Proverbs 1

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

2 Proverbs 1:2 To know wisdom and instruction, To discern the sayings of understanding,

3 Proverbs 1:3 To receive instruction in wise behavior, Righteousness, justice and equity;

4 Proverbs 1:4 To give prudence to the naive, To the youth knowledge and discretion,

5 Proverbs 1:5 A wise man will hear and increase in learning, And a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel,

6 Proverbs 1:6 To understand a proverb and a figure, The words of the wise and their riddles.

7 Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.

8 Proverbs 1:8 Hear, my son, your father’s instruction And do not forsake your mother’s teaching;

9 Proverbs 1:9 Indeed, they are a graceful wreath to your head And ornaments about your neck.

10 Proverbs 1:10 My son, if sinners entice you, Do not consent.

11 Proverbs 1:11 If they say, “Come with us, Let us lie in wait for blood, Let us ambush the innocent without cause;

12 Proverbs 1:12 Let us swallow them alive like Sheol, Even whole, as those who go down to the pit;

13 Proverbs 1:13 We will find all kinds of precious wealth, We will fill our houses with spoil;

14 Proverbs 1:14 Throw in your lot with us, We shall all have one purse,”

15 Proverbs 1:15 My son, do not walk in the way with them. Keep your feet from their path,

16 Proverbs 1:16 For their feet run to evil And they hasten to shed blood.

17 Proverbs 1:17 Indeed, it is useless to spread the baited net In the sight of any bird;

18 Proverbs 1:18 But they lie in wait for their own blood; They ambush their own lives.

19 Proverbs 1:19 So are the ways of everyone who gains by violence; It takes away the life of its possessors.

20 Proverbs 1:20 Wisdom shouts in the street, She lifts her voice in the square;

21 Proverbs 1:21 At the head of the noisy streets she cries out; At the entrance of the gates in the city she utters her sayings:

22 Proverbs 1:22 “How long, O naive ones, will you love being simple-minded? And scoffers delight themselves in scoffing And fools hate knowledge?

23 Proverbs 1:23 “Turn to my reproof, Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you.

24 Proverbs 1:24 “Because I called and you refused, I stretched out my hand and no one paid attention;

25 Proverbs 1:25 And you neglected all my counsel And did not want my reproof;

26 Proverbs 1:26 I will also laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your dread comes,

27 Proverbs 1:27 When your dread comes like a storm And your calamity comes like a whirlwind, When distress and anguish come upon you.

28 Proverbs 1:28 “Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently but they will not find me,

29 Proverbs 1:29 Because they hated knowledge And did not choose the fear of the LORD.

30 Proverbs 1:30 “They would not accept my counsel, They spurned all my reproof.

31 Proverbs 1:31 “So they shall eat of the fruit of their own way And be satiated with their own devices.

32 Proverbs 1:32 “For the waywardness of the naive will kill them, And the complacency of fools will destroy them.

33 Proverbs 1:33 “But he who listens to me shall live securely And will be at ease from the dread of evil.”