Proverbs 1

The fear of the Lord is the beginning

These are the proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel,a ²for gaining wisdom and discipline, for comprehending words of insight, ³and for receiving instruction in wise living and in righteousness, justice, and equity.b

⁴To impart prudence to the simple and knowledge and discretion to the young, ⁵let the wise listen and gain instruction, and the discerning acquire wise counselc ⁶by understanding the proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise.d

⁷The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.e

Do not go with them

⁸Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction, and do not forsake the teaching of your mother.f ⁹For they are a garland of grace on your head and a pendant around your neck. ¹⁰My son, if sinners entice you, do not yield to them.g

¹¹If they say, “Come along, let us lie in wait for blood, let us ambush the innocent without cause, ¹²let us swallow them alive like Sheol, and whole like those descending into the Pit. ¹³We will find all manner of precious goods; we will fill our houses with plunder.

¹⁴Throw in your lot with us; let us all share one purse”— ¹⁵my son, do not walk the road with them or set foot upon their path.h ¹⁶For their feet run to evil, and they are swift to shed blood.

¹⁷How futile it is to spread the net where any bird can see it! ¹⁸But they lie in wait for their own blood; they ambush their own lives. ¹⁹Such is the fate of all who are greedy, whose unjust gain takes the lives of its possessors.

Wisdom cries out in the street

²⁰Wisdom calls out in the street, she lifts her voice in the square; ²¹in the main concourse she cries aloud, at the city gates she makes her speech: ²²“How long, O simple ones, will you love your simple ways? How long will scoffers delight in their scorn and fools hate knowledge?

²³If you had repented at my rebuke, then surely I would have poured out my spirit on you; I would have made my words known to you.i ²⁴Because you refused my call, and no one took my outstretched hand,j ²⁵because you neglected all my counsel, and wanted none of my correction, ²⁶in turn I will mock your calamity; I will sneer when terror strikes you,k ²⁷when your dread comes like a storm, and your destruction like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish overwhelm you.

²⁸Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; they will earnestly seek me, but will not find me.l ²⁹For they hated knowledge and chose not to fear the LORD. ³⁰They accepted none of my counsel; they despised all my reproof.

³¹So they will eat the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.m ³²For the waywardness of the simple will slay them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them. ³³But whoever listens to me will dwell in safety, secure from the fear of evil.”n