]; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks: |
| 22 | How long, O simple ones [open to evil], will you love being simple? And the scoffers delight in scoffing and [self-confident] fools hate knowledge? |
| 23 | If you will turn (repent)
and
give heed to my reproof, behold, I [
[d]Wisdom] will pour out my spirit upon you, I will make my words known to you. |
| 24 | Because I have called and you have refused [to answer], have stretched out my hand and no man has heeded it, |
| 25 | And you treated as nothing all my counsel and would accept none of my reproof, |
| 26 | I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when the thing comes that shall cause you terror
and
panic— |
| 27 | When your panic comes as a storm
and
desolation and your calamity comes on as a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you. |
| 28 | Then will they call upon me [Wisdom] but I will not answer; they will seek me early
and
diligently but they will not find me. |
| 29 | Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the reverent
and
worshipful fear of the Lord, |
| 30 | Would accept none of my counsel, and despised all my reproof, |
| 31 | Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way and be satiated with their own devices. |
| 32 | For the backsliding of the simple shall slay them, and the careless ease of [self-confident] fools shall destroy them. |
| 33 | But whoso hearkens to me [Wisdom] shall dwell securely
and
in confident trust and shall be quiet, without fear
or
dread of evil. |
Cross references:
-
Proverbs 1:5 : Prov. 9:9.
-
Proverbs 1:7 : Ps. 111:10.
-
Proverbs 1:10 : Ps. 1:1; Eph. 5:11.
-
Proverbs 1:19 : Prov. 15:27; I Tim. 6:10.
-
Proverbs 1:23 : Isa. 11:2; Eph. 1:17-20.
-
Proverbs 1:24 : Isa. 65:11, 12; 66:4; Jer. 7:13, 14; Zech. 7:11-13.
-
Proverbs 1:28 : Job 27:9; 35:12, 13; Isa. 1:15, 16; Jer. 11:11; Mic. 3:4; James 4:3.
-
Proverbs 1:29 : Prov. 8:13.
-
Proverbs 1:32 : Isa. 32:6.
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