Proverbs 1–9

1^*The ^aproverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel;

²To know wisdom and ^binstruction;

To ^cperceive the words of ^dunderstanding;

³To receive the ^binstruction of wisdom,

^eJustice, and judgment, and ^†equity;

⁴To give ^fsubtilty to the ^gsimple,

To the young man knowledge and ^||discretion.

⁵A wise man will hear, and ^hwill increase ⁱlearning;

And a man of understanding shall ⁱⁱattain unto ^jwise counsels:

⁶To ^cunderstand a ^aproverb, and ^||the interpretation;

The words of the wise, and their ^kdark sayings.

^7lThe fear of the Lord is ^||the beginning of knowledge:

But ^llfools despise wisdom and ^binstruction.

^8mMy son, hear the ^binstruction of thy father,

And ⁿforsake not the law of thy mother:

⁹For they shall be ^†an ornament of grace unto thy head,

And ^ochains about thy ^pneck.

¹⁰My son, ^qif sinners entice thee,

Consent thou not.

¹¹If they say, Come with us, let us ^rlay wait for blood,

Let us ^slurk privily for the innocent without cause:

¹²Let us ^uswallow them up alive ^vas the grave;

And whole, ^was those that go down into the pit:

¹³We shall find all precious substance,

We shall fill our houses with spoil:

¹⁴Cast in thy lot among us;

Let us all have one purse:

¹⁵My son, ^qxwalk not thou in the way with them;

Refrain thy foot from their path:

^16yFor their feet run to evil,

And make haste to shed blood.

¹⁷Surely in vain ^zthe net is spread ^†in the sight of any bird.

¹⁸And they ^clay wait for their own blood;

They ^clurk privily for their own lives.

¹⁹So are the ways of every one ^dthat is greedy of gain;

Which taketh away the life of ^ddthe owners thereof.

^20†eWisdom crieth without;

She uttereth her voice in the streets:

²¹She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in ^eethe openings of the gates:

In the city she uttereth her words, saying,

²²How long, ye ^fsimple ones, will ye love simplicity?

And the ^gscorners delight in their scorning,

And fools ^hhate knowledge?

²³Turn you at my reproof:

Behold, ⁱI will ^jpour out my spirit unto you,

I will make known my words unto you.

^24kBecause I have called, and ye ^lrefused;

I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;

²⁵But ye have ^mset at nought all my counsel,

And ⁿwould none of my reproof:

²⁶I also will ^olaugh at your calamity;

I will ^omock when your fear cometh;

²⁷When your fear cometh as ^pdesolation,

And your destruction cometh as a whirlwind;

When distress and anguish cometh upon you.

^28qThen shall they call upon me, but I will not answer;

They shall ^rseek me early, but they shall not find me:

²⁹For that they ^hhated knowledge,

And did not ^schoose the fear of the Lord:

³⁰They ^uwould none of my counsel:

They ^tdespised all my reproof.

³¹Therefore shall they eat of ^uthe fruit of their own way,

And be ^wfilled with their own devices.

³²For the ^||xturning away of the simple shall slay them,

And the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.

³³But ^ywhoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely,

And ^zshall be quiet from fear of evil.

2^aMy son, if thou wilt receive my words,

^aAnd ^bhide my commandments with thee;

²So that thou ^bbincline thine ear unto wisdom,

And apply thine heart to understanding;

³Yea, if thou criest after ^cknowledge,

And ^†liftest up thy voice for understanding;

⁴If thou seekest her ^das silver,

And searchest for her as for ^ehid treasures;

^5kThen shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord,

And find the knowledge of God.

⁶For ^fthe Lord giveth wisdom:

Out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.

⁷He ^blayeth up ^gsound wisdom for the righteous:

He is a ^hbuckler to them that ⁱwalk uprightly.

⁸He ⁱⁱkeepeth the paths of judgment,

And ^jpreserveth the way of his saints.

^9kThen shalt thou understand ^lrighteousness, and judgment,

And ^mequity; yea, every good path.

¹⁰When wisdom entereth into thine heart,

And knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul;

¹¹ⁿDiscretion ^oshall preserve thee,

Understanding shall keep thee:

¹²To deliver thee from the way of the evil man,

From the man that speaketh ^pfroward things;

¹³Who leave the paths of uprightness,

To ^qwalk in the ways of darkness;

^14rWho rejoice to do evil,

And ^sdelight in the ^pfrowardness of the wicked;

¹⁵Whose ways are ^tcrooked,

And they ^ufroward in their paths:

^16wTo deliver thee from the ^xstrange woman,

^wEven from ^ythe stranger which ^zflattereth with her words;

¹⁷Which forsaketh ^athe guide of her youth,

And forgetteth the covenant of her God.

¹⁸For ^bher house inclineth unto death,

And her ^cpaths unto ^dthe dead.

¹⁹None that go unto her return again,

Neither take they hold of the paths of life.

²⁰That thou mayest walk in the way of good men,

And keep the paths of the righteous.

²¹For the upright ^eshall dwell in the land,

And the perfect shall remain in it.

²²But the wicked ^fshall be cut off from the earth,

And ^gthe transgressors shall be ^||rooted out of it.

3My son, forget not my law;

^aBut let thine heart keep my commandments:

²For ^blength of days, and ^†long life,

And ^cpeace, shall they add to thee.

³Let not ^dmercy and truth forsake thee:

^eBind them about thy ^fneck;

^ffWrite them upon the table of thine heart:

^4gSo shalt thou find ^hfavour and ^||good understanding

^gIn the sight of God and man.

⁵ⁱTrust in the Lord with all thine heart;

And ^jlean not unto thine own understanding.

⁶In all thy ways ^kacknowledge him,

And ^lhe shall direct thy paths.

^7mBe not wise in thine own eyes:

ⁿFear the Lord, and ^nodepart from evil.

⁸It shall be ^†health to thy navel,

And ^†pmarrow to thy bones.

⁹Honour the Lord with thy substance,

And with ^qthe firstfruits of all thine increase:

¹⁰So shall thy ^rbarns be filled with plenty,

And thy presses shall burst out with new wine.

^11sMy son, despise not the chastening of the Lord;

Neither be weary of his correction:

¹²For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth;

Even ^tas a father the son in whom he delighteth.

^13uHappy is the man that findeth wisdom,

And ^†the man that getteth understanding.

¹⁴For ^xthe merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver,

And the gain thereof than ^yfine gold.

¹⁵She is more precious than ^zrubies:

And ^aall the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her.

^16bLength of days is in her right hand;

And in her left hand ^criches and honour.

^17dHer ways are ways of pleasantness,

And all her paths are peace.

¹⁸She is ^ea tree of life to them that ^eelay hold upon her:

And happy is every one that retaineth her.

^19fThe Lord ^gby wisdom hath founded the earth;

^gBy understanding hath he ^||established the heavens.

²⁰By his knowledge ^hthe depths are broken up,

And ⁱthe clouds drop down ^jthe dew.

²¹My son, ^klet not them depart from thine eyes:

Keep ^lsound wisdom and ^mdiscretion:

²²So shall they be ⁿlife unto thy soul,

And grace to thy ^oneck.

^23pThen shalt thou walk in thy way safely,

And ^qthy foot shall not stumble.

^24rWhen thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid:

Yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet.

^25sBe not afraid of sudden fear,

^ssNeither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh.

²⁶For the Lord shall be thy confidence,

And shall ^tkeep thy foot from being taken.

^27uWithhold not good from ^†them to whom it is due,

When it is ^xin the power of thine hand to do it.

^28ySay not unto thy neighbour,

Go, and come again, and to morrow I will give;

When thou hast it by thee.

^29||Devise not evil against thy neighbour,

Seeing he dwelleth securely by thee.

^30zStrive not with a man without cause,

If he have done thee no harm.

^31aEnvy thou not ^†the oppressor,

And choose none of his ways.

³²For the ^bfroward is abomination to the Lord:

But ^chis secret is with the righteous.

^33dThe curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked:

But ^ddhe blesseth the habitation of the just.

³⁴Surely ^ehe scorneth the ^fscorners:

But he giveth grace unto the lowly.

^35gThe wise shall inherit glory:

But shame ^†shall be the promotion of fools.

4^aHear, ye children, the instruction of a father,

And attend to know ^bunderstanding.

²For I give you good ^cdoctrine,

Forsake ye not my law.

³For I was my father’s son,

^dTender and ^eonly beloved in the sight of my mother.

^4fHe taught me also, and said unto me,

Let thine heart retain my words:

^gKeep my commandments, and live.

^5hiGet wisdom, ⁱget ^bunderstanding:

Forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.

⁶Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee:

^jLove her, and she shall keep thee.

⁷Wisdom is ^kthe principal thing; therefore ⁱget wisdom:

And with all thy getting ⁱget ^bunderstanding.

⁸Exalt her, and she shall promote thee:

She shall ^lbring thee to honour, when thou dost ^membrace her.

⁹She shall give to thine head ⁿan ornament of grace:

^||A crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.

¹⁰Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings;

And ^othe years of thy life shall be many.

^11pI have taught thee in the way of wisdom;

I have led thee in right paths.

¹²When thou goest, ^qthy steps shall not be straitened;

And ^rwhen thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble.

^13sTake fast hold of instruction; ^slet her not go:

Keep her; for she is thy life.

^14tEnter not into the path of the wicked,

And ^ugo not in the way of evil men.

^15xAvoid it, pass not by it,

^yTurn from it, and pass away.

^16zFor they sleep not, except they have done mischief;

And their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall.

¹⁷For they eat the bread of wickedness,

And drink the wine of violence.

^18aBut the path of the just is ^bas the shining light,

That shineth ^cmore and more unto the perfect day.

^19dThe way of the wicked is as darkness:

They know not ^eat what they stumble.

^20eeMy son, attend to my words;

Incline thine ear unto my sayings.

^21fLet them not depart from thine eyes;

^gKeep them in the midst of thine heart.

²²For they are ^hlife unto those that find them,

And ^†health to all their flesh.

²³Keep thy heart ^†with all diligence;

ⁱFor out of it are ^kthe issues of life.

²⁴Put away from thee ^†a ^lfroward mouth,

And ^mperverse lips put far from thee.

²⁵Let thine eyes look right on,

And let thine eyelids look straight before thee.

²⁶ⁿPonder the path of thy feet,

And ^||let all thy ways be established.

^27oTurn not to the right hand nor to the left:

^pRemove thy foot from evil.

5^aMy son, attend unto my wisdom,

And ^aabow thine ear to my understanding:

²That thou mayest regard ^bdiscretion,

And that thy lips may ^ckeep knowledge.

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