Proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:
To know wisdom and instruction:{HR}To discern the words of understanding;
To receive instruction in intelligence,{HR}Righteousness, judgment and equity;
To give prudence to the simple,{HR}To the young man knowledge and discretion.
He that is wise will hear and increase learning,{HR}And the intelligent will attain to sound counsels:
To understand a proverb and an allegory,{HR}The words of the wise and their enigmas.
The fear of Jehovah (is) the beginning of knowledge:{HR}Fools despise wisdom and instruction.
My son, hear the instruction of thy father,{HR}And forsake not the law of thy mother;
For they (shall be) a garland of grace for thy head,{HR}And chains about thy neck.
My son, if sinners entice thee, consent not.
If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood,{HR}Let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause;
Let us swallow them up alive as Sheol,{HR}And whole as those that go down into the pit.
We shall find all precious substance,{HR}We shall fill our houses with spoil:
Cast in thy lot among us;{HR}We will have all one purse.
My son, walk not in the way with them,{HR}Keep back thy foot from their path.
For their feet run to evil,{HR}And they make haste to shed blood.
For in vain is the net spread in the eyes of a bird;
And they lay wait for their own blood;{HR}They lurk privily for their own lives.
So (are) the paths of every one that is greedy of gain:{HR}It taketh away the life of its owners.
Wisdom crieth without,{HR}She raiseth her voice in the broadways;
She calleth at the head of the noisy (streets),{HR}At the entry of the gates;{HR}In the city she uttereth her words,
How long, simple ones, will ye love simpleness,{HR}And scorners delight them in scorning,{HR}And fools hate wisdom?
Turn you at my reproof:{HR}Behold, I will pour forth my spirit unto you,{HR}I will make known my words unto you.
Because I have called, and ye refused;{HR}I have stretched out my hand, and no one regarded;
And ye have rejected all my counsel,{HR}And would none of my reproof:
I also will laugh at your calamity.{HR}I will mock when your fear cometh;
When your fear cometh as sudden destruction,{HR}And your calamity cometh as a whirlwind;{HR}When distress and anguish come upon you.
Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer;{HR}They will seek me diligently but shall not find me.
Because they hated knowledge{HR}And chose not the fear of Jehovah;
They would none of my counsel,{HR}They despised all my reproof;
Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their way,{HR}And be filled with their own devices.
For the turning back of the simple shall slay them,{HR}And the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.
But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely{HR}And be at rest from fear of evil.