Proverbs

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

² To understand the sayings of understanding,

³ Righteousness, justice, and equity,

⁴ To the youth knowledge and discretion;

⁵ And a man of understanding will acquire guidance,

⁶ The words of the wise and their riddles.

⁷ Ignorant fools despise wisdom and discipline.

⁸ Hear, my son, your father’s discipline And do not abandon your mother’s instruction;

⁹ And ornaments about your neck.

¹⁰ Do not be willing.

¹¹ Let us lie in wait for blood, Let us ambush the innocent without cause;

¹² And whole, as those who go down to the pit;

¹³ We will fill our houses with spoil;

¹⁴ We shall all have one purse,”

¹⁵ Withhold your feet from their pathway,

¹⁶ And they hasten to shed blood.

¹⁷ In the sight of any bird;

¹⁸ They ambush their own lives.

¹⁹ It takes away the life of its possessors.

²⁰ Wisdom shouts in the street, She gives forth her voice in the square;

²¹ At the entrance of the gates in the city she utters her sayings:

²² And scoffers delight in scoffing And fools hate knowledge?

²³ Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you.

²⁴ I stretched out my hand and no one paid attention;

²⁵ And were not willing to accept my reproof;

²⁶ I will mock when your dread comes,

²⁷ And your disaster comes like a whirlwind, When distress and anguish come upon you.

²⁸ They will seek me earnestly but they will not find me,

²⁹ And did not choose the fear of Yahweh.

³⁰ They spurned all my reproof.

³¹ And be satisfied with their own devices.

³² And the complacency of fools will destroy them.

³³ And will be at ease from the dread of evil.”