Proverbs 1

1The Proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, Who reigned in Israel.

2To know wisdom and instruction, And to understand words of discernment;

3To receive both subtlety of words, And to understand true righteousness and upright judgment;

4So as to give astuteness to the simple, And both perception and understanding to a young man;

5For a wise man who hears these things will be wiser, And the man of understanding will gain direction.

6He will understand both a parable and a hidden saying, Both wise words and riddles.

7The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, And there is good understanding in all who practice it;

8And godliness toward God is the beginning of perception, But the ungodly despise wisdom and instruction.

9Hear, my son, the instruction of your father, And do not reject the laws of your mother.

10For you will receive a crown of grace on your head And a gold chain around your neck.

11My son, do not let the ungodly lead you astray, And do not consent if they invite you, saying,

12"Come with us; take part in bloodshed, And let us hide a righteous man in the earth unjustly;

13And let us swallow him, just as Hades does the living, And let us take away his remembrance from the earth;

14Let us seize his valuable property, And let us fill our houses with spoils;

15Cast your lot with us And let us acquire a common bag; Let there be one purse for us."

16Do not walk in the way with them, But turn away your foot from their paths.

17For their feet run to evil, And they make haste to shed blood.

18For nets are not spread before birds for no reason, For those who participate in murder store up evils for themselves; And evil is the destruction of lawless men.

19These are the ways of all who accomplish lawless things, For they take away their own soul in ungodliness.

20Wisdom sings in the streets; She moves boldly in the squares.

21She preaches on high city walls And sits at the gates of lords. At the gates of a city she boldly says,

22"So long a time as the simple hold fast to righteousness, They shall not be ashamed;

23But those without discernment, since they are desirous of arrogance, And are become ungodly, they hate perception, And are become subject to reproofs.

24Behold, I shall bring forth upon you the utterance of my breath, And I shall teach you my word.

25Since I called, but you did not obey, And spoke at length, but you paid no attention,

26But made my counsels invalid, And were not persuaded by my reproofs;

27Consequently, I will laugh at your annihilation, And will exult when ruin comes to you,

28And when confusion reaches you unawares, And overthrow comes like a whirlwind,

29And when tribulation and anguish come to you, And when destruction comes to you.

30For it shall be, when you shall call upon me, I will not listen to you;

31Evil men will seek me, but not find me, For they hate wisdom, and choose not the fear of the Lord.

32Neither do they wish to follow my counsels, But despise my reproofs.

33Therefore, they shall eat the fruits of their own way And be filled with their own ungodliness.

34For since they wrong the simple, they shall be killed, And a close examination shall destroy the ungodly.

35But he who obeys me shall dwell in hope, And shall be at rest without fear from every evil."