Proverbs - Chapter 1 | New International Version

  • 1. The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:
  • 2. for attaining wisdom and discipline; for understanding words of insight;
  • 3. for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair;
  • 4. for giving prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young--
  • 5. let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance--
  • 6. for understanding proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise.
  • 7. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.
  • 8. Listen, my son, to your father's instruction and do not forsake your mother's teaching.
  • 9. They will be a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck.
  • 10. My son, if sinners entice you, do not give in to them.
  • 11. If they say, "Come along with us; let's lie in wait for someone's blood, let's waylay some harmless soul;
  • 12. let's swallow them alive, like the grave, and whole, like those who go down to the pit;
  • 13. we will get all sorts of valuable things and fill our houses with plunder;
  • 14. throw in your lot with us, and we will share a common purse"--
  • 15. my son, do not go along with them, do not set foot on their paths;
  • 16. for their feet rush into sin, they are swift to shed blood.
  • 17. How useless to spread a net in full view of all the birds!
  • 18. These men lie in wait for their own blood; they waylay only themselves!
  • 19. Such is the end of all who go after ill-gotten gain; it takes away the lives of those who get it.
  • 20. Wisdom calls aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the public squares;
  • 21. at the head of the noisy streets she cries out, in the gateways of the city she makes her speech:
  • 22. How long will you simple ones love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge?
  • 23. If you had responded to my rebuke, I would have poured out my heart to you and made my thoughts known to you.
  • 24. But since you rejected me when I called and no one gave heed when I stretched out my hand,
  • 25. since you ignored all my advice and would not accept my rebuke,
  • 26. I in turn will laugh at your disaster; I will mock when calamity overtakes you--
  • 27. when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind, when distress and trouble overwhelm you.
  • 28. Then they will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me.
  • 29. Since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the LORD,
  • 30. since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke,
  • 31. they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.
  • 32. For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them;
  • 33. but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm."
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