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

Proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:

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

For knowing wisdom and instruction, For understanding sayings of intelligence,

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

For receiving the instruction of wisdom, Righteousness, judgment, and uprightness,

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

For giving to simple ones -- prudence, To a youth -- knowledge and discretion.

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

(The wise doth hear and increaseth learning, And the intelligent doth obtain counsels.)

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

For understanding a proverb and its sweetness, Words of the wise and their acute sayings.

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

Fear of Jehovah a beginning of knowledge, Wisdom and instruction fools have despised!

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

Hear, my son, the instruction of thy father, And leave not the law of thy mother,

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

For a graceful wreath they to thy head, And chains to thy neck.

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

My son, if sinners entice thee be not willing.

11 I f they say, Come with us, let us lay in wait for blood; let us ambush the innocent without cause.

If they say, `Come with us, we lay wait for blood, We watch 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;

We swallow them as Sheol -- alive, And whole -- as those going down the pit,

13 W e shall find all kinds of riches, we shall fill our houses with spoil.

Every precious substance we find, We fill our houses spoil,

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

Thy lot thou dost cast among us, One purse is -- to all of us.'

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

My son! go not in the way with them, Withhold thy foot from their path,

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

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

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

Surely in vain is the net spread out before the eyes of any bird.

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

And they for their own blood lay wait, They watch secretly for their own lives.

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

So the paths of every gainer of dishonest gain, The life of its owners it taketh.

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

Wisdom in an out-place crieth aloud, In broad places she giveth forth her voice,

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

At the head of the multitudes she calleth, In the openings of the gates, In the city her sayings she saith:

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

`Till when, ye simple, do ye love simplicity? And have scorners their scorning desired? And do 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.

Turn back at my reproof, lo, I pour forth to you my spirit, I make known my words with you.

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

Because I have called, and ye refuse, I stretched out my hand, and none is attending,

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

And ye slight all my counsel, And my reproof ye have not desired.

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

I also in your calamity do laugh, I deride when your fear cometh,

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

When your fear cometh as destruction, And your calamity as a hurricane doth come, When on you come adversity and distress.

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

Then they call me, and I do not answer, They seek me earnestly, and find me not.

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

Because that they have hated knowledge, And the fear of Jehovah have not chosen.

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

They have not consented to my counsel, They have despised all my reproof,

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

And they eat of the fruit of their way, And from their own counsels they are filled.

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

For the turning of the simple slayeth them, And the security of the foolish destroyeth them.

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

And whoso is hearkening to me dwelleth confidently, And quiet from fear of evil!'