Proverbs 1:20–33

Wisdom Shouts in the Streets

²⁰Wisdom shouts in the streets.

She cries out in the public square.

²¹She calls to the crowds along the main street,

to those gathered in front of the city gate:

²²“How long, you simpletons,

will you insist on being simpleminded?

How long will you mockers relish your mocking?

How long will you fools hate knowledge?

²³Come and listen to my counsel.

I’ll share my heart with you

and make you wise.

²⁴“I called you so often, but you wouldn’t come.

I reached out to you, but you paid no attention.

²⁵You ignored my advice

and rejected the correction I offered.

²⁶So I will laugh when you are in trouble!

I will mock you when disaster overtakes you—

²⁷when calamity overtakes you like a storm,

when disaster engulfs you like a cyclone,

and anguish and distress overwhelm you.

²⁸“When they cry for help, I will not answer.

Though they anxiously search for me, they will not find me.

²⁹For they hated knowledge

and chose not to fear the Lord.

³⁰They rejected my advice

and paid no attention when I corrected them.

³¹Therefore, they must eat the bitter fruit of living their own way,

choking on their own schemes.

³²For simpletons turn away from me—to death.

Fools are destroyed by their own complacency.

³³But all who listen to me will live in peace,

untroubled by fear of harm.”