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Proverbs 1-2
New International Version
Proverbs 1-2
New International Version
Purpose and Theme
1 The proverbs(A) of Solomon(B) son of David, king of Israel:(C)
2 for gaining wisdom and instruction;
for understanding words of insight;
3 for receiving instruction in prudent behavior,
doing what is right and just and fair;
4 for giving prudence to those who are simple,[a](D)
knowledge and discretion(E) to the young—
5 let the wise listen and add to their learning,(F)
and let the discerning get guidance—
6 for understanding proverbs and parables,(G)
the sayings and riddles(H) of the wise.[b](I)
7 The fear of the Lord(J) is the beginning of knowledge,
but fools[c] despise wisdom(K) and instruction.(L)
Prologue: Exhortations to Embrace Wisdom
Warning Against the Invitation of Sinful Men
8 Listen, my son,(M) to your father’s(N) instruction
and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.(O)
9 They are a garland to grace your head
and a chain to adorn your neck.(P)
10 My son, if sinful men entice(Q) you,
do not give in(R) to them.(S)
11 If they say, “Come along with us;
let’s lie in wait(T) for innocent blood,
let’s ambush some harmless soul;
12 let’s swallow(U) them alive, like the grave,
and whole, like those who go down to the pit;(V)
13 we will get all sorts of valuable things
and fill our houses with plunder;
14 cast lots with us;
we will all share the loot(W)”—
15 my son, do not go along with them,
do not set foot(X) on their paths;(Y)
16 for their feet rush into evil,(Z)
they are swift to shed blood.(AA)
17 How useless to spread a net
where every bird can see it!
18 These men lie in wait(AB) for their own blood;
they ambush only themselves!(AC)
19 Such are the paths of all who go after ill-gotten gain;
it takes away the life of those who get it.(AD)
Wisdom’s Rebuke
20 Out in the open wisdom calls aloud,(AE)
she raises her voice in the public square;
21 on top of the wall[d] she cries out,
at the city gate she makes her speech:
22 “How long will you who are simple(AF) love your simple ways?
How long will mockers delight in mockery
and fools hate(AG) knowledge?
23 Repent at my rebuke!
Then I will pour out my thoughts to you,
I will make known to you my teachings.
24 But since you refuse(AH) to listen when I call(AI)
and no one pays attention(AJ) when I stretch out my hand,
25 since you disregard all my advice
and do not accept my rebuke,
26 I in turn will laugh(AK) when disaster(AL) strikes you;
I will mock(AM) when calamity overtakes you(AN)—
27 when calamity overtakes you like a storm,
when disaster(AO) sweeps over you like a whirlwind,
when distress and trouble overwhelm you.
28 “Then they will call to me but I will not answer;(AP)
they will look for me but will not find me,(AQ)
29 since they hated knowledge
and did not choose to fear the Lord.(AR)
30 Since they would not accept my advice
and spurned my rebuke,(AS)
31 they will eat the fruit of their ways
and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.(AT)
32 For the waywardness of the simple will kill them,
and the complacency of fools will destroy them;(AU)
33 but whoever listens to me will live in safety(AV)
and be at ease, without fear of harm.”(AW)
Moral Benefits of Wisdom
2 My son,(AX) if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,
2 turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding(AY)—
3 indeed, if you call out for insight(AZ)
and cry aloud for understanding,
4 and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,(BA)
5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.(BB)
6 For the Lord gives wisdom;(BC)
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.(BD)
7 He holds success in store for the upright,
he is a shield(BE) to those whose walk is blameless,(BF)
8 for he guards the course of the just
and protects the way of his faithful ones.(BG)
9 Then you will understand(BH) what is right and just
and fair—every good path.
10 For wisdom will enter your heart,(BI)
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
11 Discretion will protect you,
and understanding will guard you.(BJ)
12 Wisdom will save(BK) you from the ways of wicked men,
from men whose words are perverse,
13 who have left the straight paths
to walk in dark ways,(BL)
14 who delight in doing wrong
and rejoice in the perverseness of evil,(BM)
15 whose paths are crooked(BN)
and who are devious in their ways.(BO)
16 Wisdom will save you also from the adulterous woman,(BP)
from the wayward woman with her seductive words,
17 who has left the partner of her youth
and ignored the covenant she made before God.[e](BQ)
18 Surely her house leads down to death
and her paths to the spirits of the dead.(BR)
19 None who go to her return
or attain the paths of life.(BS)
Footnotes
- Proverbs 1:4 The Hebrew word rendered simple in Proverbs denotes a person who is gullible, without moral direction and inclined to evil.
- Proverbs 1:6 Or understanding a proverb, namely, a parable, / and the sayings of the wise, their riddles
- Proverbs 1:7 The Hebrew words rendered fool in Proverbs, and often elsewhere in the Old Testament, denote a person who is morally deficient.
- Proverbs 1:21 Septuagint; Hebrew / at noisy street corners
- Proverbs 2:17 Or covenant of her God
Proverbs 1-2
King James Version
Proverbs 1-2
King James Version
1 The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel;
2 To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;
3 To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity;
4 To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.
5 A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:
6 To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools 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 an ornament 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 the grave; 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 Cast in thy lot among us; let us 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 make haste to shed blood.
17 Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.
18 And they 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; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.
20 Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets:
21 She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying,
22 How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?
23 Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.
24 Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;
25 But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:
26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;
27 When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.
28 Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:
29 For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord:
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 turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.
33 But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.
2 My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee;
2 So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;
3 Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;
4 If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;
5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.
6 For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.
7 He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly.
8 He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints.
9 Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path.
10 When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul;
11 Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:
12 To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things;
13 Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness;
14 Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked;
15 Whose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths:
16 To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words;
17 Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God.
18 For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead.
19 None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life.
20 That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous.
21 For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it.
22 But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.
New International Version (NIV) 
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