Proverbs 1–2

Chapter 1

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

²That men may know wisdom and instruction,

understand words of insight,

³receive instruction in wise dealing,

righteousness, justice, and equity;

⁴that prudence may be given to the simple,

knowledge and discretion to the youth—

⁵the wise man also may hear and increase in learning,

and the man of understanding 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.

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

and reject not your mother’s teaching;

⁹for they are a fair garland for your head,

and pendants for your neck.

¹⁰My son, 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 precious goods,

we shall fill our houses with spoil;

¹⁴throw in your lot among us,

we will all have one purse”—

¹⁵my son, do not walk in the way with them,

hold back your foot from their paths;

¹⁶for their feet run to evil,

and they make haste to shed blood.

¹⁷For in vain is a net spread

in the sight of any bird;

¹⁸but these men lie in wait for their own blood,

they set an ambush for their own lives.

¹⁹Such are the ways of all who get gain by violence;

it takes away the life of its possessors.

²⁰Wisdom cries aloud in the street;

in the markets she raises her voice;

²¹on the top of the walls 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;

behold, I will pour out my thoughts to you;

I will make my words known to you.

²⁴Because I have called and you refused to listen,

have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded,

²⁵and 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 the simple are killed by their turning away,

and the complacence of fools destroys them;

³³but he who listens to me will dwell secure

and will be at ease, without dread of evil.”

Chapter 2

¹My son, if you receive my words

and treasure up my commandments with you,

²making your ear attentive to wisdom

and inclining your heart to understanding;

³yes, if you 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 in integrity,

⁸guarding the paths of justice

and preserving the way of his saints.

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;

¹¹discretion will watch over you;

understanding will guard you;

¹²delivering you from the way of evil,

from men of perverted speech,

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;

¹⁵men whose paths are crooked,

and who are devious in their ways.

¹⁶You will be saved from the loose woman,

from the adventuress with her smooth words,

¹⁷who forsakes the companion of her youth

and forgets the covenant of her God;

¹⁸for her house sinks down to death,

and her paths to the shades;

¹⁹none who go to her come back

nor do they regain the paths of life.

²⁰So you will walk in the way of good men

and keep to the paths of the righteous.

²¹For the upright will inhabit the land,

and men of integrity will remain in it;

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

and the treacherous will be rooted out of it.