1 T he proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel;

2 T o know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;

3 T o receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity;

4 T o give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.

5 A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:

6 T o understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.

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

8 M y son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:

9 F or they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.

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

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

12 L et us swallow them up alive as the grave; 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; let us all have one purse:

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

16 F or their feet 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 wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives.

19 S o are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.

20 W isdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets:

21 S he crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying,

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

23 T urn you 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 man regarded;

25 B ut ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:

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

27 W hen your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.

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

29 F or that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord:

30 T hey would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.

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

32 F or the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.

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