Proverbs 1:20–33

The Call of Wisdom

^20oWisdom calls aloud ⁸outside;

She raises her voice in the open squares.

²¹She cries out in the ⁹chief concourses,

At the openings of the gates in the city

She speaks her words:

²²“How long, you ¹simple ones, will you love ²simplicity?

For scorners delight in their scorning,

And fools hate knowledge.

²³Turn at my rebuke;

Surely ^pI will pour out my spirit on you;

I will make my words known to you.

^24qBecause I have called and you refused,

I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded,

²⁵Because you ^rdisdained all my counsel,

And would have none of my rebuke,

^26sI also will laugh at your calamity;

I will mock when your terror comes,

²⁷When ^tyour terror comes like a storm,

And your destruction comes like a whirlwind,

When distress and anguish come upon you.

²⁸“Then ^uthey will call on me, but I will not answer;

They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me.

²⁹Because they ^vhated knowledge

And did not ^wchoose the fear of the Lord,

^30xThey would have none of my counsel

And despised my every rebuke.

³¹Therefore ^ythey shall eat the fruit of their own way,

And be filled to the full with their own fancies.

³²For the ³turning away of the simple will slay them,

And the complacency of fools will destroy them;

³³But whoever listens to me will dwell ^zsafely,

And ^awill be ⁴secure, without fear of evil.”