Proverbs of Shelomoh son of David, king of Yisra'el.

To know wisdom and discipline, to understand words of insight.

To receive discipline of understanding, righteousness, and justice, and equity.

To give to the simple, shrewdness; to the youth, knowledge and discretion.

Let the wise hear and increase learning, and the discerning acquire guidance.

To understand a proverb and a figure of speech, the words of the wise and their riddles.

The fear of יהוה is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and discipline.

Hear, my son, your father's discipline, and do not forsake your mother's teaching.

For they are a garland of grace for your head and necklaces for your throat.

My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent.

If they say, 'Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood, let us ambush the innocent for no reason.'

Let us swallow them alive like Sheol, and whole like those who go down to the pit.

We will find all precious property; we will fill our houses with plunder.

You will cast your lot among us; one purse will be for all of us.

My son, do not go in the way with them; turn your foot away from their path.

For their feet run to evil, and they hurry to shed blood.

For in vain the net is spread in the sight of any winged bird.

But they lie in wait for their own blood; they ambush their own lives.

So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain; it takes the life of its owners.

Wisdom cries aloud in the street; in the public squares she raises her voice.

At the head of the noisy crowds she cries out; at the entrances of the gates in the city, her words say:

How long, O simple ones, will you love simplicity? And scoffers delight in scoffing, and fools hate knowledge?

Turn at my reproof; behold, I will pour out my spirit to you; I will make my words known to you.

Because I called and you refused, I stretched out my hand and no one heeded,

and you disregarded all my counsel and did not want my reproof,

I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear comes,

when your fear comes like a storm and your calamity like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you.

Then they will call to me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently, but will not find me.

Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of יהוה,

they would not accept my counsel; they spurned all my reproof.

Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and be satiated with their own devices.

For the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them.

But whoever listens to me will dwell securely and will be at ease, without fear of disaster.