Proverbs 1:1-19

Holman Christian Standard Bible

1 The proverbs of Solomon^(A) son of David, king of Israel:
² For learning what wisdom and discipline are;
for understanding insightful sayings;
³ for receiving wise instruction
in righteousness, justice, and integrity;^(B)
4 for teaching shrewdness to the inexperienced,^[a](C)
knowledge and discretion^(D) to a young man—
⁵ a wise man will listen and increase his learning,^(E)
and a discerning man will obtain guidance—
⁶ for understanding a proverb or a parable,^[b]
the words of the wise, and their riddles.^(F)

⁸ Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction,
and don’t reject your mother’s teaching,^(I)
9 for they will be a garland^(J) of grace on your head
and a gold chain around your neck.^(K)
10 My son, if sinners entice you,^(L)
don’t be persuaded.^(M)
11 If they say—“Come with us!
Let’s set an ambush^(N) and kill someone.^[c]
Let’s attack some innocent person^(O) just for fun!^[d]
12 Let’s swallow them alive,^(P) like Sheol,
still healthy as they go down to the Pit.^(Q)
13 We’ll find all kinds of valuable property
and fill our houses with plunder.^(R)
14 Throw in your lot with us,
and we’ll all share our money”^[e]—
¹⁵ my son, don’t travel that road with them^(S)
or set foot on their path,^(T)
16 because their feet run toward trouble
and they hurry to commit murder.^[f](U)
17 It is foolish to spread a net
where any bird can see it,
¹⁸ but they set an ambush to kill themselves;^[g]
they attack their own lives.
¹⁹ Such are the paths of all who make profit dishonestly;^(V)
it takes the lives of those who receive it.^[h]