Proverbs 1
Wise Sayings of Solomon
1-6 A Manual for Living These are the wise sayings of Solomon, David's son, Israel's king— Written down so we'll know how to live well and right, to understand what life means and where it's going; A manual for living, for learning what's right and just and fair; To teach the inexperienced the ropes and give our young people a grasp on reality. There's something here also for seasoned men and women, still a thing or two for the experienced to learn— Fresh wisdom to probe and penetrate, the rhymes and reasons of wise men and women.
Start with God
7 Start with God—the first step in learning is bowing down to God; only fools thumb their noses at such wisdom and learning.
8-19 Pay close attention, friend, to what your father tells you; never forget what you learned at your mother's knee. Wear their counsel like flowers in your hair, like rings on your fingers. Dear friend, if bad companions tempt you, don't go along with them. If they say—"Let's go out and raise some hell. Let's beat up some old man, mug some old woman. Let's pick them clean and get them ready for their funerals. We'll load up on top-quality loot. We'll haul it home by the truckload. Join us for the time of your life! With us, it's share and share alike!"— Oh, friend, don't give them a second look; don't listen to them for a minute. They're racing to a very bad end, hurrying to ruin everything they lay hands on. Nobody robs a bank with everyone watching, Yet that's what these people are doing— they're doing themselves in. When you grab all you can get, that's what happens: the more you get, the less you are.
Lady Wisdom
20-21 Lady Wisdom goes out in the street and shouts. At the town center she makes her speech. In the middle of the traffic she takes her stand. At the busiest corner she calls out:
22-24 "Simpletons! How long will you wallow in ignorance? Cynics! How long will you feed your cynicism? Idiots! How long will you refuse to learn? About face! I can revise your life. Look, I'm ready to pour out my spirit on you; I'm ready to tell you all I know. As it is, I've called, but you've turned a deaf ear; I've reached out to you, but you've ignored me.
25-28 "Since you laugh at my counsel and make a joke of my advice, How can I take you seriously? I'll turn the tables and joke about your troubles! What if the roof falls in, and your whole life goes to pieces? What if catastrophe strikes and there's nothing to show for your life but rubble and ashes? You'll need me then. You'll call for me, but don't expect an answer. No matter how hard you look, you won't find me.
29-33 "Because you hated Knowledge and had nothing to do with the Fear-of-God, Because you wouldn't take my advice and brushed aside all my offers to train you, Well, you've made your bed—now lie in it; you wanted your own way—now, how do you like it? Don't you see what happens, you simpletons, you idiots? Carelessness kills; complacency is murder. First pay attention to me, and then relax. Now you can take it easy—you're in good hands."
Proverbs 1
1 The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel:
2 To know wisdom and instruction; To discern the words of understanding;
3 To receive instruction in wise dealing, In righteousness and justice and equity;
4 To give prudence to the simple, To the young man knowledge and discretion:
5 That the wise man may hear, and increase in learning; And that the man of understanding may attain unto sound counsels:
6 To understand a proverb, and a figure, The words of the wise, and their dark sayings.
7 The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of knowledge; But the foolish despise wisdom and instruction.
8 My son, hear the instruction of thy father, And forsake not the law of thy mother:
9 For they shall be a chaplet of grace unto thy head, And chains about thy neck.
10 My son, if sinners entice thee, Consent thou not.
11 If they say, Come with us, Let us lay wait for blood; Let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause;
12 Let us swallow them up alive as Sheol, And whole, as those that go down into the pit;
13 We shall find all precious substance; We shall fill our houses with spoil;
14 Thou shalt cast thy lot among us; We will all have one purse:
15 My son, walk not thou in the way with them; Refrain thy foot from their path:
16 For their feet run to evil, And they make haste to shed blood.
17 For in vain is the net spread In the sight of any bird:
18 And these lay wait for their own blood; They lurk privily for their own lives.
19 So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; It taketh away the life of the owners thereof.
20 Wisdom crieth aloud in the street; She uttereth her voice in the broad places;
21 She crieth in the chief place of concourse; At the entrance of the gates, In the city, she uttereth her words:
22 How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? And scoffers delight them in scoffing, And fools hate knowledge?
23 Turn you at my reproof: Behold, I will pour out my spirit upon you; I will make known my words unto you.
24 Because I have called, and ye have refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man hath regarded;
25 But ye have set at nought all my counsel, And would none of my reproof:
26 I also will laugh in the day of your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;
27 When your fear cometh as a storm, And your calamity cometh on as a whirlwind; When distress and anguish come upon you.
28 Then will they call upon me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently, but they shall not find me:
29 For that they hated knowledge, And did not choose the fear of Jehovah:
30 They would none of my counsel; They despised all my reproof.
31 Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, And be filled with their own devices.
32 For the backsliding of the simple shall slay them, And the careless ease of fools shall destroy them.
33 But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell securely, And shall be quiet without fear of evil.