Proverbs Chapter 1    

¹The proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel:
  ²To know wisdom and teaching,^a to understand words that give understanding,
  ³to receive wise teaching in righteousness, justice, and integrity;
  ⁴to give prudence to the naïve, knowledge and discretion to the youth.
  ⁵A wise person will listen and increase in learning, and a discerning person will get wise guidance,
  ⁶to understand a proverb and an obscure expression, words of the wise and their riddles.
  ⁷The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of knowledge, but fools show contempt for wisdom and sound teaching.
 

⁸Listen, my son, to your father’s teaching, and do not ignore the instruction of your mother,
  ⁹because they are a wreath of grace for your head, and a necklace for your neck.
 

¹⁰My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent.
  ¹¹If they say, “Come with us, let’s lie in wait to shed blood,^b let’s ambush an innocent person for no good reason.
  ¹²We will swallow them alive, just as Sheol does, and whole, just as those who go down into the pit.
  ¹³We will find all sorts of valuable things; we will fill our houses with plunder.
  ¹⁴Throw your lot in with us; we will all share the loot.”
  ¹⁵My son, do not walk on the road with them; keep your feet from their pathway,
  ¹⁶for their feet run to do evil, and they make haste to shed blood.
  ¹⁷For in vain the net is spread in the sight of a bird,
  ¹⁸but these lie in wait for their own blood; they set an ambush for their own souls!
  ¹⁹This is the way of everyone who pursues unjust gain; it takes away the life of its owners.
 

²⁰Lady Wisdom shouts aloud in the street, in public places she raises her voice.
  ²¹At the head of noisy streets she calls out, where the city gates open she speaks her words,
  ²²“How long, O naïve ones, will you love naïvety? How long will mockers delight in mocking, and fools hate knowledge?
  ²³If you turn back to me at my reproof, look, I will pour out my spirit upon you all, I will make known my words to you all.
  ²⁴But since you refused me when I called, I stretched out my hand but no one paid attention,
  ²⁵and you neglected all my counsel, and you did not want my reproof—
  ²⁶I also will laugh at your distress; I will mock when what you dread comes,
  ²⁷when your terror comes like a violent storm, and your calamity like a whirlwind, and trouble and distress come upon you all.
  ²⁸Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will diligently seek me, but will not find me.
  ²⁹Because they hated knowledge, and they did not choose the fear of Yahweh;
  ³⁰they were not interested in my counsel, and they spurned all my reproof,
  ³¹so they will eat from the fruit of their own way, and from their own schemes they will have their fill.
  ³²For the turning away of the naïve will kill them, and the false security of fools will destroy them.
  ³³But the one who listens to me will live in safety, and will be at ease from the dread of evil.”