Proverbs 1:20–33

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.”