Proverbs 9
1 WISDOM HAS built her house; she has hewn out and set up her seven [perfect number of] pillars.2 She has killed her beasts, she has mixed her [spiritual] wine; she has also set her table. 3 She has sent out her maids to cry from the highest places of the town:4 Whoever is simple (easily led astray and wavering), let him turn in here! As for him who lacks understanding, [God’s] Wisdom says to him,5 Come, eat of my bread and drink of the [spiritual] wine which I have mixed. 6 Leave off, simple ones [forsake the foolish and simpleminded] and live! And walk in the way of insight and understanding.7 He who rebukes a scorner heaps upon himself abuse, and he who reproves a wicked man gets for himself bruises.8 Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate you; reprove a wise man, and he will love you. 9 Give instruction to a wise man and he will be yet wiser; teach a righteous man (one upright and in right standing with God) and he will increase in learning.10 The reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord is the beginning (the chief and choice part) of Wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight and understanding.11 For by me [Wisdom from God] your days shall be multiplied, and the years of your life shall be increased.12 If you are wise, you are wise for yourself; if you scorn, you alone will bear it and pay the penalty.13 The foolish woman is noisy; she is simple and open to all forms of evil, she [willfully and recklessly] knows nothing whatever [of eternal value].14 For she sits at the door of her house or on a seat in the conspicuous places of the town,15 Calling to those who pass by, who go uprightly on their way:16 Whoever is simple (wavering and easily led astray), let him turn in here! And as for him who lacks understanding, she says to him,17 Stolen waters (pleasures) are sweet [because they are forbidden]; and bread eaten in secret is pleasant. 18 But he knows not that the shades of the dead are there [specters haunting the scene of past transgressions], and that her invited guests are [already sunk] in the depths of Sheol (the lower world, Hades, the place of the dead).
Proverbs 9
Lady Wisdom Gives a Dinner Party
1-6 Lady Wisdom has built and furnished her home; it's supported by seven hewn timbers. The banquet meal is ready to be served: lamb roasted, wine poured out, table set with silver and flowers. Having dismissed her serving maids, Lady Wisdom goes to town, stands in a prominent place, and invites everyone within sound of her voice: "Are you confused about life, don't know what's going on? Come with me, oh come, have dinner with me! I've prepared a wonderful spread—fresh-baked bread, roast lamb, carefully selected wines. Leave your impoverished confusion and live! Walk up the street to a life with meaning."
7-12
If you reason with an arrogant cynic, you'll get slapped in the face; confront bad behavior and get a kick in the shins. So don't waste your time on a scoffer; all you'll get for your pains is abuse. But if you correct those who care about life, that's different—they'll love you for it! Save your breath for the wise—they'll be wiser for it; tell good people what you know—they'll profit from it. Skilled living gets its start in the Fear-of-God, insight into life from knowing a Holy God. It's through me, Lady Wisdom, that your life deepens, and the years of your life ripen. Live wisely and wisdom will permeate your life; mock life and life will mock you.
Madame Whore Calls Out, Too
13-18 Then there's this other woman, Madame Whore— brazen, empty-headed, frivolous. She sits on the front porch of her house on Main Street, And as people walk by minding their own business, calls out, "Are you confused about life, don't know what's going on? Steal off with me, I'll show you a good time! No one will ever know—I'll give you the time of your life." But they don't know about all the skeletons in her closet, that all her guests end up in hell.