Proverbs 1

1These are the proverbs of Solomon, David’s son, king of Israel. 2They are for learning wisdom and discipline, for grasping words of insight, 3for taking in the training that brings good sense: righteousness, justice and fairness, 4for making the naive shrewd, and giving the young knowledge and the ability to plan wisely. 5Let the wise listen and gain still more learning; let those with understanding acquire skill to steer their way, 6so that they understand proverbs and figures of speech, the sayings of the wise and their riddles. 7Knowledge begins with the fear of the LORD, but fools treat wisdom and discipline with contempt.

8My son, listen when your father corrects you, and do not let go of what your mother teaches you. 9For they will be a lovely wreath on your head and ornaments hanging around your neck. 10My son, if sinners try to lure you, do not go along with them. 11If they say, “Come with us; let us lie in wait to shed blood; let us set an ambush for the innocent, for no reason; 12let us gulp them down alive, as Sheol does, whole, like people going down into the pit; 13we will come away with riches of every kind and pack our houses with what we take; 14join your lot to ours; there will be one purse for all of us,” 15my son, do not go down that road with them; keep your feet off their path. 16For their feet race toward evil, and they are in a hurry to kill. 17It is useless to spread a net in full view of any bird. 18But it is their own blood they are waiting to shed; it is their own lives they ambush. 19That is how it goes for all who grab at dishonest profit: their profit costs them their lives.

20Wisdom shouts out in the street; in the open squares she makes her voice heard. 21At the busiest corners, above the noise, she calls out; at the city gates where people go in and out, she makes her speech: 22“You naive people, how much longer will you love being naive? How long will mockers enjoy their mocking, and fools hate knowledge? 23Turn back when I rebuke you, and I will pour out my heart to you and make my words known to you. 24But since I called and you would not come, since I held out my hand and no one took notice, 25since you brushed aside all my advice and would have no part of my correction, 26so when ruin comes to you, I too will laugh; when the thing you dread arrives, I will jeer, 27when terror sweeps over you like a storm and ruin like a whirlwind, when trouble and hardship close in on you. 28Then they will cry out to me, but I will give no answer; they will search hard for me without finding me. 29All this because they hated knowledge, and the fear of the LORD was not what they chose. 30They refused my advice and treated every correction I gave with contempt. 31So they will eat what their own way of life has produced and have more than enough of their own schemes. 32The naive turn away, and it kills them; fools feel safe and at ease, and it destroys them. 33But anyone who listens to me will live securely, at rest and free from the fear of harm.”