1 P roverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:

2 t o know wisdom and instruction; to discern the words of understanding;

3 t o receive the instruction of wisdom, righteousness and judgment, and equity;

4 t o give prudence to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.

5 H e that is wise will hear, and will increase learning; and the intelligent will gain wise counsels:

6 t o understand a proverb and an allegory, the words of the wise and their enigmas.

7 T he fear of Jehovah is the beginning of knowledge: fools despise wisdom and instruction.

8 H ear, my son, the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the teaching of thy mother;

9 f or they shall be a garland of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.

10 M y son, if sinners entice thee, consent not.

11 I f they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause;

12 l et us swallow them up alive as Sheol, and whole, as those that go down into the pit;

13 w e shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil:

14 c ast in thy lot among us; we will all have one purse:

15 — my son, walk not in the way with them, keep back thy foot from their path;

16 f or their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood.

17 F or in vain the net is spread in the sight of anything which hath wings.

18 A nd these lay wait for their own blood; they lurk secretly for their own lives.

19 S o are the paths of every one that is greedy of gain: it taketh away the life of its possessors.

20 W isdom crieth without; she raiseth her voice in the broadways;

21 s he calleth in the chief of concourse, in the entry of the gates; in the city she uttereth her words:

22 H ow long, simple ones, will ye love simpleness, and scorners take pleasure in their scorning, and the foolish hate knowledge?

23 T urn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour forth my spirit unto you, I will make known to you my words.

24 B ecause I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no one regarded;

25 a nd ye have rejected all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:

26 I also will laugh in your calamity, I will mock when your fear cometh;

27 w hen your fear cometh as sudden destruction, and your calamity cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish come upon you:

28 — then will they call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me early, and shall not find me.

29 B ecause they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of Jehovah;

30 t hey would none of my counsel, they despised all my reproof:

31 t herefore shall they eat of the fruit of their way, and be filled with their own devices.

32 F or the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of the foolish shall cause them to perish.

33 B ut whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be at rest from fear of evil.