Wisdom Warns

20 aWisdom shouts in the street,

She 1lifts her voice in the square;

21 At the head of the noisy streets she cries out;

At the entrance of the gates in the city she utters her sayings:

22 “How long, O 1anaive ones, will you love 2being simple-minded?

And bscoffers delight themselves in scoffing

And fools chate knowledge?

23 “Turn to my reproof,

Behold, I will apour out my spirit on you;

I will make my words known to you.

24 “Because aI called and you brefused,

I cstretched out my hand and no one paid attention;

25 And you aneglected all my counsel

And did not bwant my reproof;

26 I will also alaugh at your bcalamity;

I will mock when your cdread comes,

27 When your dread comes like a storm

And your calamity comes like a awhirlwind,

When distress and anguish come upon you.

28 “Then they will acall on me, but I will not answer;

They will bseek me diligently but they will not find me,

29 Because they ahated knowledge

And did not choose the fear of the Lord.

30 “They awould not accept my counsel,

They spurned all my reproof.

31 “So they shall aeat of the fruit of their own way

And be bsatiated with their own devices.

32 “For the awaywardness of the 1naive will kill them,

And the complacency of fools will destroy them.

33 “But ahe who listens to me shall 1live securely

And will be at ease from the dread of evil.”