Preface of the Redactor
Chapter 1
1 The proverbs of Solomon, the son of David king of Israel:
2 Designed to enable people to appreciate wisdom and discipline
and to comprehend words that foster insight,
3 to acquire instruction in upright conduct,
righteousness, justice, and honesty,
4 so that prudence may be imparted to the simple,
and the young may gain knowledge and discretion.
5 By listening to them the wise will add to their learning,
and those gifted with discernment will increase their ability
6 to perceive the meaning of proverbs and obscure sayings,
the words of the sages and their riddles.
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
fools are those who despise wisdom and instruction.
8 Give heed, my son, to your father’s instruction,
and do not reject your mother’s teaching.
9 They will be a crown of grace for your head
and a pendant of honor for your neck.
Prologue: Invitation to Wisdom
If Sinners Try To Entice You . . .
10 My son, if sinners try to entice you,
refuse to join them.
11 They may say, “Come and join us
as we lie in ambush to shed someone’s blood;
let us waylay some innocent man;
12 like the netherworld we can swallow him alive,
in his prime like those who go down to the pit.
13 We will discover riches of every sort
with which we can fill our houses;
14 so throw in your lot with us
and share in the common purse.”
15 My son, do not accompany them!
Do not allow your feet to follow their path!
16 For their feet are rushing headlong to evil;
they are hastening to shed blood.
17 It is useless to spread a net
if the bird is watching.
18 These men lie in wait for their own blood
and set an ambush against themselves.
19 Such is the fate of all who seek ill-gotten gain;
such greed takes away the life of those who acquire it.
Wisdom Cries Out Her Message in the Street
20 Wisdom cries out in the street;
she raises her voice in the public squares.
21 She calls out on the crowded street corners;
at the city gates she proclaims her message:
22 “How long will you simple people continue to be fools?
How long will you mockers delight in your mocking?
How long will you fools continue to hate knowledge?
23 If you would seriously consider my reproof,
I would pour out my thoughts to you
and make my precepts known to you.
24 “However, because you refused to listen to my call,
because no one heeded when I stretched out my hand,
25 and because you rejected all my counsel
and ignored all my warnings,
26 I in my turn will laugh at your distress
and mock you when panic overwhelms you,
27 when terror suddenly strikes you like a hurricane
and your doom approaches like a whirlwind,
when distress and anguish come upon you.
28 “Then they will cry out to me but I will not answer;
they will search for me, but not find me.
29 For they hated knowledge
and chose not to fear the Lord.
30 They refused to accept my advice
and spurned all my warnings.
31 “Now they must eat the fruits of their conduct
and be glutted with the results of their schemes.
32 For the stubbornness of the simple kills them;
fools come to final ruin by their own complacency.
33 But whoever listens to me will be secure
and live in peace, without fear of disaster.”
Footnotes
- Proverbs 1:1
- Proverbs 1:1
- Proverbs 1:2
- Proverbs 1:4
- Proverbs 1:7
- Proverbs 1:8
- Proverbs 1:10
- Proverbs 1:10
- Proverbs 1:13
- Proverbs 1:16
- Proverbs 1:17
- Proverbs 1:20
- Proverbs 1:22
- Proverbs 1:26
- Proverbs 1:28
- Proverbs 1:29
- Proverbs 1:31
