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

2 F or knowing wisdom and instruction, For understanding sayings of intelligence,

3 F or receiving the instruction of wisdom, Righteousness, judgment, and uprightness,

4 F or giving to simple ones -- prudence, To a youth -- knowledge and discretion.

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

6 F or understanding a proverb and its sweetness, Words of the wise and their acute sayings.

7 F ear of Jehovah a beginning of knowledge, Wisdom and instruction fools have despised!

8 H ear, my son, the instruction of thy father, And leave not the law of thy mother,

9 F or a graceful wreath they to thy head, And chains to thy neck.

10 M y son, if sinners entice thee be not willing.

11 I f they say, `Come with us, we lay wait for blood, We watch secretly for the innocent without cause,

12 W e swallow them as Sheol -- alive, And whole -- as those going down the pit,

13 E very precious substance we find, We fill our houses spoil,

14 T hy lot thou dost cast among us, One purse is -- to all of us.'

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

16 F or their feet to evil do run, And they haste to shed blood.

17 S urely in vain is the net spread out before the eyes of any bird.

18 A nd they for their own blood lay wait, They watch secretly for their own lives.

19 S o the paths of every gainer of dishonest gain, The life of its owners it taketh.

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

21 A t the head of the multitudes she calleth, In the openings of the gates, In the city her sayings she saith:

22 ` Till when, ye simple, do ye love simplicity? And have scorners their scorning desired? And do fools hate knowledge?

23 T urn 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 refuse, I stretched out my hand, and none is attending,

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

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

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

28 T hen they call me, and I do not answer, They seek me earnestly, and find me not.

29 B ecause that they have hated knowledge, And the fear of Jehovah have not chosen.

30 T hey have not consented to my counsel, They have despised all my reproof,

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

32 F or the turning of the simple slayeth them, And the security of the foolish destroyeth them.

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