Proverbs 1–2

¹The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:^*

Prologue

²For learning about wisdom and instruction,

for understanding words of insight,

³for gaining instruction in wise dealing,

righteousness, justice, and equity;^*

⁴to teach shrewdness to the simple,

knowledge and prudence to the young—^*

⁵let the wise, too, hear and gain in learning

and the discerning acquire skill,^*

⁶to understand a proverb and a figure,

the words of the wise and their riddles.

⁷The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;

fools despise wisdom and instruction.^*

Warnings against Evil Companions

⁸Hear, my child, your father’s instruction,

and do not reject your mother’s teaching,^*

⁹for they are a fair garland for your head

and pendants for your neck.^*

¹⁰My child, if sinners entice you,

do not consent.^*

¹¹If they say, “Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood;

let us wantonly ambush the innocent;^*

¹²like Sheol let us swallow them alive

and whole, like those who go down to the Pit.^*

¹³We shall find all kinds of costly things;

we shall fill our houses with spoil.

¹⁴Throw in your lot among us;

we will all have one purse”—

¹⁵my child, do not walk in their way;

keep your foot from their paths,^*

¹⁶for their feet run to evil,

and they hurry to shed blood.^*

¹⁷For in vain is the net baited

while the bird is looking on;

¹⁸yet they lie in wait—to kill themselves!

and set an ambush—for their own lives!

¹⁹Such is the end^a of all who are greedy for gain;

it takes away the life of its possessors.^*

The Call of Wisdom

²⁰Wisdom cries out in the street;

in the squares she raises her voice.^*

²¹At the busiest corner she cries out;

at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:

²²“How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?

How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing

and fools hate knowledge?^*

²³Give heed to my reproof;

I will pour out my thoughts to you;

I will make my words known to you.^*

²⁴Because I have called and you refused,

have stretched out my hand and no one heeded,^*

²⁵and because you have ignored all my counsel

and would have none of my reproof,^*

²⁶I also will laugh at your calamity;

I will mock when panic strikes you,^*

²⁷when panic strikes you like a storm

and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,

when distress and anguish come upon you.

²⁸Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer;

they will seek me diligently but will not find me.^*

²⁹Because they hated knowledge

and did not choose the fear of the Lord,

³⁰would have none of my counsel

and despised all my reproof,^*

³¹therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way

and be sated with their own devices.^*

³²For waywardness kills the simple,

and the complacency of fools destroys them;^*

³³but those who listen to me will be secure

and will live at ease without dread of disaster.”^*

The Value of Wisdom

²My child, if you accept my words

and treasure up my commandments within you,^*

²making your ear attentive to wisdom

and inclining your heart to understanding,

³if you indeed cry out for insight

and raise your voice for understanding,

⁴if you seek it like silver

and search for it as for hidden treasures—^*

⁵then you will understand the fear of the Lord

and find the knowledge of God.^*

⁶For the Lord gives wisdom;

from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;^*

⁷he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;

he is a shield to those who walk blamelessly,^*

⁸guarding the paths of justice

and preserving the way of his faithful ones.^*

⁹Then you will understand righteousness and justice

and equity, every good path,^*

¹⁰for wisdom will come into your heart,

and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;

¹¹prudence will watch over you,

and understanding will guard you.

¹²It will save you from the way of evil,

from those who speak perversely,

¹³who forsake the paths of uprightness

to walk in the ways of darkness,^*

¹⁴who rejoice in doing evil

and delight in the perverseness of evil,^*

¹⁵those whose paths are crooked

and who are devious in their ways.^*

¹⁶You will be saved from the loose woman,^b

from the adulteress^c with her smooth words,^*

¹⁷who forsakes the partner of her youth

and forgets her sacred covenant,

¹⁸for her way^d leads down to death

and her paths to the shades;^*

¹⁹those who go to her never come back,

nor do they regain the paths of life.

²⁰Therefore walk in the way of the good,

and keep to the paths of the just.

²¹For the upright will abide in the land,

and the innocent will remain in it,^*

²²but the wicked will be cut off from the earth,

and the treacherous will be rooted out of it.^*