משלי ט

Wisdom has built her house,
She has hewn her seven pillars.

She has prepared the feast,
Mixed the wine,
And also set the table.

She has sent out her maids to announce
On the heights of the town,

“Let the simple enter here.”
To those devoid of sense she says,

“Come, eat my food
And drink the wine that I have mixed;

Give up simpleness and live,
Walk in the way of understanding.”

To correct a scoffer,
Or rebuke an evildoer regarding a blemish,
Is to call down abuse on oneself.

Do not rebuke scoffers, for they will hate you;
Reprove the wise, and they will love you.

Instruct the wise, and they will grow wiser;
Teach the righteous, and they will gain in learning.

The beginning of wisdom is fear of GOD,
And knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

For through me your days will increase,
And years be added to your life.

If you are wise, you are wise for yourself;
If you are a scoffer, you bear it alone.

The stupid woman bustles about;
She is simple and knows nothing.

She sits in the doorway of her house,
Or on a chair at the heights of the town,

Calling to all the wayfarers
Who go about their own affairs,

“Let the simple enter here”;
And to those devoid of sense she says,

“Stolen waters are sweet,
And bread eaten furtively is tasty.”

He does not know that the shades are there,
That her guests are in the depths of Sheol.