The Purpose of the Proverbs
1The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel: 2for knowing wisdom and discipline, for understanding words of insight; 3for receiving the discipline that gives good sense—righteousness, justice and fairness; 4for giving shrewdness to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young. 5Let the wise hear and add to their learning, and let the discerning acquire guidance; 6for understanding a proverb and a parable, the words of the wise and their riddles. 7The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of knowledge; the senseless despise wisdom and discipline.
A Warning against Bad Company
8Hear, my son, your father’s discipline, and do not cast off your mother’s teaching; 9for they are a graceful wreath for your head and a chain for your neck. 10My son, if sinners try to lure you, do not go along. 11If they say, “Come with us! Let us lie in wait for blood; let us ambush the innocent for no reason. 12Let us swallow them alive, like Sheol, and whole, like those who go down to the pit. 13We will find every kind of precious wealth; we will fill our houses with plunder. 14Throw in your lot with us; we will all share one purse”— 15my son, do not walk in the way with them; hold your foot back from their pathway, 16for their feet run to evil, and they hurry to shed blood. 17Surely it is for nothing that a net is spread in full view of every winged creature; 18yet these lie in wait for their own blood; they ambush their own lives. 19Such are the paths of everyone who grabs at unjust gain: it takes away the life of those who hold it.
Wisdom Calls in the Streets
20Wisdom cries aloud in the street; in the squares she raises her voice. 21At the head of the noisy places she calls; at the entrances of the gates, in the city, she speaks her words: 22“How long, you simple, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in scoffing, and fools hate knowledge? 23Turn back at my reproof! See, I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you. 24Because I called and you refused, I stretched out my hand and no one paid attention, 25and you brushed aside all my counsel and wanted none of my reproof, 26I in turn will laugh at your disaster; I will mock when your terror comes— 27when your terror comes like a storm and your disaster arrives like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you. 28Then they will call me, but I will not answer; they will search for me eagerly, but they will not find me. 29Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of Yahweh, 30because they wanted none of my counsel and spurned all my reproof, 31they will eat the fruit of their way and be filled with their own schemes. 32For the turning away of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them; 33but whoever listens to me will dwell secure, at ease, without dread of harm.”
