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The Beginning of Knowledge

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

2  To know wisdom and instruction,
    to understand words of insight,
3  to receive instruction in wise dealing,
    in righteousness, justice, and equity;
4  to give prudence to the simple,
    knowledge and discretion to the youth—
5  Let the wise hear and increase in learning,
    and the one who understands obtain guidance,
6  to understand a proverb and a saying,
    the words of the wise and their riddles.

7  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge;
    fools despise wisdom and instruction.

The Enticement of Sinners

8  Hear, my son, your father's instruction,
    and forsake not your mother's teaching,
9  for they are a graceful garland for your head
    and pendants for your neck.
10  My son, if sinners entice you,
    do not consent.
11  If they say, “Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood;
    let us ambush the innocent without reason;
12  like Sheol let us swallow them alive,
    and whole, like those who go down to the pit;
13  we shall find all precious goods,
    we shall fill our houses with plunder;
14  throw in your lot among us;
    we will all have one purse”—
15  my son, do not walk in the way with them;
    hold back your foot from their paths,
16  for their feet run to evil,
    and they make haste to shed blood.
17  For in vain is a net spread
    in the sight of any bird,
18  but these men lie in wait for their own blood;
    they set an ambush for their own lives.
19  Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain;
    it takes away the life of its possessors.

The Call of Wisdom

20  Wisdom cries aloud in the street,
    in the markets she raises her voice;
21  at the head of the noisy streets 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?
23  If you turn at my reproof, ^{1 1:23 Or Will you turn away at my reproof?}
behold, I will pour out my spirit to you;
    I will make my words known to you.
24  Because I have called and you refused to listen,
    have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded,
25  because you have ignored all my counsel
    and would have none of my reproof,
26  I also will laugh at your calamity;
    I will mock when terror strikes you,
27  when terror strikes you like a storm
    and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,
    when distress and anguish come upon you.
28  Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer;
    they will seek me diligently but will not find me.
29  Because they hated knowledge
    and did not choose the fear of the LORD,
30  would have none of my counsel
    and despised all my reproof,
31  therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way,
    and have their fill of their own devices.
32  For the simple are killed by their turning away,
    and the complacency of fools destroys them;
33  but whoever listens to me will dwell secure
    and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.”

The Value of Wisdom

1  My son, if you receive my words
    and treasure up my commandments with you,
2  making your ear attentive to wisdom
    and inclining your heart to understanding;
3  yes, if you call out for insight
    and raise your voice for understanding,
4  if you seek it like silver
    and search for it as for hidden treasures,
5  then you will understand the fear of the LORD
    and find the knowledge of God.
6  For the LORD gives wisdom;
    from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;
7  he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
    he is a shield to those who walk in integrity,
8  guarding the paths of justice
    and watching over the way of his saints.
9  Then you will understand righteousness and justice
    and equity, every good path;
10  for wisdom will come into your heart,
    and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
11  discretion will watch over you,
    understanding will guard you,
12  delivering you from the way of evil,
    from men of perverted speech,
13  who forsake the paths of uprightness
    to walk in the ways of darkness,
14  who rejoice in doing evil
    and delight in the perverseness of evil,
15  men whose paths are crooked,
    and who are devious in their ways.

16  So you will be delivered from the forbidden ^{2 2:16 Hebrew strange} woman,
    from the adulteress ^{3 2:16 Hebrew foreign woman} with her smooth words,
17  who forsakes the companion of her youth
    and forgets the covenant of her God;
18  for her house sinks down to death,
    and her paths to the departed; ^{4 2:18 Hebrew to the Rephaim}
19  none who go to her come back,
    nor do they regain the paths of life.

20  So you will walk in the way of the good
    and keep to the paths of the righteous.
21  For the upright will inhabit the land,
    and those with integrity will remain in it,
22  but the wicked will be cut off from the land,
    and the treacherous will be rooted out of it.

Trust in the LORD with All Your Heart

1  My son, do not forget my teaching,
    but let your heart keep my commandments,
2  for length of days and years of life
    and peace they will add to you.

3  Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you;
    bind them around your neck;
    write them on the tablet of your heart.
4  So you will find favor and good success ^{5 3:4 Or repute}
    in the sight of God and man.

5  Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
    and do not lean on your own understanding.
6  In all your ways acknowledge him,
    and he will make straight your paths.
7  Be not wise in your own eyes;
    fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.
8  It will be healing to your flesh ^{6 3:8 Hebrew navel}
    and refreshment ^{7 3:8 Or medicine} to your bones.

9  Honor the LORD with your wealth
    and with the firstfruits of all your produce;
10  then your barns will be filled with plenty,
    and your vats will be bursting with wine.

11  My son, do not despise the LORD's discipline
    or be weary of his reproof,
12  for the LORD reproves him whom he loves,
    as a father the son in whom he delights.

Blessed Is the One Who Finds Wisdom

13  Blessed is the one who finds wisdom,
    and the one who gets understanding,
14  for the gain from her is better than gain from silver
    and her profit better than gold.
15  She is more precious than jewels,
    and nothing you desire can compare with her.
16  Long life is in her right hand;
    in her left hand are riches and honor.
17  Her ways are ways of pleasantness,
    and all her paths are peace.
18  She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her;
    those who hold her fast are called blessed.

19  The LORD by wisdom founded the earth;
    by understanding he established the heavens;
20  by his knowledge the deeps broke open,
    and the clouds drop down the dew.

21  My son, do not lose sight of these—
    keep sound wisdom and discretion,
22  and they will be life for your soul
    and adornment for your neck.
23  Then you will walk on your way securely,
    and your foot will not stumble.
24  If you lie down, you will not be afraid;
    when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.
25  Do not be afraid of sudden terror
    or of the ruin ^{8 3:25 Hebrew storm} of the wicked, when it comes,
26  for the LORD will be your confidence
    and will keep your foot from being caught.
27  Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, ^{9 3:27 Hebrew Do not withhold good from its owners}
    when it is in your power to do it.

28  Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come again,
    tomorrow I will give it”—when you have it with you.
29  Do not plan evil against your neighbor,
    who dwells trustingly beside you.
30  Do not contend with a man for no reason,
    when he has done you no harm.
31  Do not envy a man of violence
    and do not choose any of his ways,
32  for the devious person is an abomination to the LORD,
    but the upright are in his confidence.
33  The LORD's curse is on the house of the wicked,
    but he blesses the dwelling of the righteous.
34  Toward the scorners he is scornful,
    but to the humble he gives favor. ^{10 3:34 Or grace}
35  The wise will inherit honor,
    but fools get ^{11 3:35 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain} disgrace.

A Father's Wise Instruction

1  Hear, O sons, a father's instruction,
    and be attentive, that you may gain ^{12 4:1 Hebrew know} insight,
2  for I give you good precepts;
    do not forsake my teaching.
3  When I was a son with my father,
    tender, the only one in the sight of my mother,
4  he taught me and said to me,
“Let your heart hold fast my words;
    keep my commandments, and live.
5  Get wisdom; get insight;
    do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth.
6  Do not forsake her, and she will keep you;
    love her, and she will guard you.
7  The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom,
    and whatever you get, get insight.
8  Prize her highly, and she will exalt you;
    she will honor you if you embrace her.
9  She will place on your head a graceful garland;
    she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.”

10  Hear, my son, and accept my words,
    that the years of your life may be many.
11  I have taught you the way of wisdom;
    I have led you in the paths of uprightness.
12  When you walk, your step will not be hampered,
    and if you run, you will not stumble.
13  Keep hold of instruction; do not let go;
    guard her, for she is your life.
14  Do not enter the path of the wicked,
    and do not walk in the way of the evil.
15  Avoid it; do not go on it;
    turn away from it and pass on.
16  For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong;
    they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble.
17  For they eat the bread of wickedness
    and drink the wine of violence.
18  But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,
    which shines brighter and brighter until full day.
19  The way of the wicked is like deep darkness;
    they do not know over what they stumble.

20  My son, be attentive to my words;
    incline your ear to my sayings.
21  Let them not escape from your sight;
    keep them within your heart.
22  For they are life to those who find them,
    and healing to all their ^{13 4:22 Hebrew his} flesh.
23  Keep your heart with all vigilance,
    for from it flow the springs of life.
24  Put away from you crooked speech,
    and put devious talk far from you.
25  Let your eyes look directly forward,
    and your gaze be straight before you.
26  Ponder ^{14 4:26 Or Make level} the path of your feet;
    then all your ways will be sure.
27  Do not swerve to the right or to the left;
    turn your foot away from evil.

Warning Against Adultery

1  My son, be attentive to my wisdom;
    incline your ear to my understanding,
2  that you may keep discretion,
    and your lips may guard knowledge.
3  For the lips of a forbidden ^{15 5:3 Hebrew strange; also verse 20} woman drip honey,
    and her speech ^{16 5:3 Hebrew palate} is smoother than oil,
4  but in the end she is bitter as wormwood,
    sharp as a two-edged sword.
5  Her feet go down to death;
    her steps follow the path to ^{17 5:5 Hebrew lay hold of} Sheol;
6  she does not ponder the path of life;
    her ways wander, and she does not know it.

7  And now, O sons, listen to me,
    and do not depart from the words of my mouth.
8  Keep your way far from her,
    and do not go near the door of her house,
9  lest you give your honor to others
    and your years to the merciless,
10  lest strangers take their fill of your strength,
    and your labors go to the house of a foreigner,
11  and at the end of your life you groan,
    when your flesh and body are consumed,
12  and you say, “How I hated discipline,
    and my heart despised reproof!
13  I did not listen to the voice of my teachers
    or incline my ear to my instructors.
14  I am at the brink of utter ruin
    in the assembled congregation.”

15  Drink water from your own cistern,
    flowing water from your own well.
16  Should your springs be scattered abroad,
    streams of water in the streets?
17  Let them be for yourself alone,
    and not for strangers with you.
18  Let your fountain be blessed,
    and rejoice in the wife of your youth,
19      a lovely deer, a graceful doe.
Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight;
    be intoxicated ^{18 5:19 Hebrew be led astray; also verse 20} always in her love.
20  Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with a forbidden woman
    and embrace the bosom of an adulteress? ^{19 5:20 Hebrew a foreign woman}
21  For a man's ways are before the eyes of the LORD,
    and he ponders ^{20 5:21 Or makes level} all his paths.
22  The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him,
    and he is held fast in the cords of his sin.
23  He dies for lack of discipline,
    and because of his great folly he is led astray.