משלי א

The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:

For learning wisdom and discipline;
For understanding words of discernment;

For acquiring the discipline for success,
Righteousness, justice, and equity;

For endowing the simple with shrewdness,
The young with knowledge and foresight.

—The wise, hearing them, will gain more wisdom;
The discerning will learn to be adroit;

For understanding proverb and epigram,
The words of the wise and their riddles.

The fear of GOD is the beginning of knowledge;
Fools despise wisdom and discipline.

My son, heed the discipline of your father,
And do not forsake the instruction of your mother;

For they are a graceful wreath upon your head,
A necklace about your throat.

My son, if sinners entice you, do not yield;

If they say, “Come with us,
Let us set an ambush to shed blood,
Let us lie in wait for the innocent
(Without cause!)

Like Sheol, let us swallow them alive;
Whole, like those who go down into the Pit.

We shall obtain every precious treasure;
We shall fill our homes with loot.

Throw in your lot with us;
We shall all have a common purse.”

My son, do not set out with them;
Keep your feet from their path.

For their feet run to evil;
They hurry to shed blood.

In the eyes of every winged creature
The outspread net means nothing.

But they lie in ambush for their own blood;
They lie in wait for their own lives.

Such is the fate of all who pursue unjust gain;
It takes the life of its possessor.

Wisdom cries aloud in the streets,
Raises her voice in the squares.

At the head of the busy streets she calls;
At the entrance of the gates, in the city, she speaks out:

“How long will you simple ones love simplicity,
You scoffers be eager to scoff,
You dullards hate knowledge?

You are indifferent to my rebuke;
I will now speak my mind to you,
And let you know my thoughts.

Since you refused me when I called,
And paid no heed when I extended my hand,

You spurned all my advice,
And would not hear my rebuke,

I will laugh at your calamity,
And mock when terror comes upon you,

When terror comes like a disaster,
And calamity arrives like a whirlwind,
When trouble and distress come upon you.

Then they shall call me but I will not answer;
They shall seek me but not find me.

Because they hated knowledge,
And did not choose fear of GOD;

They refused my advice,
And disdained all my rebukes,

They shall eat the fruit of their ways,
And have their fill of their own counsels.

The tranquility of the simple will kill them,
And the complacency of dullards will destroy them.

But the one who listens to me will dwell in safety,
Untroubled by the terror of misfortune.”