Proverbs 1–9

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.

Chapter 3

¹My son, do not forget my teaching,

but let your heart keep my commandments;

²for length of days and years of life

and abundant welfare will they give you.

³Let not loyalty and faithfulness forsake you;

bind them about your neck,

write them on the tablet of your heart.

⁴So you will find favor and good repute

in the sight of God and man.

⁵Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

and do not rely on your own insight.

⁶In all your ways acknowledge him,

and he will make straight your paths.

⁷Be not wise in your own eyes;

fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.

⁸It will be healing to your flesh

and refreshment to your bones.

⁹Honor the Lord with your substance

and with the first fruits of all your produce;

¹⁰then your barns will be filled with plenty,

and your vats will be bursting with wine.

¹¹My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline

or be weary of his reproof,

¹²for the Lord reproves him whom he loves,

as a father the son in whom he delights.

¹³Happy is the man who finds wisdom,

and the man who gets understanding,

¹⁴for the gain from it is better than gain from silver

and its profit better than gold.

¹⁵She is more precious than jewels,

and nothing you desire can compare with her.

¹⁶Long life is in her right hand;

in her left hand are riches and honor.

¹⁷Her ways are ways of pleasantness,

and all her paths are peace.

¹⁸She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her;

those who hold her fast are called happy.

¹⁹The Lord by wisdom founded the earth;

by understanding he established the heavens;

²⁰by his knowledge the deeps broke forth,

and the clouds drop down the dew.

²¹My son, keep sound wisdom and discretion;

let them not escape from your sight,

²²and they will be life for your soul

and adornment for your neck.

²³Then you will walk on your way securely

and your foot will not stumble.

²⁴If you sit down, you will not be afraid;

when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.

²⁵Do not be afraid of sudden panic,

or of the ruin of the wicked, when it comes;

²⁶for the Lord will be your confidence

and will keep your foot from being caught.

²⁷Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,

when it is in your power to do it.

²⁸Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come again,

tomorrow I will give it”—when you have it with you.

²⁹Do not plan evil against your neighbor

who dwells trustingly beside you.

³⁰Do not contend with a man for no reason,

when he has done you no harm.

³¹Do not envy a man of violence

and do not choose any of his ways;

³²for the perverse man is an abomination to the Lord,

but the upright are in his confidence.

³³The Lord’s curse is on the house of the wicked,

but he blesses the abode of the righteous.

³⁴Toward the scorners he is scornful,

but to the humble he shows favor.

³⁵The wise will inherit honor,

but fools get disgrace.

Chapter 4

¹Hear, O sons, a father’s instruction,

and be attentive, that you may gain insight;

²for I give you good precepts:

do not forsake my teaching.

³When I was a son with my father,

tender, the only one in the sight of my mother,

⁴he taught me, and said to me,

“Let your heart hold fast my words;

keep my commandments, and live;

⁵do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth.

Get wisdom; get insight.

⁶Do not forsake her, and she will keep you;

love her, and she will guard you.

⁷The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom,

and whatever you get, get insight.

⁸Prize her highly, and she will exalt you;

she will honor you if you embrace her.

⁹She will place on your head a fair garland;

she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.”

¹⁰Hear, my son, and accept my words,

that the years of your life may be many.

¹¹I have taught you the way of wisdom;

I have led you in the paths of uprightness.

¹²When you walk, your step will not be hampered;

and if you run, you will not stumble.

¹³Keep hold of instruction, do not let go;

guard her, for she is your life.

¹⁴Do not enter the path of the wicked,

and do not walk in the way of evil men.

¹⁵Avoid it; do not go on it;

turn away from it and pass on.

¹⁶For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong;

they are robbed of sleep unless they have made some one stumble.

¹⁷For they eat the bread of wickedness

and drink the wine of violence.

¹⁸But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,

which shines brighter and brighter until full day.

¹⁹The way of the wicked is like deep darkness;

they do not know over what they stumble.

²⁰My son, be attentive to my words;

incline your ear to my sayings.

²¹Let them not escape from your sight;

keep them within your heart.

²²For they are life to him who finds them,

and healing to all his flesh.

²³Keep your heart with all vigilance;

for from it flow the springs of life.

²⁴Put away from you crooked speech,

and put devious talk far from you.

²⁵Let your eyes look directly forward,

and your gaze be straight before you.

²⁶Take heed to the path of your feet,

then all your ways will be sure.

²⁷Do not swerve to the right or to the left;

turn your foot away from evil.

Chapter 5

¹My son, be attentive to my wisdom,

incline your ear to my understanding;

²that you may keep discretion,

and your lips may guard knowledge.

³For the lips of a loose woman drip honey,

and her speech is smoother than oil;

⁴but in the end she is bitter as wormwood,

sharp as a two-edged sword.

⁵Her feet go down to death;

her steps follow the path to Sheol;

⁶she does not take heed to the path of life;

her ways wander, and she does not know it.

⁷And now, O sons,…