Proverbs 9

CHAPTER 9

Wisdom and Foolishness Call Out

¹Wisdom has ^abuilt her house,

She has hewn out her seven pillars;

²She has ^1aslaughtered her cattle, she has ^bmixed her wine;

She has also ^cprepared her table;

³She has ^asent out her maidens, she ^bcalls

From the ^ctops of the heights of the city:

⁴“^aWhoever is simple, let him turn in here!”

To him who ^blacks a heart of wisdom she says,

⁵“Come, ^aeat of my bread

And drink of the wine I have mixed.

⁶“¹Forsake your simplicity and ^alive,

And ^bstep into the way of understanding.”

⁷He who ^adisciplines a scoffer receives disgrace for himself,

And he who reproves a wicked man receives injury for himself.

^8aDo not reprove a scoffer, lest he hate you,

^bReprove a wise man and he will love you.

⁹Give knowledge to a wise man and he will be still wiser,

Make a righteous man know it and he will ^aincrease his learning.

¹⁰The ^afear of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom,

And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

¹¹For ^aby me your days will become many,

And years of life will be added to you.

¹²If you are wise, you are wise ^afor yourself,

And if you ^bscoff, you alone will bear it.

¹³The woman of ¹foolishness is ^aboisterous,

A woman of simplicity, and ^bdoes not know anything.

¹⁴She sits at the doorway of her house,

On a seat by ^athe high places of the city,

¹⁵To call to those who pass by that way,

Who are making their paths straight:

¹⁶“^aWhoever is simple, let him turn in here,”

And to him who lacks a heart of wisdom she says,

¹⁷“Stolen water is sweet;

And ^abread eaten in secret is pleasant.”

¹⁸But he does not know that the ¹dead are there,

That those she called are in the ^adepths of Sheol.