1:1 The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:
1:2 for attaining wisdom and discipline for understanding words of insight
1:3 for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair
1:4 for giving prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young
1:5 let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance
1:6 for understanding proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise.
1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools [The Hebrew words rendered fool in Proverbs, and often elsewhere in the Old Testament, denote one who is morally deficient.] despise wisdom and discipline.
1:8 Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
1:9 They will be a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck.
1:10 My son, if sinners entice you, do not give in to them.
1:11 If they say, Come along with us let’s lie in wait for someone’s blood, let’s waylay some harmless soul
1:12 let’s swallow them alive, like the grave, [Hebrew: Sheol] and whole, like those who go down to the pit
1:13 we will get all sorts of valuable things and fill our houses with plunder
1:14 throw in your lot with us, and we will share a common purse
1:15 my son, do not go along with them, do not set foot on their paths
1:16 for their feet rush into sin, they are swift to shed blood.
1:17 How useless to spread a net in full view of all the birds!
1:18 These men lie in wait for their own blood they waylay only themselves!
1:19 Such is the end of all who go after ill-gotten gain it takes away the lives of those who get it.
1:20 Wisdom calls aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the public squares
1:21 at the head of the noisy streets [Hebrew: Septuagint on the tops of the walls] she cries out, in the gateways of the city she makes her speech:
1:22 How long will you simple ones [The Hebrew word rendered simple in Proverbs generally denotes one without moral direction and inclined to evil.] love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge?
1:23 If you had responded to my rebuke, I would have poured out my heart to you and made my thoughts known to you.
1:24 But since you rejected me when I called and no-one gave heed when I stretched out my hand,
1:25 since you ignored all my advice and would not accept my rebuke,
1:26 I in turn will laugh at your disaster I will mock when calamity overtakes you
1:27 when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind, when distress and trouble overwhelm you.
1:28 Then they will call to me but I will not answer they will look for me but will not find me.
1:29 Since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the LORD,
1:30 since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke,
1:31 they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.
1:32 For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them
1:33 but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.