Proverbs 1

Proverbs 1

Prologue: Purpose and Theme

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

 ² for attaining wisdom and discipline;
       for understanding words of insight;

 ³ for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life,
       doing what is right and just and fair;

 ⁴ for giving prudence to the simple,
       knowledge and discretion to the young-

 ⁵ let the wise listen and add to their learning,
       and let the discerning get guidance-

 ⁶ for understanding proverbs and parables,
       the sayings and riddles of the wise.

 ⁷ The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,
       but fools  despise wisdom and discipline.

Exhortations to Embrace Wisdom

Warning Against Enticement

 ⁸ Listen, my son, to your father's instruction
       and do not forsake your mother's teaching.

 ⁹ They will be a garland to grace your head
       and a chain to adorn your neck.

 ¹⁰ My son, if sinners entice you,
       do not give in to them.

 ¹¹ If they say, "Come along with us;
       let's lie in wait for someone's blood,
       let's waylay some harmless soul;

 ¹² let's swallow them alive, like the grave, 

       and whole, like those who go down to the pit;

 ¹³ we will get all sorts of valuable things
       and fill our houses with plunder;

 ¹⁴ throw in your lot with us,
       and we will share a common purse"-

 ¹⁵ my son, do not go along with them,
       do not set foot on their paths;

 ¹⁶ for their feet rush into sin,
       they are swift to shed blood.

 ¹⁷ How useless to spread a net
       in full view of all the birds!

 ¹⁸ These men lie in wait for their own blood;
       they waylay only themselves!

 ¹⁹ Such is the end of all who go after ill-gotten gain;
       it takes away the lives of those who get it.

Warning Against Rejecting Wisdom

 ²⁰ Wisdom calls aloud in the street,
       she raises her voice in the public squares;

 ²¹ at the head of the noisy streets  she cries out,
       in the gateways of the city she makes her speech:

 ²² "How long will you simple ones  love your simple ways?
       How long will mockers delight in mockery
       and fools hate knowledge?

 ²³ If you had responded to my rebuke,
       I would have poured out my heart to you
       and made my thoughts known to you.

 ²⁴ But since you rejected me when I called
       and no one gave heed when I stretched out my hand,

 ²⁵ since you ignored all my advice
       and would not accept my rebuke,

 ²⁶ I in turn will laugh at your disaster;
       I will mock when calamity overtakes you-

 ²⁷ when calamity overtakes you like a storm,
       when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind,
       when distress and trouble overwhelm you.

 ²⁸ "Then they will call to me but I will not answer;
       they will look for me but will not find me.

 ²⁹ Since they hated knowledge
       and did not choose to fear the LORD,

 ³⁰ since they would not accept my advice
       and spurned my rebuke,

 ³¹ they will eat the fruit of their ways
       and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.

 ³² For the waywardness of the simple will kill them,
       and the complacency of fools will destroy them;

 ³³ but whoever listens to me will live in safety
       and be at ease, without fear of harm." 

From:

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverb&version=NIV