1 ¶ The proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel;

2 t o know wisdom and chastening; to understand prudent words;

3 t o receive the chastening of prudence, justice, judgment, and equity;

4 t o give prudence to the simple, and to the young men knowledge and council.

5 I f the wise will hear them, doctrine shall increase, and the man of understanding shall acquire wise counsel:

6 T o understand a parable and the interpretation; the words of the wise and their enigmas.

7 ¶ The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and chastening.

8 M y son, hearken unto the chastening of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:

9 F or they shall be an increase of grace unto thy head and protection about thy neck.

10 ¶ My son, if sinners entice thee, do not consent.

11 I f they say, Come with us, let us lay in wait for blood; let us ambush 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 kinds of riches, we shall fill our houses with spoil.

14 C ast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse:

15 M y son, do not walk in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path:

16 F or their feet shall run to evil and make haste to shed blood.

17 S urely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.

18 A nd they lay in wait for their own blood; they ambush their own souls.

19 S o are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain which takes away the life of those who possess it.

20 ¶ Wisdom cries without; she utters her voice in the streets:

21 S he cries in the chief place of concourse, in the entrance to the gates of the city she utters her words, saying,

22 H ow long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and the fools hate knowledge?

23 R eturn at my reproof; behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.

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

25 f or because ye have disregarded all my counsel and rejected my reproof:

26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear comes upon you;

27 w hen what you have feared comes as destruction, and your calamity comes as a whirlwind; when tribulation and anguish come upon you.

28 T hen they shall call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:

29 B ecause they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD:

30 T hey rejected my counsel: they despised all my reproof.

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

32 F or the rest of the ignorant shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.

33 B ut whosoever hearkens unto me shall dwell safely and shall rest from the fear of evil.