1The proverbs of Solomon the son of David , king of Israel ; 2To know wisdom and instruction ; to perceive the words of understanding ; 3To receive the instruction of wisdom , justice , and judgment , and equity ; 4To give subtilty to the simple , to the young man knowledge and discretion . 5A wise man will hear , and will increase learning ; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels : 6To understand a proverb , and the interpretation ; the words of the wise , and their dark sayings .
The Call of Wisdom
7The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge : but fools despise wisdom and instruction . 8My son , hear the instruction of thy father , and forsake not the law of thy mother : 9For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head , and chains about thy neck . 10My son , if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. 11If they say , Come with us, let us lay wait for blood , let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause : 12Let us swallow them up alive as the grave ; and whole , as those that go down into the pit : 13We shall find all precious substance , we shall fill our houses with spoil : 14Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse :
The Consequences of Ignoring Wisdom
15My son , walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path : 16For their feet run to evil , and make haste to shed blood . 17Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird . 18And they lay wait for their own blood ; they lurk privily for their own lives . 19So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain ; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.
The Promise of Wisdom
20Wisdom crieth without ; she uttereth her voice in the streets : 21She crieth in the chief place of concourse , in the openings of the gates : in the city she uttereth her words , saying , 22How long, ye simple ones , will ye love simplicity ? and the scorners delight in their scorning , and fools hate knowledge ? 23Turn you at my reproof : behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you. 24Because I have called , and ye refused ; I have stretched out my hand , and no man regarded ; 25But ye have set at nought all my counsel , and would none of my reproof : 26I also will laugh at your calamity ; I will mock when your fear cometh ; 27When your fear cometh as desolation , and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind ; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. 28Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer ; they shall seek me early , but they shall not find me: 29For that they hated knowledge , and did not choose the fear of the LORD : 30They would none of my counsel : they despised all my reproof . 31Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way , and be filled with their own devices . 32For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. 33But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely , and shall be quiet from fear of evil .