Proverbs 9

WISDOM VERSUS FOOLISHNESS

9Wisdom has built her house;^c

she has carved out her seven pillars.

²She has prepared her meat;^d she has mixed her wine;^e

she has also set her table.^f

³She has sent out her female servants;^g

she calls out from the highest points of the city:^h

⁴“Whoever is inexperienced, enter here!”

To the one who lacks sense,ⁱ she says,

⁵“Come, eat my bread,^j

and drink the wine I have mixed.

⁶Leave inexperience behind, and you will live;

pursue the way of understanding.

⁷The one who corrects a mocker

will bring abuse on himself;

the one who rebukes the wicked will get hurt.^E

⁸Don’t rebuke a mocker, or he will hate you;^k

rebuke the wise, and he will love you.^l

⁹Instruct the wise, and he will be wiser still;

teach the righteous, and he will learn more.^m

¹⁰“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,ⁿ

and the knowledge of the Holy One^o is understanding.

¹¹For by me your days will be many,

and years will be added to your life.

¹²If you are wise, you are wise for your own benefit;^p

if you mock, you alone will bear the consequences.”

¹³Folly is a rowdy woman;^q

she is gullible and knows nothing.^r

¹⁴She sits by the doorway of her house,

on a seat at the highest point of the city,

¹⁵calling to those who pass by,

who go straight ahead on their paths:^s

¹⁶“Whoever is inexperienced, enter here!”

To the one who lacks sense, she says,

¹⁷“Stolen water is sweet,

and bread eaten secretly is tasty!”^t

¹⁸But he doesn’t know that the departed spirits are there,^u

that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.^v