Proverbs of Solomon 1 — The Holy Bible

To Know Wisdom

The Proverbs of Solomon, the son of David,

Who reigned in Israel,

To know wisdom and instruction,

And to understand words of discernment;

To receive both subtlety of words,

And to understand true righteousness and upright judgment;

So as to give astuteness to the simple,

And both perception and understanding to a young man;

For a wise man who hears these things will be wiser,

And the man of understanding will gain direction.

Wisdom Begets the Fear of God

He will understand both a parable and a hidden saying,

Both wise words and riddles.

The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom,

And there is good understanding in all who practice it;

And godliness toward God is the beginning of perception,

But the ungodly despise wisdom and instruction.

Hear, my son, the instruction of your father,

And do not reject the laws of your mother.

For you will receive a crown of grace on your head

And a gold chain around your neck.

My son, do not let the ungodly lead you astray,

And do not consent if they invite you, saying,

“Come with us; take part in bloodshed,

And let us hide a righteous man in the earth unjustly;

And let us swallow him, just as Hades does the living,

And let us take away his remembrance from the earth;

Let us seize his valuable property,

And let us fill our houses with spoils;

Cast your lot with us

And let us acquire a common bag;

Let there be one purse for us.”

Do not walk in the way with them,

But turn away your foot from their paths.

For their feet run to evil,

And they make haste to shed blood.

For nets are not spread before birds for no reason,

For those who participate in murder store up evils for themselves;

And evil is the destruction of lawless men.

These are the ways of all who accomplish lawless things,

For they take away their own soul in ungodliness.

Wisdom Speaks Out

Wisdom sings in the streets;

She moves boldly in the squares.

She preaches on high city walls

And sits at the gates of lords.

At the gates of a city she boldly says,

“So long a time as the simple hold fast to righteousness,

They shall not be ashamed;

But those without discernment, since they are desirous of arrogance,

And are become ungodly, they hate perception,

And are become subject to reproofs.

Behold, I shall bring forth upon you the utterance of my breath,

And I shall teach you my word.

Since I called, but you did not obey,

And spoke at length, but you paid no attention,

But made my counsels invalid,

And were not persuaded by my reproofs;

Consequently, I will laugh at your annihilation,

And will exult when ruin comes to you,

And when confusion reaches you unawares,

And overthrow comes like a whirlwind,

And when tribulation and anguish come to you,

And when destruction comes to you.

For it shall be, when you shall call upon me,

I will not listen to you;

Evil men will seek me, but not find me,

For they hate wisdom, and choose not the fear of the Lord.

Neither do they wish to follow my counsels,

But despise my reproofs.

Therefore, they shall eat the fruits of their own way

And be filled with their own ungodliness.

For since they wrong the simple, they shall be killed,

And a close examination shall destroy the ungodly.

But he who obeys me shall dwell in hope,

And shall be at rest without fear from every evil.”