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

2 To know wisdom and instruction; To discern the words of understanding;

3 To receive instruction in wise dealing, In righteousness and justice and equity;

4 To give prudence to the simple, To the young man knowledge and discretion:

5 That the wise man may hear, and increase in learning; And that the man of understanding may attain to sound counsels:

6 To understand a proverb, and a figure, The words of the wise, and their dark sayings.

7 The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of knowledge; [But] the foolish despise wisdom and instruction.

8 My son, hear the instruction of your father, And don't forsake the law of your mother:

9 For they will be a chaplet of grace to your head, And chains about your neck.

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

11 If they say, Come with us, Let us lay in wait for blood; Let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause;

12 Let us swallow them up alive as Sheol, And whole, as those who go down into the pit;

13 We will find all precious substance; We will fill our houses with spoil;

14 You will cast your lot among us; We will all have one bag:

15 My son, don't walk in the way with them; Refrain your foot from their path:

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17 For in vain is the net spread In the sight of any bird:

18 And these lay wait for their own blood; They lurk secretly for their own lives.

19 So are the ways of everyone who is greedy of gain; It takes away the life of its owners.

20 Wisdom cries aloud in the street; She utters her voice in the broad places;

21 She cries in the most noisy places; At the entrance of the gates, In the city, she utters her words:

22 How long, you{+} simple ones, will you{+} love simplicity? And scoffers delight themselves in scoffing, And fools hate knowledge?

23 Turn{+} at my reproof: Look, I will cause my spirit to gush out on you{+} I will make my words known to you{+}.

24 Because I have called, and you{+} have refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man has regarded;

25 But you{+} have set at nothing all my counsel, And would have none of my reproof:

26 I also will laugh in [the day of] your{+} calamity; I will mock when your{+} fear comes;

27 When your{+} fear comes as a storm, And your{+} calamity comes on as a whirlwind; When distress and anguish come upon you{+}.

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

29 For they hated knowledge, And did not choose the fear of Yahweh:

30 They didn't want my counsel; They despised all my reproof.

31 Therefore they will eat of the fruit of their own way, And be filled with their own devices.

32 For the backsliding of the simple will slay them, And the careless ease of fools will destroy them.

33 But whoever harkens to me will stay securely, And will be quiet without fear of evil.